IBT Staff Reporter

Yahoo Inc is considering a plan to unload most of its prized Asian assets in a complex deal valued at roughly $17 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, winning nods of approval from Wall Street and driving its shares higher.

Softbank Corp will quit its domestic social networking site business after just five years, liquidating a joint venture with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for the Japanese-language version of Myspace, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits hit a 3-1/2 year low last week, bolstering views the economy was gaining momentum, even though third-quarter growth was revised down.

A 2010 inspection by the U.S. audit industry watchdog faulted accounting giant Ernst & Young for a range of audit issues, including not getting enough supporting evidence and problems with testing the fair value of financial instruments.

Patent firm IPCom has sued German retailers for patent infringement for continuing to sell phones made by HTC, the No. 4 smartphone maker globally.

Stocks rose on Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on the cusp of finishing out the year higher as another decline in jobless claims pointed to further improvement in the labor market.

There will be no holiday cheer for hedge fund manager John Paulson this month, as his dismal performance in 2011 is capped off by another miserable performance so far in December.

While most of New York was fast asleep at 3 am on Thursday, 25-year old Tatiana Baret from the Bronx went to Macy's.

As Wall Street traders cheered positive jobs data on Thursday, they seemed to ignore layoffs and bonus cuts on their own trading floors that will hurt growth in the broader U.S. jobs market in the coming months, TrimTabs Chief Executive Charles Biderman said.

Wall Street may not be on Santa Claus's list for presents this year.

The dangers facing Europe's financial system have continued to worsen, Europe's recently created super-watchdog, the European System Risk Board , said on Thursday, as it urged the euro zone to get its new rescue fund up and running.

Stocks rose in another thinly traded session on Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after data pointed to ongoing improvement in the labor market and reinforced expectations for a rally into the end of the year.

Following are brief profiles of the 15 teams in the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Western Conference ahead of the 2011-12 season.

Oh, Kim Jong-il, why did you have to go and ruin a 30 Rock subplot?

National Geographic Films, which is associated with the hit documentary March of the Penguins in 2005, is shutting down, according to two individuals with knowledge of the independent studio.

Former American Idol finalist Adam Lambert brushed off his arrest in Finland on Thursday, blaming his bad behavior on travel, booze and irrational confusion and adding lesson learned on Twitter.

U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sent an apology letter to First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday after he was overheard talking about her large posterior.

In 100 years of Chinese film, The Flowers of War is the first major title to feature a western movie star. It earned a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign language film, and is China's entry for Oscars.

Everybody's confused about the new Best Picture process.

Hospitals in California that served a greater proportion of black patients were more likely to shutter their emergency departments in the past decade than hospitals with fewer black patients, according to a new study.

Broadway is enjoying a renaissance -- and Hollywood is hoping to get a piece of the action.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close director Stephen Daldry has secured what is expected to be the final slot on the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Awards Gala lineup, taking the Director of the Year Award from the fest.

A reverend, a tiler, an academic, an environmental campaigner and a former investment banker are trading verbal blows in a bright, modern church hall in south London in December.

Micron Technology Inc's shares jumped 15 percent on Thursday after investors looked past limp quarterly results and focused on a potential 2012 rebound in long-stagnant memory chip demand and prices.

Deutsche Boerse won U.S. antitrust approval to buy NYSE Euronext on Thursday in a $9 billion deal that has hit serious antitrust headwinds in Europe.

While his opponents are blanketing Iowa and New Hampshire with last-minute appeals for support, Newt Gingrich is stuck in Virginia, trying to get enough signatures to get his name on the ballot for a primary that doesn't take place until March 6.

Stocks edged higher on Thursday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 index on track for its third straight advance after data pointed to ongoing improvement in the labor market and reinforced expectations for a rally into the end of the year.

U.S. auto sales in December are expected to top 13 million on an annual rate for the fourth consecutive month, indicating uncertainty about the economy has not slowed the industry down, J.D. Power and Associates and LMC Automotive said on Thursday.

Consumer sentiment improved in December to its highest level in six months as Americans felt better about the economy's prospects for the year ahead, a survey released on Thursday showed.