UNITED STATES

Starbucks Corp.'s chief financial officer said on Thursday the high end of the coffee shop chain's 2007 earnings forecast will be 'very challenging' due to current market conditions, including higher dairy costs.

Sony Corp. expects at least 380 new PlayStation 3 games to hit the market this business year and says that should rev up demand for the console that has so far lost out to Nintendo's wildly popular Wii.

It has been said only half-jokingly that General Motors Corp. is actually a giant health-insurance provider - just one that happens to make cars.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group's initial public offering was about seven times subscribed, boosted by demand from Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. on Thursday urged CBOT Holdings Inc. shareholders and members to reject the proposed sale of the company to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.

U.S. government debt prices were mixed on Thursday after data suggesting less tightness in the labor market offset downward pressure from worries over rising global interest rates.

H&R Block Inc., the largest U.S. tax preparer, on Thursday posted a fourth-quarter loss on the depressed value of a mortgage unit slammed by deterioration in the U.S. subprime market.

The nations will review labor and environmental standards in a deal struck earlier in the year.

Lifecycle funds have become hugely popular with investors due to their simplicity but as more funds are launched, picking the right one is increasingly becoming a complex task for retirement plans.

Top U.S. consumer electronics retail chain Best Buy Co. Inc. is speeding up its expansion in China, banking on robust demand in a fast-growing market that it entered just one year ago.

Morgan Stanley, a top Wall Street firm, has raised an $8 billion real estate fund through its property arm to focus on North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The shutdown of a Venezuelan television station critical of President Hugo Chavez may prove a windfall for the owner of a rival network: millions of dollars in advertising revenue.

U.S. businesses painted dramatically different portraits of a new trade deal with South Korea on Wednesday, some touting lucrative sales opportunities and others charging the Bush administration had brought home an abominable deal for U.S. workers.

British censors on Tuesday banned a video game for the first time in 10 years, rejecting U.S.-published 'Manhunt 2' for what they described as an unrelenting focus on sadism and brutal slaying.

China decreased its holdings of U.S. government debt in April for the first time in 18 months, but this may not be the bearish signal it appears to be for U.S. Treasury bonds.

Sterling rose on Wednesday, boosted by Bank of England meeting minutes that reflected a surprising bias for higher interest rates, while the euro and dollar climbed for the fifth day in six against the low-yielding yen.

Oil fell more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed larger-than-expected increases in crude and gasoline stockpiles in the world's top consumer.

U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday as a rise in benchmark Treasury bond yields rekindled concern that higher interest rates would cut into corporate profits.

Package delivery company FedEx Corp. on Wednesday reported a profit that missed analysts' forecast and said earnings growth would fall short of expectations due to continued softness in the U.S. economy.

World stocks flirted with record highs on Wednesday and the yen remained under pressure as receding expectations for rising interest rates encouraged investors to chase higher-yielding assets.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. shot past Panasonic maker Matsushita in market value on Wednesday and closed in on Sony Corp. as investors watched it unseat Sony as unrivalled king of the game industry.