IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.

The U.S. futures regulator on Wednesday adopted further protections for customer collateral posted in swap trades, an area of heightened importance as the search continues for hundreds of millions of dollars in missing MF Global customer money.

Samsung Electronics Co aims to more than quadruple sales of small, interchangeable lens cameras this year, as it seeks to move up-market to compete with stronger Japanese rivals amid stagnating growth in the compact camera segment.

The Rochester-based company's complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission argues that some of Apple's iPhones, iPads and iPods, along with some of HTC's smartphones and tablets infringe on Kodak patents involving technology for transmitting images.

U.S. stocks edged lower on Wednesday after hitting a five-month high in the prior session as a warning about further weakness in the euro kept investors jittery.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Italy's new government on Wednesday for the speed with which it has launched reforms, prompting Prime Minister Mario Monti to say it was important for markets also to recognize Italian economic policy progress soon.

Excuses, excuses and more excuses.Some of the best-known hedge fund managers have offered lots of excuses for underperforming the major stock market indexes last year, with many large funds posting double-digit losses.

The U.S. Federal Reserve should stick to its super-easy monetary policy to fight unemployment and spur a painstakingly slow economic recovery, even if doing so pushes inflation temporarily higher, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

The European Central Bank should ramp up its buying of troubled euro zone debt to support Italy and prevent a cataclysmic collapse of the euro, David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings for Fitch, said on Wednesday.

Ore grades will be approximately 6 percent lower in 2012 than in 2011 due to mine sequencing.

While many Republicans have struggled to say why they support a given candidate, the Ron Paul supporters who filled a banquet hall in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday were eager to talk in detail about his message.

Switzerland might not name a permanent successor to Philipp Hildebrand as central bank chairman for several months, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday, adding she had full confidence in the bank's interim head.

Two Dutch cable companies were ordered by a court on Wednesday to block access to the website The Pirate Bay to prevent the illegal downloading of free music, films and games in case brought on behalf of the entertainment industry.

Stocks pulled back from five-month highs in early trading on Wednesday, with pressure on the euro testing the view that U.S. equities were decoupling from the single currency.

Fannie Mae Chief Executive Michael Williams said on Tuesday he was stepping down from the government-controlled mortgage firm, which is at the center of a fight over how to reduce foreclosures.

On Dubai's busiest thoroughfare, Sheikh Zayed Road, the white, orange and blue shop front of Sharjah Islamic Bank's gleaming new branch stands out among the soaring apartment blocks, furniture shops and car dealerships that mirror the Gulf state's growing wealth.

A pullback in stocks was expected at the open on Wednesday, a day after the Dow and S&P 500 hit five-month highs, with pressure on the euro testing the recent view that U.S. equities were decoupling from Europe.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Wednesday dropped his $1.73 billion hostile bid for Commercial Metals Co after failing to pick up support among the metal company's other shareholders.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose in the first week of the year as demand for both purchases and refinancing perked up, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Twinkies and Wonder Bread maker Hostess Brands Inc filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than three years, after failing to reach an agreement with workers on pension and health benefits.

Italian market watchdog Consob is looking into two contradictory statements made by BlackRock Inc , the world's largest asset manager, over its stake in UniCredit SpA , a source close to Consob told Reuters on Wednesday.

Apple said on Wednesday it had bought Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology whose chips it already uses in gadgets such as the iPad.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Wednesday that Europe must recognize the way in which the Italian public had agreed to painful austerity measures to cut its debt.

Stock index futures dipped on Wednesday, a day after major indexes hit a five-month high, with pressure on the euro testing the recent view that the U.S. market was decoupling from Europe.

Dell Inc intends to launch its first consumer tablet computer in late 2012, marking its entry into a hotly contested and increasingly crowded arena that has already claimed arch-foe Hewlett Packard.

The abrupt exit of Jasjit Bhattal, the highest-ranking ex-Lehman executive at Nomura Holdings, marks a crucial juncture for Japan's top brokerage as it decides whether to replace him with an experienced global banker to foster expansion, or with an in-house local to focus on the home market.

The number of Internet users in China have crossed the half billion mark, reaching 505 million users at the end of November last year, the China Internet Network Information Center reported.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher opening on Wall Street with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures flat at 1020 GMT.

The abrupt exit of Jasjit Bhattal, the highest-ranking ex-Lehman executive at Nomura Holdings, marks a crucial juncture for Japan's top brokerage as it decides whether to replace him with an experienced global banker to foster expansion, or with an in-house local to focus on the home market.