IBT Staff Reporter

Spain will provide 2012's first real test of demand for debt from the euro zone's bruised periphery on Thursday when it sells around 5 billion euros ($6.39 billion) of bonds.

LG Electronics Inc is engaged in talks with various parties on possible deals, the head of LG's mobile business said on Wednesday, as the world's No.3 handset maker seeks to turn around its struggling handset operation.

The number of U.S. homes that received a foreclosure filing fell to a four-year low in 2011 as a slowdown in processing hit the market, RealtyTrac said in a report on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs Group said Wednesday that two high-ranking leaders of its trading business have left the firm as Wall Street executives come under more pressure to cut costs and put less of their money at risk in trades.

General Motors Co could shift more vehicle production to its European factories in a cost-cutting deal with its German union that could avert a damaging standoff and keep Opel out of bankruptcy, people familiar with the discussions said.

Supermarket operator Delhaize America said it will close 113 underperforming Food Lion stores mainly in markets in which the company has the least store density and will cut 4,900 jobs to focus on markets with high density.

A lawyer involved in several major recent bankruptcies has been named the examiner for the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings LLC and will investigate whether the company is treating bondholders fairly.

China's annual inflation eased to 4.1 percent December, the lowest level in 15 months, giving the government more room to tilt economic policy away from restraining prices and towards supporting sagging growth.

A recent rise in loans to businesses is spurring hope that U.S. bank earnings reports, which begin on Friday, will show the outlook for this economically critical industry is better than battered stock prices and weak investment banking volumes suggest.

Hampton Adams has been one of CES' most loyal devotees for 15 years. But unlike a good chunk of the 140,000-plus who descend on the world's largest technology showcase every January, the portfolio manager is less keen on fiddling with cutting-edge technology than picking winners.

The Golden Globes have Nicole Kidman, the SAG Awards booked Natalie Portman and the Critics' Choice Movie Awards one-upped them all by announcing that Bob Dylan will perform as part of a special tribute to Martin Scorsese.

Damien Hirst may have slowed down since bursting onto the scene as unofficial leader of the Young British Artist movement in the 1990s, but he remains one of the most divisive figures in the art world today.

British singer Adele kicked off 2012 just like much of 2011 -- at the top of the Billboard album charts, for a 15th week, with her best-selling 21.

ABC's controversial cross-dressing comedy Work It dropped considerably Tuesday night from its already soft premiere, while CBS took a handy overall win with a roster that included the top-rated NCIS, according to preliminary numbers.

Modern Family is breaking one of the oldest TV taboos: No cursing toddlers. In an episode next week, baby Lily will say the F-word.

Visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, who was already enjoying his most high-profile year in some time, has been voted the Gordon E. Sawyer Award by the Academy's Board of Governors.

The bad news: only two more days until the TV series finale of one of the last remaining daytime soap operas, ABC's One Life to Live.

New rules in the Oscar documentary process are not going to make things harder for documentary filmmakers, director and AMPAS governor Michael Moore told TheWrap.

Kobe Bryant turned back the clock with a 48-point effort to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 99-83 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

World-class Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke was in critical condition and sedated at a Salt Lake City hospital on Wednesday, a day after she was badly injured during a training run, doctors said.

Chevron Corp warned that fourth-quarter profit would be significantly below the previous quarter, with production still falling short of prior expectations and its refining operations about breaking even.

She's not even a week old, but the baby daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z has become the youngest person ever to be credited on the U.S. Billboard chart.

The award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods is headed to the movies with Chicago director Rob Marshall, Walt Disney film studio said on Wednesday.

Crisis somewhat averted.

Wireless chipmaker Broadcom is gearing up to launch new application processors for the lucrative and growing higher-end smartphone segment by the end of the year, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Henry Samueli said on Wednesday.

Microsoft Corp has put its talks with media companies about an online subscription service for TV shows and movies on hold, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Efforts to rein in Canada's budget deficit have resulted in a 3.0 percent decline in overall federal expenditures in the first half of the fiscal year, the office of the parliamentary budget officer said on Wednesday.

Julius Genachowski, the top U.S. telecommunications regulator, said on Wednesday that he has received bi-partisan support from a group of U.S. senators for so-called incentive auctions of wireless spectrum without legislative restrictions.

Bank of America Corp has put its advertising account up for review as it seeks to mold a new image for a company that has changed significantly since the financial crisis and suffered repeated blows to its brand.