UNITED STATES

Apple CEO Tim Cook has a problem, a $98 billion problem. Just 18 months ago, Apple's $46 billion mountain of cash, while huge by most standards, attracted only muted complaints from investors, who did call for a dividend or share buyback, but were mostly happy with the meteoric rise in the stock price.

New orders for manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, while new claims for jobless benefits rose only moderately last week, suggesting the labor market was still healing.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are locked in a statistical tie in Florida with less than a week to go until the state's primary, a new poll shows.

New orders for manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, while new claims for jobless benefits rose only moderately last week, suggesting the labor market was still healing.

Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of French breast implant company Poly Implant Prostheses, was arrested on Thursday by national police in the Riviera town of Six-Fours-les-Plages.

A day after his confrontational election-year State of the Union address, President Barack Obama had a tense exchange with Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday as she greeted Air Force One in Phoenix.

Throughout all of Europe we have seen the rise in the polls of extreme right political parties.

Claims for jobless benefits in the third week of January rose after falling to the lowest level in nearly four years. However, overall trends suggest fewer layoffs and more hiring.

AT&T Inc posted a massive quarterly loss due to a break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and a pension-related charge on top of costly subsidies for smartphones such as Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Time Warner Cable Inc's (TWC.N) quarterly profit rose as it added more residential customers for its broadband services than it had expected.

AT&T Inc (T.N) posted a massive quarterly loss due to a break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and a pension-related charge on top of costly subsidies for smartphones such as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) popular iPhone.

AT&T posted a massive quarterly loss due to a break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and a pension-related charge on top of costly subsidies for smartphones such as Apple's popular iPhone.

World No.2 fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) said a gloomy economic outlook would keep demand subdued this year and discounting to shift unsold stock, which led to a surprise drop in fourth-quarter profit, had continued into January.

Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's largest supplier, forecast broadly flat sales and operating profit for 2012, with a record high order backlog helping it to cope with cuts in U.S. defense spending.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday, greeted President Barack Obama on the tarmac when he arrived outside Phoenix but the two leaders were seen in what appears to be a heated exchange. A photograph shows Brewer getting into the president's face and pointing her finger at him.

European shares rose on Thursday, halting two-days of losses, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said interest rates would remain low for a considerably longer period than expected and it is ready to offer additional stimulus to boost economic growth.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday, adding to gains from the previous session when the Federal Reserve boosted equities by saying it was likely to keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014.

Apple has posted a record quarterly results on strong demand for iPhone, iPad, and Macs. The company's cash pile reached near $100 billion and is expected to surpass the coveted $100 billion mark next quarter.

Gold prices jumped Thursday after the Federal Reserve surprised markets by saying ultra-low interest rates will continue through 2014.

Three years after the demise of Lehman Brothers exposed problems in how brokers handle client funds, trading firms are still using lax rules to withhold cash owed to clients of failed brokerages, fuelling calls for reforms.

China Thursday criticized the European Union for banning oil imports from Iran, Beijing's third biggest crude supplier and a major trading partner.