IBT Staff Reporter

Lam Research Corp , a supplier of wafer fabrication equipment, agreed to buy smaller rival Novellus Systems Inc for $3.3 billion in stock as it looks to gain cutting-edge technology and become more efficient.

The Tennessee National Guard has launched a pilot program that will allow potentially suicidal troops to use a new smart phone application to immediately connect them to help.

Shares in Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp slumped almost 20 percent on Thursday after it corrected its accounts to reveal a dramatically weakened balance sheet, stoking talk that it might need to merge, sell assets or raise fresh capital.

China's exporters will face very severe conditions in the first quarter of 2012, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, with Europe's debt crisis dragging on and dampening demand.

Shares in Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp slumped almost 20 percent on Thursday after it corrected its accounts to reveal a dramatically weakened balance sheet, stoking talk that it might need to merge, sell assets or raise fresh capital.

Buy the rumor, sell the EU summit.Eight times this year, European Union leaders have met to tackle their deepening sovereign debt crisis, raising hopes in financial markets that a solution could be close.

A downgrade of France's AAA credit rating would not be justified and ratings agencies are making decisions based more on politics than economics, European Central Bank policymaker Christian Noyer said on Thursday.

Avon Products Inc's new chief executive will need to figure out how to improve operations from Russia to Brazil, look at whether direct selling works in the United States and be someone who can charm the millions of representatives who sell its cosmetics to consumers.

Shares of Olympus tumbled as much as 19.6 percent on Thursday, a day after the company restated financial accounts after a 13-year fraud, with a dent in its balance sheet triggering speculation it will need to raise capital to repair its finances.

Gazit-Globe and Sanchez Energy opened to a muted response on their trading debut, as companies without the dotcom tag find little favor with investors.

We generate substantially all of our revenue and players through the Facebook platform and expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future, Zynga wrote in its IPO prospectus.

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.