IBT Staff Reporter

Shares of Research In Motion jumped on Wednesday on speculation that next week it would unveil a new touchscreen BlackBerry that could compete more effectively with Apple Inc's iPhone and other smartphones.

U.S. media companies are set to report revenue increases of 5 to 15 percent as they issue earnings reports over the next two weeks -- the best the industry has looked in at least two years.

Facebook Inc won a legal fight on Wednesday over claims its hugely popular social networking website infringed a patent owned by Leader Technologies, but the little-known company said it would ask the judge to set aside the verdict.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after weak durable goods figures and a downbeat assessment of the economy from the Fed's Beige Book kept the benchmark S&P 500 trapped below its 200-day moving average.

A New York judge put two shareholder lawsuits against executives and directors of Goldman Sachs Group Inc on hold until progress is made on 16 other lawsuits related to a controversial debt transaction involving the Wall Street bank.

The economy kept growing overall in recent weeks, but unevenly and it actually slowed in a few regions as housing markets softened after the end of a popular tax break, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

Hackers replaced a Book of the Dead with neo-Nazi slogans and symbols on World War Two concentration camp Buchenwald's website (www.buchenwald.de) on Wednesday and completely erased the Mittelbau Dora camp website.

Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators.

U.S. home loan demand cooled last week as rising mortgage rates curbed refinancing requests that had soared to a 14-month high, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

New orders for manufactured goods like cars and planes fell unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting the largest drop since August in a sign economic recovery cooled in the second quarter.

Stocks were lower and the S&P 500 remained below a key technical level on Wednesday as conflicting reports showed improved corporate earnings and falling durable goods orders.

BP Plc may permanently shut the well that caused the worst off-shore oil spill in U.S. history as early as Monday, the company said on Wednesday as speculation grew over the assets it might sell to cover mounting costs.

Majority of Australian consumers favor having their own e-health record but at no cost to them, according to a phone survey commissioned by the CSC, the world's largest health systems integrator.

Algae have been studied for many years as a potential renewable energy feedstock to produce motor fuels. Below, we discuss the attributes of algae that make it potentially attractive and some of the technological and economic challenges in algae cultivation, harvesting, and oil extraction that must be addressed before algae-based fuels can be commercially produced.

Amazon.com said its best-selling Kindle device was currently out of stock, leading one Internet analyst to surmise the online retailer was poised to launch a new version.

Shares of BlackBerry smartphone maker Research In Motion Ltd jumped early on Wednesday on speculation it is set to unveil a long-awaited touchscreen handset designed to battle Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Amazon.com said its best-selling Kindle device was currently out of stock, leading one Internet analyst to surmise the online retailer was poised to launch a new version.

Oil prices fell a second straight day on Wednesday after economic and industry data fueled concerns about the pace of economic recovery and energy demand growth and also rising oil inventories.

Boeing Co reported a higher-than-expected quarterly net profit on Wednesday as the commercial airplane market recovers from a downturn, but its shares slipped 1.5 percent as revenue fell short of estimates.

Comcast Corp reported a better-than-expected 6 percent rise in quarterly revenue, but the cable giant's profit was undercut by fees it paid to bankers and lawyers involved in its acquisition of NBC Universal.

CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said on Wednesday the top-rated TV network was restless, motivated and paranoid about developing new shows and looking increasingly to social networking and the Internet for its next big hits.

Oil and gas producers ConocoPhillips, ENI and BG Group reported big jumps in second quarter profits on Wednesday thanks to higher oil and gas prices and firmer refining margins.

The S&P 500 struggled to break a key technical level as conflicting reports showing improved corporate earnings and falling orders for the most expensive manufactured goods kept U.S. stocks slightly lower on Wednesday.

ConocoPhillips , the third-largest U.S. oil company, on Wednesday said it will sell its entire stake in Russian oil major Lukoil in a bid to boost shareholder returns and reported better-than-expected quarterly profit.

The dollar fell versus the Japanese yen on Wednesday as a weaker-than-expected reading on new orders for U.S. durable goods added to fears about the U.S. economic outlook. Demand for the dollar also fell against the euro as investors awaited for more supportive news for the euro, which rose above $1.30 but has been stuck in a range recently.

Gold held near $1,160 an ounce in Europe on Wednesday, steadying after hitting three-month lows the day before, helped by a degree of investor nervousness over the U.S. economy and by strong demand from top consumer India.

Gold and copper production in China may suffer a setback following the Chinese government's order to limit Zijin Mining Group's production at a gold mine located near a separate copper mine that was the source of a toxic spill.

Boeing Co reported a higher-than-expected quarterly net profit on Wednesday as the commercial airplane market recovers from a downturn, but its shares slipped 2 percent as revenue fell short of estimates.

ConocoPhillips , the third-largest U.S. oil company, reported a better-than expected quarterly profit on Wednesday and said it will sell its entire stake in Lukoil.