IBT Staff Reporter

Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a Goldman Sachs employee for insider trading, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers who attended a hearing in U.S. federal court in New York on Thursday.

Stocks fell for a second day on Thursday as labor market data showed more signs of weakness, while a warning from Qualcomm and poor results from Stanley Black & Decker also discouraged investors.

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is nearing a deal to buy restructuring and consulting firm AlixPartners for more than $1 billion, according to several people familiar with the matter.

PIMCO's flagship Total Return Fund was hit hard by investor redemptions in 2011, but this year it is a less famous fund at the world's biggest bond shop that is bleeding the most.

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is nearing a deal to buy restructuring and consulting firm AlixPartners for more than $1 billion, according to several people familiar with the matter.

EBay Inc's strong first quarter bodes well for Amazon.com Inc's results next week - especially Amazon's own online Marketplace business and e-commerce in general, analysts said on Thursday.

Richard Parsons, who chaired the Citigroup Inc board that lost a shareholder vote this week on executive compensation, said on Thursday that directors had failed to adequately explain to investors the methods they used to determine pay packages.

Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a Goldman Sachs employee for insider trading, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers who attended a hearing in U.S. federal court in New York on Thursday.

If Research In Motion Ltd were to hire an investment bank it would be to help it license its BlackBerry software or to negotiate a strategic investment, not to help it sell the company, a source close to RIM said on Thursday.

Stocks fell for a second day on Thursday as labor market data showed more signs of weakness, while a warning from Qualcomm and poor results from Stanley Black & Decker also discouraged investors.

Stocks fell for a second straight day on Thursday as investors were discouraged by economic data and focused on negative corporate news.

In an ideal world, Best Buy would be a value investor's dream come true. But in the real world of transparency and retailing twists and turns, it just isn't.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday she expects to win a big boost in funding to help the lender contain damage from the euro-zone debt crisis now that Europe has taken significant steps on its own.

The state of New York on Thursday sued Sprint Nextel Corp for more than $300 million, accusing the company of tax fraud by deliberately not collecting or paying millions of dollars of taxes for its cell phone service.

Stocks fell on Thursday, extending losses on weakness in technology and industrial names.

The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for the first time fell only slightly last week, suggesting that job growth in April will not improve much after March's disappointing performance.

Home resales fell in March but the supply of properties on the market tightened and prices inched higher, giving mixed signals about the pace of recovery in the still-struggling housing sector.

The global economy is set to expand by a modest 3.3 percent this year as a still-smoldering euro zone debt crisis and a relatively slow U.S. recovery continue to leave Asia as the main driver of growth, Reuters polls showed on Thursday.

Human Genome Sciences has rejected an unsolicited bid worth around $2.6 billion from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline, marking a new takeover battle in a drugs sector swept by M&A activity recently.

Verizon Communications Inc posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations as customers increased their spending on services such as wireless data, sending its shares 1.6 percent higher.

Stocks dipped in choppy trade on Thursday as investors grappled with uncertainty in the euro zone, a raft of corporate earnings and economic data that painted a mixed picture of the domestic recovery.

Bank of America Corp posted a better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday as the No. 2 U.S. bank set aside less money for loan losses and capital markets activity rebounded.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and investment adviser TCW have survived an appeal by a German bank that sued them for fraud over a toxic derivative marketed at the height of the housing market bubble.

Property insurer Travelers Cos Inc blew past Wall Street earnings estimates for the first quarter and raised its dividend 12 percent as natural disaster losses declined and insurance rates continued to rise after years of weakness.

Apple Inc, Google Inc, Intel Corp and four other technology companies were ordered by a judge to face an antitrust lawsuit claiming they illegally conspired not to poach each other's employees.

The state of New York on Thursday sued Sprint Nextel Corp for more than $300 million, accusing the company of tax fraud for deliberately not collecting or paying millions of dollars of taxes for its cell phone service.

Apple Inc, Google Inc, Intel Corp and four other technology companies were ordered by a judge to face an antitrust lawsuit claiming they illegally agreed not to poach each other's employees.

Nokia dropped its sales chief and promised to slash more costs, as Chief Executive Stephen Elop battles to reinvent the cellphone maker to compete with smartphone rivals.

New York on Thursday sued Sprint Nextel Corp for more than $300 million, accusing the company of tax fraud for deliberately not collecting or paying millions of dollars of taxes for its cell phone service.