IBT Staff Reporter

Google Inc is pondering an Internet service to help consumers shop online and take advantage of same-day delivery, hoping to stanch the loss of Web traffic to Amazon.com Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The trustee seeking money for Bernard Madoff's victims won the right to immediately appeal a ruling that took away more than $19 billion of his claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co, Madoff's main bank for two decades.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, under pressure from a spiraling euro zone debt crisis five months before a presidential election, told France on Thursday the euro bloc needs closer and stricter coordination of national budgets to survive.

H&R Block Inc posted a wider quarterly loss as the largest U.S. tax preparer continued to take charges by disposing of non-core assets.

Stocks treaded water on Thursday after the previous day's massive gains, but traders worried that recent strong data could set the market up for a sell-off should Friday's jobs report fall short of hopes.

Over 650,000 Groupon’s were sold between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the holiday store “Grouponicus,” according to a blog post by Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason.

U.S. factories shrugged off weakness in the global economy in November as manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in five months, a fresh sign the domestic economy was accelerating.

The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out.

A pro-democracy blogger who was jailed for insulting UAE leaders, then pardoned and released hours later, Thursday vowed to go on with his campaign work, sounding a rare note of defiance in the Gulf Arab oil state.

Current Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam will take on a new role as Chairman of the Board in January as recently retired CEO Ivan Seidenberg will step down as a director, the company announced Thursday.

U.S. auto sales rose 14 percent in November, paced by gains at Chrysler Group LLC and Volkswagen AG, as consumers returned to showrooms even without the lure of a big year-end sale.

Rick Perry has released three TV ads in Iowa in the past 24 hours in an attempt to re-establish himself in the state that will hold the nation's first caucuses on Jan. 3.

WASHINGTON (TheWrap.com) - Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) continued a barrage of support for proposed online anti-piracy legislation Thursday, calling claims that such a law would threaten internet freedoms blatantly false.

The Issue: The parent company of American Airlines , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. But there are still airline industry investing opportunities.

The European Commission joined forces with major technology firms including Apple, Facebook and Google on Thursday to improve the protection of children online.

General Motors Co may redesign the battery for its Chevrolet Volt to address issues raised after federal officials opened a safety probe into the plug-in electric car, GM's chief executive said on Thursday.

AT&T Inc accused the U.S. communications regulator of being one-sided and cherry-picking facts when it issued a stinging rebuke of the company's plan to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom.

Former Twitter engineering Vice President Michael Abbott is joining Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers next week as a partner, the firm said, signaling its commitment to social networks, mobile and the cloud.

Ireland and Iceland are seeking to fuel their hard-hit economies and exploit their position on the western edge of Europe with new data centers to be connected via a new, $300 million transatlantic telecoms cable by 2013.

Shares of Barnes & Noble fell more than 16 percent as the New York-based company posted a $6.6 million loss in the fiscal second quarter due to sagging book sales, resulting in a loss of 17 cents a share.

Herman Cain, who said on Tuesday that he was reassessing whether to stay in the presidential race before saying on Wednesday that there was no chance he would drop out, is now changing course again and saying he may decide to drop out after all -- but not until he talks to his wife.

Federal officials in Boston said on Thursday they charged 13 people in connection with a kickback scheme involving microcap stocks.

Stocks mostly dipped late on Thursday, as raised hopes for a stellar payrolls report on Friday may be hard to match.

Research In Motion does not install, nor authorize, its carrier partners to install Carrier IQ monitoring software on its BlackBerry smartphones, the company said on Thursday.

Sprint Nextel Corp , the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider, agreed to pay up to $1.6 billion to Clearwire Corp in the next four years, including a network pact and a potential equity infusion, easing concerns about a liquidity crisis at Clearwire.

Sasol Ltd. is planning to add a multibillion ethane cracker and ethylene-derivative project to its Lake Charles facility in Louisiana, in part to leverage on the rapid development of shale gas in North America.

President Nicolas Sarkozy will endeavor to warm the nation to giving Brussels more control over national budgets on Thursday as the euro zone crisis pushes France towards recession, squeezes its banks and threatens its AAA credit rating.

Wall Street eased on Thursday after the Dow posted its best run in nearly three years, but hopes Friday's key jobs report would underscore signs of strength in U.S. economy kept investors engaged.

British online gambling company Betfair urged EU regulators on Thursday to stop Germany from implementing a new gambling law, saying it did not comply with EU rules and that it favored state monopolies.