IBT Staff Reporter

Oil rose toward a 2-1/2 year high and stocks fell on Wednesday as investors shunned risky assets on concern that escalating tension in Libya would spread in the Middle East and disrupt fuel supplies.

Oil rose toward a 2-1/2 year high and stocks fell on Wednesday as investors shunned risky assets on concern that escalating tension in Libya would spread in the Middle East and disrupt fuel supplies.

U.S. auto sales surged by 27 percent in February, exceeding the most bullish analyst forecasts as the lure of discounts from automakers led by General Motors Co outweighed concerns about higher oil prices for car shoppers.

Yahoo Inc is in advanced talks to exit its joint venture in Japan with Softbank Corp, a move that could lead it to focus on reaching a decision on its China assets.

TNK-BP has offered to buy a 5 percent stake in BP for 5 billion pounds ($8.16 billion) in an attempt to resolve a dispute over BP's proposed deal with Rosneft , the Times said on Wednesday.

Frank Lowy is handing over control of Australian shopping mall giant Westfield Group to two of his sons, marking the start of a new era for the company the Czech-born Jewish refugee founded 52 years ago.

The trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme has sued Tremont Group Holdings for $2.1 billion, saying it missed warning signs the business could be a fraud.

A Northern California hedge fund manager faces one count of wire fraud for improperly diverting more than $12 million, but that charge will be dismissed after three years provided he fulfills an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, according to a court filing.

The top two U.S. defense officials have not confirmed if the Libyan government has been firing on its own people from aircraft.

Yahoo Inc is in advanced talks to exit its joint venture in Japan with SoftBank Corp, a move that could lead it to focus on reaching a decision on its China assets.

A former UBS AG banker has been charged with conspiracy for helping wealthy Americans hide assets to evade U.S. income taxes, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in federal court in Florida.

Charlie Sheen joined the Twitter ranks on Tuesday, opening a new window into the restless psyche of the former sitcom star.

Bailed-out insurer American International Group will sell off its stake in MetLife Inc months earlier than expected, accelerating its repayment of the U.S. government and giving MetLife more control of what had been an overhang for its shares.

The Senate voted on Tuesday to strip controversial provisions out of a bipartisan bill to revamp the U.S. patent system and clear a years long backlog of patent applications.

A Bay Area hedge fund manager settled civil charges that he secretly diverted more than $12 million in proceeds to other entities he controlled, securities regulators announced.

The House of Representatives passed a two-week budget extension on Tuesday, averting a shutdown that would have begun on March 4.

A controversial decision by Canada's telecommunications regulator that effectively blocked small Internet providers from offering customers unlimited downloads could stifle innovation and harm the economy, Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Tuesday.

Financial penalties extracted from large banks over their mortgage servicing practices may be used for loan modifications, a top Obama administration official said on Monday.

The company says it is planning to end its tiered data plans ahead of the launch of the iPhone 5.

Bank of America's online banking goes down and subsequently gets restored, says the company's Twitter account.

American International Group Inc will sell MetLife Inc shares it received in the 2010 sale of American Life Insurance Co to MetLife earlier than originally planned, the company said on Tuesday.

Pilots will soon be able to use the iPad to replace paper charts.

Spot gold rallied to a record of $1,432.10 an ounce, surpassing its previous record of $1,430.95 set on December 7, as chaos in Libya and political turmoil in the Arab world prompted safe-haven buying and soaring oil prices boosted bullion's inflation hedge appeal.

Costs for touch screen, memory, and processor to blame for Xoom's price point.

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A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director leaked secret details to Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam about Warren Buffett's plan to invest $5 billion in the Wall Street bank at the height of the financial crisis, a U.S. securities regulator charged.

U.S. auto sales surged by 27 percent in February, exceeding the most bullish analyst forecasts as the lure of discounts from automakers led by General Motors Co outweighed concerns about higher oil prices for car shoppers.

FrontPoint Partners, the $4.5 billion hedge fund ensnared in the government's insider trading probe, is back on its own after more than four years of living with investment bank Morgan Stanley .

The next government auction of valuable wireless spectrum in Canada is still at least a year and a half away, but the fight among telecom companies over how the auction should be run is already in full swing.