IBT Staff Reporter

Shaky Europe. Political gridlock. Volatile markets.

Dec 30, 2011

It's time for Screen Actors Guild members to start paying close attention to their mailboxes.

Dec 30, 2011

A steep drop in natural gas prices is squeezing the profits of producers such as Southwestern Gas Corp , EXCO Resources and Quicksilver Resources , which may need to shut wells, raise cash, cut staff or seek merger partners in the coming year.

Dec 30, 2011

British actor Russell Brand filed for divorce on Friday from his singer wife Katy Perry after just over a year of marriage.

Dec 30, 2011

American International Group Inc's mortgage-insurance subsidiary plans to launch a product next month that will independently review and store loan paperwork for a fee, the latest attempt to cut down on the battles between banks and insurers over bad mortgage loans.

Dec 30, 2011

Verizon Wireless, which this month angered customers with three separate data service problems, said on Thursday it will add a $2 fee for one-time telephone and online bill payments.

Dec 30, 2011

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, the last trading day of a turbulent year, with the broad S&P 500 index on track to end 2011 barely changed from 2010's closing level.

Dec 30, 2011

Stocks were nearly unchanged on Friday, the last trading day of a turbulent year, but the S&P 500 looked set to end with a slight gain.

Dec 30, 2011

Wall Street's worries did little to stifle the movement of U.S. financial advisers switching firms in the last half of 2011, during which five adviser teams, each managing client assets of more than $1 billion, moved their books of business to a new firm.

Dec 30, 2011

Newt Gingrich teared up at a campaign stop in Iowa on Friday when talking about his mother, who died in 2003.

Dec 30, 2011

A judge ordered the appointment of an examiner for the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings LLC, after a bond trustee said an investigation was needed to determine whether bondholders were being treated fairly.

Dec 30, 2011

A new California law will force retailers and manufacturers to disclose from 2012 how they guard against slavery and human trafficking throughout their supply chains, ratcheting up scrutiny over some of the largest U.S. corporations.

Dec 30, 2011

Sir Ben Kingsley plays silent film pioneer Georges Melies in Martin Scorsese's Hugo. The film has proven to be a tricky sell commercially, and it's unlikely to be a moneymaker -- but the film is a marvelous and magical journey that fully justifies Scorsese's decision to adapt Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and to shoot it in 3D. And Kingsley is sly, sad and commanding as a man desperate to bury his glorious past.

Dec 30, 2011

The 2011 box office will officially close its books this weekend, with no new movies debuting in wide release. Christmas holiday holdovers Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Thrones are expected to lead what is typically a weak New Year's weekend frame.

Dec 30, 2011

A dozen anti-Wall Street protesters who had taken over a foreclosed home in Oakland were arrested on Thursday, protest organizers said.

Dec 30, 2011

Hollywood has often criticized Tehran for stifling movie-making, but the acclaimed film A Separation is breathing life into Iran's hopes for a rare Oscar success.

Dec 30, 2011

Tom Adams, chief financial officer of cigarette-maker RAI Inc , will be keenly focused on the stock market on Friday, not with his company's share price in mind, but rather with the fate of his pension plan's portfolio.

Dec 30, 2011

Kobe Bryant's injured wrist did not prevent the All Star guard from lifting the LA Lakers to a 99-82 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Thursday.

Dec 30, 2011

Stocks were nearly unchanged on Friday, the last trading day of a turbulent year, but the S&P 500 looked set to end with a slight gain.

Dec 30, 2011

Ford Motor said its primary Ford brand vehicle sales topped 2 million in the United States this year, the first time since 2007 that any single automotive brand has reached that level.

Dec 30, 2011

Petroplus is to close three of its five oil refineries over the coming weeks because it has run out of money for crude supplies since bankers froze its credit lines abruptly this week.

Dec 30, 2011

European oil refiner Petroplus said it had had open and constructive discussions with its lenders and that talks would continue in the coming days as it seeks to restore its credit facilities and keep its operations going.

Dec 30, 2011

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Mark Hurd made increasingly aggressive romantic advances over several years toward an independent contractor who later accused him of sexual harassment, according to claims in a letter from her lawyer obtained by Reuters.

Dec 30, 2011

Spain's new government said on Friday the public deficit for 2011 would come in at 8 percent of gross domestic product, well above a target of 6 percent, and announced income and property tax hikes and a civil servant wage freeze in response.

Dec 30, 2011

A new NBC-Marist poll mirrors a CNN/Time/ORC poll released earlier this week, affirming an 11th-hour picture of the Iowa caucuses in which Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are battling for the win, Rick Santorum has suddenly shed his sidenote status and Newt Gingrich has become virtually irrelevant.

Dec 30, 2011

Stocks edged lower on Friday, the last trading day of 2011, as investors waited for next year to begin making large bets.

Dec 30, 2011

Out with the old year, in with the new and for investors uncertainty is likely to be the only certainty once more.

Dec 30, 2011

New U.S. claims for jobless benefits rose last week but the underlying trend pointed to an improving labor market, while regional factory data showed the economy gaining momentum as the year ended.

Dec 30, 2011

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open Friday, the last trading day of 2011, as investors waited until next year to begin making large bets.

Dec 30, 2011