Sponsored by Barclays

The estate of Lehman Brothers is battling Bank of America and Barclays in court over the sale of Archstone, the large multifamily housing landlord that real estate mogul Sam Zell's Equity Residential is seeking to buy.

Barclays Capital released its 2012 price outlook for precious metals Thursday. Despite short-term hurdles, a clouded macro-economic environment against a backdrop of low interest rates and political uncertainties continue to stoke investor appetite for a more diversified and less riskier portfolio.

Europe's market slid on Thursday, with banks the biggest fallers on worries that some of them will have to follow UniCredit and offer deep share price discounts when they recapitalize to shore up ravaged balance sheets.

Apple Inc. is expected to release iPad 3 anytime in the next two months, as reports and analysts forecast suggest February to March time frame.

Jefferies & Co. downgraded its rating on shares of Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) to hold from buy with a price target of $18, after the company announced the appointment of PayPal's President Scott Thompson as new chief executive officer and director effective Jan. 9.

Japan's leading share average rose to a three-week closing high on Wednesday after better-than-expected economic data from the United States and China, although strategists said the rally could stall if the euro holds below 100 yen.

The largest shareholders of Middle East jeweller Damas International have appointed a financial adviser ahead of a potential sale of some of their shares, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Shares of Micron Technology Inc climbed as much as 11 percent after Barclays Capital raised the chip devices maker's stock to overweight, even as the brokerage downgraded five other stocks from the sector, including Intel Corp.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a sharp rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

U.S. semiconductor stocks are in for a volatile 2012 as inventory correction extends into the first quarter, and an industry recovery due only in the second half, Barclays Capital said and downgraded five stocks, including Intel Corp.

There are only hours left for Iowans to choose their Republican presidential nominee. The top two candidates seem set for a dead heat finish, while a third is trying to make the best use of a last minute and surprising surge forward in polls.

Stock index futures rose sharply on Tuesday as upbeat Chinese and German data boosted optimism about the global economy after the S&P 500 index ended flat in 2011.

Other than the newly released iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak for A4 devices, another issue that is creating much buzz around the tech world these days is Apple's next generation iPad aka iPad 3. The device, which is highly expected to launch towards the end of this month, is rumored to arrive in two sizes and have a set of enhanced features.

A recent rumor has surfaced on the Internet that states Apple's iTV is on track to be released by the end of 2012. Apparently Samsung has begun making chips and Sharp the displays.

Apple iPhone 5 rumors have been continuously circulating on the Internet, with the most recent one, from Barclays Capital, stating the iPhone is Apple's largest and most profitable product line.

Apple Inc. has more than $81 billion of cash on its books with about one-third held in the U.S. This is because of its continuing success of products like iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac. So what will Apple do with all the cash hoard?

Barclays Capital believes Apple Inc. may launch two iPads in 2012 - one with better cameras, higher resolution display, an A5 processor and Siri in March and another, coming later in the year, perhaps incorporating a faster processor and 4G LTE.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Friday that former France captain Thierry Henry will sign for the team in a two-month loan deal once an insurance agreement is reached with the New York Red Bulls, the Major League Soccer club Henry currently plays for, according to reports.

The consensus among investment bankers and many traders is that gold prices will continue to climb in 2012.

The iPhone is Apple Inc.'s largest and most profitable product line. Analysts are expecting Apple Inc. to unveil the next-generation 4G LTE iPhone 5 in the second half of 2012.

The inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds that helped drive bullion demand sharply higher during the financial crisis have more than halved this year, according to Reuters data, and are unlikely to recover in 2012 as appetite grows for other assets.

Several brokerages have lowered their profit estimates of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) after the business software maker reported lower-than-expected quarterly results.

Current speculation among investors include deals with Dish Network, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire.

Last week Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told federal lawmakers that no bailout of Europe was forthcoming and ended a monthly meeting of the central bank’s top decision-making body by pointedly rejecting a new round of quantitative easing. Data released by the Fed reveals that, at least partially, the organization spent the week engaging in exactly those actions.

Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is seeking approval from the Israeli government to increase its stake in rival Israel Chemicals Ltd. to 25 percent, according to media reports.

The top aftermarket NYSE losers on Friday were: Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, Genpact, Advantage Oil & Gas, Skilled Healthcare Group, Lender Processing Services, CoreSite Realty, Williams Companies, Western Asset Bond and Luby's.

A months-long delay in Research in Motion's new BlackBerrys and a dreary quarterly report sent RIM shares tumbling again on Friday and pushed some analysts to sound the death knell for the mobile device that once defined the industry.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, is being investigated by a U.K. regulator over possible accounting scheme in the firm’s auditing of investment bank Barclays Capital Securities Ltd. In January, the FSA fined Barclays Capital £1.1 million ($1.7 million) for putting client money at risk over an eight year period.

Several brokerage firms trimmed their price targets on Research in Motion shares and questioned the BlackBerry maker's ability to recover, after the company delayed the launch of its new line of smartphones.