IBT Staff Reporter

Australian regulators have fined Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker by volume, A$55,000 ($58,000) for spamming customers and said the Finnish company should change its text message marketing.

Japan's Elpida Memory <6665.T> is in talks to merge with U.S. firm Micron Technology and Taiwan's Nanya Technology <2408.TW>, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday, as the memory chip makers battle a weak market and well-funded South Korean rivals.

British accountancy software maker Sage said it was watching the economic situation in Europe and the impact a downturn would have on its small and medium customers, although it said trading was still on track.

Playtech, the world's biggest provider of online gaming software, said it saw increasing opportunities as gambling laws are relaxed across the world and was confident of meeting full year expectations following a surge in revenues.

Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus is filing for insolvency after lenders put the company on notice to pay off its debts, triggering its default on $1.75 billion of senior notes and convertible bonds.

The Bank of Japan forecast the economy will contract in the current fiscal year but kept policy steady on Tuesday, expecting exports to emerging markets and reconstruction after last year's earthquake will help fuel a steady recovery later in 2012.

The euro retreated from a three-week high on Tuesday and Asian shares gave up most of their early gains as crucial negotiations on Greek debt restructuring suffered another major setback, raising the specter of default.

Sony Corp and rival Panasonic Corp are set to report a slump in quarterly earnings and may cut full-year forecasts after being hit by yen strength, Thai floods and consumer gloom in Europe during the vital pre-Christmas period.

U.S. workers suffered many more job losses during the 2007-2009 Great Recession than in downturns over the past 30 years, and fewer than half got another position within six months of the recession's official end, researchers said on Tuesday.

Pressure from financial institutions and Treasury officials undermined an effort to limit executive pay at seven companies rescued with taxpayer money, a new government audit showed on Tuesday.

The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac told lawmakers that forcing the government-controlled mortgage firms to write down the principal on underwater home loans would require more than $100 billion in fresh taxpayer funds.

The crackdown on file-sharing site Megaupload is expected to do little to reduce overall piracy of music, software and Hollywood movies, while potentially stifling emerging means of distributing content online.

Texas Instruments Inc reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter chip sales as customers in a broad array of industries replenished depleted inventories.

President Barack Obama will encourage the country's booming natural gas output in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, while defending his administration's energy record, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Eastman Kodak Co replaced its chief restructuring officer on Monday in a surprise move coming just days after it filed for bankruptcy protection.

Euro zone finance ministers and officials met in Brussels to discuss terms of a Greek debt restructuring as part of a second bailout package for Athens and rejected an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure those debts, officials said, sending negotiators back to the drawing board.

Euro zone finance ministers and officials met in Brussels to discuss terms of a Greek debt restructuring as part of a second bailout package for Athens and rejected an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure those debts, officials said, sending negotiators back to the drawing board.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that police cannot put a GPS device on a suspect's car to track his movements without a warrant, a test case that upholds basic privacy rights in the face of new surveillance technology.

Euro zone finance ministers Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.

Research in Motion Ltd's could have chosen a fiery, inspirational new CEO but they chose a stoic engineer instead, dashing investor hopes for a quick turnaround for the struggling BlackBerry maker.

If Mitt Romney's 15 percent estimate is accurate, his effective tax rate is below average even among the wealthiest Americans. He may face criticism from his peers among the top1 percent in income as well as the middle class when he releases his 2010 tax returns on Tuesday.

The International Labour Organization sounded the alarm on the global jobs situation in its annual report on Monday and called for more coordination of fiscal policies, repair and regulation of the financial sector and support for the real economy.

Payment processor Euronet Worldwide Inc said a small portion of its European business was the target of a criminal security breach late last year, sending its shares down as much 6 percent.

Texas Instruments Inc reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue on Monday as demand improved faster than expected because customers did not have enough chips in stock, signaling the end of an inventory correction.

Software maker VMware Inc reported profit ahead of Wall Street expectations and released an outlook ahead of some forecasts, raising hopes that technology spending will grow this year, even as some warn that the economic outlook is grim.

InterDigital Inc said it had failed to find any takers for the entire company, but would continue to look for buyers for its patent portfolio and enter licensing partnerships.

InterDigital Inc said it had failed to find any takers for the entire company, but would continue to look for buyers for its patent portfolio and enter licensing partnerships.

Software maker VMware Inc reported profit ahead of Wall Street expectations and released an outlook ahead of some forecasts, raising hopes that technology spending will grow this year, even as some warn that the economic outlook is grim.

Starbucks Corp , which sells the coffee that helps many Americans get wound up for their day, is offering more of their customers a way to wind down.