IBT Staff Reporter

Victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme might recover as much as $6.2 billion less than previously estimated if a recent court decision involving owners of New York Mets baseball team remains the law.

Hewlett Packard Co will pay fired CEO Leo Apotheker nearly $10 million in severance and bonuses, a handsome payout for a much-criticized leader that dwarfs new chief Meg Whitman's $1-a-year base salary.

Bank of America will charge debit-card users $5 a month in response to new federal regulations that could cost the company up to $2 billion in annual revenue, it announced on Thursday.

The chances of the U.S. economy averting a new recession got a boost on Thursday with claims for jobless benefits falling to a five-month low last week and growth a touch stronger in the second quarter than previously estimated.

Canada will reintroduce copyright legislation on Thursday as it grapples with the realities of the Internet age and tries to balance the demands of consumers with concerns from the movie industry.

Raymond James Financial Inc will pay more than $2.1 million to resolve claims by brokerage watchdog FINRA that the regional brokerage charged excessive commissions on trades to nearly 16,000 accounts, FINRA announced on Thursday.

September U.S. auto sales are seen rising to their highest since April when the earthquake in Japan began to impact inventory and demand, but a weak economic outlook will curb the pace of the industry's recovery in the coming months.

Stocks mostly rose in a volatile session on Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data and German approval of a beefed-up euro-zone crisis fund relieved two of the worst fears hanging over the market.

Kik Interactive, an instant messaging service startup against which Research In Motion launched a lawsuit last year, is testing a new version of software that can be used on RIM's BlackBerry smartphones, Kik's founder said on Thursday.

Kraft Foods boss Irene Rosenfeld is the most powerful woman in U.S. business, Fortune magazine said on Thursday, bumping PepsiCo Inc chief Indra Nooyi into second spot after five years on top.

Oracle and Autonomy escalated their war of words on Thursday, sparring publicly over whether the British software firm had ever been shopped to the U.S. technology giant.

Ben Bernanke put markets on notice this week: Despite already having spent trillions of dollars to stimulate growth, the Federal Reserve would do more if inflation falls too far and the threat of deflation grows.

Executives in charge of developer relations and business outreach at Research In Motion have left the company, the latest in a string of departures this year as the BlackBerry maker trims its workforce.

A war of words between Oracle and Autonomy escalated on Thursday when dealmaker Frank Quattrone and Autonomy chief Mike Lynch disputed the U.S. software giant's claims about the nature of a meeting all three parties attended in April.

The trustee for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme delayed an initial distribution of $272 million scheduled for September 30 to former Madoff customers with valid claims, citing a recent court decision involving owners of the New York Mets baseball team.

A court ruling striking down the Department of Defense's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy must be declared moot, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Thursday.

Listeria-based illnesses that first spread in early September linked to tainted cantaloupes are already being called the deadliest outbreak in over ten years will likely rise higher in the next month, health officials said on Wednesday.

Stocks mostly rose in a volatile session on Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data and German approval of a beefed-up Eurozone crisis fund relieved two of the worst fears hanging over the market.

Liz Claiborne Inc on Thursday won the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit accusing the clothing designer of fraudulently misrepresenting its relationships with department store chains Macy's Inc and J.C. Penney Co , causing its stock to fall.

Stocks mostly rose in a volatile session on Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data and German approval of a beefed-up euro-zone crisis fund relieved two of the worst fears hanging over the market.

With more than $140 billion worth of claimholders now supporting its proposed bankruptcy exit plan, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's prospects for getting the plan approved by the end of the year are brightening.

Federal prosecutors demanded on Thursday that the judge who will sentence convicted Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam make documents about the former money manager's medical records public.

The executive in charge of Research In Motion's developer relations has left the company, the latest in a string of departures this year as the BlackBerry maker trims its workforce.

Shares of U.S.-listed Chinese companies fell on Thursday after a top securities regulator said U.S. criminal authorities are investigating accounting irregularities at Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

An analyst said on Thursday that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion may have halted production of its PlayBook tablet computer and canceled additional tablet projects.

Pilots at United Airlines lost on Thursday in their bid to postpone the integration of flight operations with Continental Airlines, an essential step to completing the 2010 merger of the two carriers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission faces hurdles proving wrongdoing at credit-rating agencies, the agency's enforcement chief said, pointing to the complexity of the cases and the industry's strong legal defenses.

Swiss bank UBS AG said on Thursday interim Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti, in office for nearly a week following the departure of Oswald Gruebel, would drop his business responsibilities with other companies.

Michael Jackson's doctor delayed calling 911 so he could hide certain medical supplies first, a witness testified Thursday in the trial of Conrad Murray, who is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the singer's 2009 death.