IBT Staff Reporter

Futures on the S&P 500 hit their highest level in more than a month on Wednesday as investors bet the upcoming earnings season and more merger activity will continue to lift equities higher.

Apr 06, 2011

Analog chips are back in fashion after Texas Instruments Inc hatched a $6.5 billion deal to buy National Semiconductor Corp as it looks to cement its place in the mobile computing explosion.

Apr 06, 2011

A Texas judge has overturned a $625 million patent infringement award against Apple Inc, saying the jury erred in finding the maker of Mac computers used technology owned by Mirror Worlds LLC illegally.

Apr 06, 2011

Genpact Ltd (NYSE: G), the outsourcing company spun off from General Electric Co., has agreed to acquire privately-held IT services provider Headstrong Corp. for $550 million in cash to expand its operations in the United States.

Apr 06, 2011

Conan O'Brien perched himself in front Facebook on Tuesday sending out a steady stream of status updates in a much-watched live-blog. The slideshow has the full transcript accompanied by photos:

Apr 06, 2011

Twitter experienced service disruptions on Tuesday, displaying an older version of the social networking website to some users and becoming completely inaccessible to others.

Apr 06, 2011

Wall Street was set to extend recent gains that have seen key indexes hit their highest since 2008, on optimism for economic recovery, and mergers and acquisitions activity.

Apr 06, 2011

The colour of the environment is changing – becoming bluer – apparently due to climate change, says a new study that finds that environment and animal populations are fluctuating more rapidly over time. The change that could have important implications for animals' risk of becoming extinct, ecologists have found.

Apr 06, 2011

Days after Evan Williams declared dark days of imminent technical meltdown are over, at Twitter, the microblogging site suffered a glitch in connection with its interface.

Apr 06, 2011

Scandalous star, Charlie Sheen, is reportedly busy in a legal application seeking to trademark 22 of his famous catchphrases, which have also come to be dubbed Sheen-isms.

Apr 06, 2011

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) announced a multiyear syndication deal under which Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) has licensed the first four seasons of its Emmy Award-winning series Mad Men to be watched instantly by Netflix members starting July 27.

Apr 06, 2011

The following is the current status live from IAEA on the earthquake-crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan:

Apr 06, 2011

Technology giant Google is developing a facial recognition mobile app that would allow users to snap a picture of a friend or new acquaintance - and then access his or her Google Profile contact information, according to various media outlets.

Apr 06, 2011

Justin Bieber has a female look-alike and the video with striking resemblance is making the rounds on the internet.

Apr 06, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> said on Wednesday it would not restart production at most of its idled Japanese vehicle assembly factories next week, denying a Nikkei newspaper report.

Apr 06, 2011

German side Schalke 04 humiliated holders Inter Milan with a 5-2 win at the San Siro in the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals.

Apr 05, 2011

Real Madrid cruised past Tottenham Hotspur with a comprehensive 4-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final.

Apr 05, 2011

Japan will not issue new debt to fund an initial extra budget of more than $35 billion for disaster relief, the Asahi newspaper said, in a sign the government is wary of alarming bond investors by adding too much to Japan's already huge debt pile.

Apr 05, 2011

Japan's government is likely to set aside more than 3 trillion yen ($35 billion) for its first extra budget for disaster relief, the Asahi newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Apr 05, 2011

LOS ANGELES - Mad Men reruns will start streaming on Netflix in the United States on July 27, the video service and series producer Lionsgate said Tuesday.

Apr 05, 2011

American Superconductor Corp, which makes electrical systems for wind farms, said it will post a loss in the fourth quarter, as a slowdown in China's wind power market forced its top customer to refuse shipments.

Apr 05, 2011

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

Apr 05, 2011

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

Apr 05, 2011

Tens of millions of customers and employees of major banks, hotels and retailers are now at risk of spear-phishing attacks after hackers stole their email addresses in what may become one of the biggest data breaches ever, security experts warned.

Apr 05, 2011

U.S. antitrust regulators may investigate Google Inc's dominance of the Web search industry, and will settle on the agency to launch a probe once scrutiny into the company's plan to buy ITA software is done, a source told Reuters.

Apr 05, 2011

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

Apr 05, 2011

Online coupon site LivingSocial said it raised $400 million in a round of funding, bringing the total to more than $600 million as investors flock to companies that provide socially driven discounts.

Apr 05, 2011

The White House, locked in a battle on the 2011 budget, weighed in on the 2012 Republican proposal unveiled on Tuesday, saying it did not do enough to spread the sacrifice needed to reduce the federal budget deficit in the coming years.

Apr 05, 2011

Blockbuster Inc's future was at stake on Tuesday as billionaire investor Carl Icahn squared off against Dish Network Corp and two other suitors at a bankruptcy auction to decide the movie rental chain's next owner.

Apr 05, 2011