IBT Staff Reporter

Amazon.com Inc shares dropped to levels not seen since March Wednesday on concern that big spending and aggressive pricing by the No. 1 Internet retailer will hit profit during the crucial holiday season and well into next year.

Former Olympus Corp president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa had said in 2008 that taking over three domestic companies would make hidden investment losses go down by a lot, people familiar with the cover-up told the Nikkei business daily.

The holidays this year will be especially memorable for a Kansas City woman who has received a state record $6.1 million from a Missouri unclaimed property fund consisting of a single security.

Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sank commodity prices, sent the euro to an 11-month low against the dollar and drove Italy's borrowing costs to a euro-era high.

Rick Santorum, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who has been hanging out with Jon Huntsman at the bottom of the Republican pack, said in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday that the United States was not so gradually beginning to resemble fascist Italy.

Google Inc is making $11.5 million in grants to fight modern slavery and its hold on 27 million people worldwide, the technology company said on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund stepped up pressure on Greece on Wednesday, saying promised reforms were behind schedule in most areas and the delays were stalling recovery from years of recession.

Another new book about late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is hitting bookshelves next month, this one a graphic narrative exploring the innovator's spiritual development, the publishers announced on Wednesday.

Another new book about late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is hitting bookshelves next month, this one a graphic narrative exploring the innovator's spiritual development, the publishers announced on Wednesday.

A recruitment freeze at Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM will lead to 2,000 job cuts in 2012 as the carrier looks to save about 800 million euros ($1.04 billion) annually over the next three years, French economic daily La Tribune reported on Wednesday.

Credit Agricole will make a 2011 loss, write off 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion) worth of assets and cut 2,350 jobs in a cull of its investment banking operations, the French bank said on Wednesday in its second profit warning of the year.

Holiday shoppers are increasingly pulling out their phones instead of their debit cards when it comes time to pay for a purchase, but what risks are they exposing themselves to when they do that?

Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sent commodity prices tumbling, drove the euro to its lowest in a year and forced Italy to pay a euro-era high to sell debt.

Chipmaker Intel is combining four divisions under a new mobile and communications unit in a bid to catch up in smartphones and tablets, where it has so far failed to gain traction.

Here's an incongruous image: a Westboro Baptist Church member holding virulently homophobic signs... while wearing a Glee T-shirt.

A bankruptcy judge approved on Wednesday a deal to allow collapsed broker MF Global Holdings Ltd to finance the rest of its bankruptcy with about $21 million in cash pledged as collateral to JPMorgan Chase & Co, one of its primary lenders.

Chief executives expect the U.S. economy to continue its slow, uneven recovery over the next few months and are concerned about the rising costs of raw materials and the expense of complying with regulations, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Best Buy Co Inc is the first of many retailers that will report falling margins as merchants reluctantly cling to steep discounts to draw consumers in this holiday season.

Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sank commodity prices, drove the euro to its lowest in a year, and pushed Italian bond yields to a record high.

A three-page contract, which resulted in the creation of Apple Computer Co. and was signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976, was sold at an auction for $1,594,500 on Tuesday. At a Sotheby’s auction in New York City on Tuesday, about 20 people attended the bidding of the document. Six bidders were on telephone and online. Finally, it went to a telephone bidder Eduardo Cisneros, the CEO of Cisneros Corp.

General Motors Co's <GM.N> European unit Opel could see next year's operating profit reduced by about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), as the company may sell fewer cars than set out in its restructuring plan, a German magazine reported.

Congress passed new legislation on Tuesday that would give the Federal Communications Commission the authority to auction off television companies' broadband spectrum, so it can be reallocated for mobile and internet companies.

Hollywood movie producers are honoring Angelina Jolie's Bosnia war film In the Land of Blood and Honey with a special award for its portrayal of social issues.

Universal Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to the young adult-fantasy novel Daughter of Smoke & Bone, the studio announced Wednesday.

The Screen Actors Guild on Wednesday picked nominees for best performances of 2011 in movies and television. While the group that represents actors honors TV performances, the SAG Awards are more closely watched for their impact in the race for Oscars.

Task outsourcing startup TaskRabbit has closed a new $17.8 million round of funding, the company announced today.

JumpTime, a Los-Angeles based technology company, has hired media veteran Elizabeth Osder as SVP of Strategy & Business Development.

Police in Baltimore evicted anti-Wall Street protesters on Tuesday and operations returned to normal at West Coast ports a day after a series of marches that disrupted operations at several terminals.

U.S. solar installations soared nearly 40 percent in the third quarter and are likely to be even higher in the current period, though 2011 overall will lag expectations slightly due to a decline in state incentives.