IBT Staff Reporter

Investors could reap gains of 15 percent to 20 percent next year by buying top-quality stocks such as MetLife, Comcast Corp and Berkshire Hathaway , Barron's said in its Dec 12 edition.

Retailers are coming up with ways to make the gift card - that staple of holiday giving - more exciting to receive, from including a set of Lego blocks to putting images of popular paintings on the plastic cards.

On a recent morning inside a crowded town hall, auctioneer Jeffrey Obrecht sold off a sliver of western Iowa farmland barely wider than a football field.

Kazakh miner ENRC is examining existing allegations of corruption at a Kazakh iron ore subsidiary but denied on Sunday that it was the subject of a formal investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office .

On top of euro-zone debt troubles, Wall Street now has to worry about sagging sales from Europe as a recession in the region seems more likely.

BMW plans to boost its U.S. sales by a quarter in the medium term, the head of the automaker's U.S. business told a German magazine.

Inspectors for Greece's international lenders and private creditors kick off a round of meetings with the government on Monday to prepare for a new 130-billion euro ($173.75 billion) bailout plan and bond swap scheme to keep the country afloat.

Swiss and U.S. officials have met in recent days in Berne, Switzerland, to try to end a long-running dispute over wealthy Americans using secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes, and they seem to be getting closer to a deal, two newspapers reported Sunday.

Swiss and U.S. officials have met in recent days in Berne to try to end a long-running dispute over wealthy Americans using secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes, and seem to be getting closer to a deal, two newspapers reported on Sunday.

An agreement reached by European countries for deeper economic integration was a step in the right direction but not a complete solution for the Eurozone's debt crisis, International Monetary Fund Economic Counsellor Olivier Blanchard said Sunday.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd said on Sunday its annual mobile handset sales this year had exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company's history.

It was billed as a summit to save the euro. It may be remembered as the day Europe lost patience with Britain, as most of the continent threw its lot in with European Union founding members France and Germany and committed to binding their economies ever more tightly.

It was billed as a summit to save the euro. It may be remembered as the day Europe lost patience with Britain, as most of the continent threw its lot in with EU founding members France and Germany and committed to binding their economies ever more tightly.

Europe secured an historic agreement to draft a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone on Friday, but Britain, the region's third largest economy, refused to join the other 26 countries in a fiscal union and was left isolated.

Barcelona went to the top of the La Liga table with a comeback 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the seventh El Clasico of the year at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said on Sunday its annual mobile handset sales this year had exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company's history.

German loss-making airline Air Berlin aims to trim costs by up to 250 million euros (£213.6 million) per year, a German magazine reported, which would be one fourth above its official savings target for 2012 of 200 million euros.

Actress Lindsay Lohan, in her first interview since being sent to jail last month for a probation violation, tells Playboy that she has learned to be accountable for her mistakes.

A six-hour Tree of Life?

More bad news for the beleaguered Community. The NBC comedy was hit by a double-digit dip Thursday night, while CBS swept the night, according to preliminary numbers.

The Daily Show and Tonight Show alum Mo Rocca has moved up the CBS News chain, getting a promotion from contributor to correspondent on CBS Sunday Morning.

Hungary's government would like an aid package of between 10 billion euros and 15 billion euros from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to stabilize its economy, preferably on favorable terms, but it would be willing to accept a stricter deal, bank analysts said.

Hungary's government is aiming for a 10-15 billion euro package from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to stabilize its economy, preferably with lighter terms, but would be also willing to accept a stricter deal, bank analysts said.

Harrison Ford has officially signed on for the upcoming Jackie Robinson biopic, Legendary Pictures announced today.

It sealed Brooke Shields' status as a teen star (and, trivia, made her the first-ever recipient of the Worst Actress Razzie), and now Lifetime is going to remake the 1980 drama The Blue Lagoon.

The tables have turned on the army sergeant who sued The Hurt Locker team over a year ago for allegedly stealing his life story.

After weeks of feverish speculation about turmoil and infighting at ICM, the agency has reached a deal in which majority shareholder Rizvi Traverse will gradually sell its shares to an agency-wide partnership, according to several individuals with knowledge of the situation.

Spider-Man actress Kirsten Dunst has obtained a temporary restraining order against a Frenchman who's accused of stalking her, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap.

A gunman opened fire on motorists in the heart of Hollywood on Friday, wounding three people before he was shot to death by an off-duty police officer who had been working on a nearby film set.