IBT Staff Reporter

The Australian dollar found some support from the release of strong Chinese trade data yesterday. The unofficial report served to support the view that the Chinese economy is still performing very strongly, in contrast to the current situation in Europe.

AT&T Inc said on Wednesday users of Apple's iPad may have had their personal information exposed through a network security flaw.

BP Plc shares tumbled nearly 16 percent on U.S. exchanges to a 14-year low on Wednesday on rising fears about how the wounded company will cope with the massive costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

BP Plc shares tumbled nearly 16 percent on U.S. exchanges to a 14-year low on Wednesday on rising fears about how the wounded company will cope with the massive costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

The Australian Dollar opens higher today against the big dollar at 0.8270. Recent gains fizzled out during local trade yesterday as Asian equity markets pulled back helping to push the Aussie down to an intraday low just above US82 cents.

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The world's leading gaming hardware makers, hoping to reignite the slumping $60 billion industry, will unveil at E3 next week a range of futuristic gadgets designed to pull in a new generation of players.

BP Plc has bought terms such as oil spill from search engine providers including Google Inc to help direct Internet users to its website as it attempts to control the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

There is a good chance that the sweeping U.S. financial reform bill will be passed in a reasonable form, White House economic adviser Paul Volcker said on Wednesday, adding the bill could provide a basis for international coordination on coherent legislation.

BP shares trading on U.S. exchanges fell more than 15 percent to a 14-year low on Wednesday on growing worries about the costs the oil company will incur after the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

Motorola Inc is seeing strong demand for its Droid phone at Verizon Wireless despite the popularity of rival HTC Corp's Droid Incredible, co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said on Wednesday.

Stocks fell on Wednesday in another late-day roller-coaster ride, dragged lower by BP and other energy shares as the U.S. probe of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico deepened.

Someone has bid $700,100 to dine with billionaire investor Warren Buffett in an annual charity auction, putting the bidding far ahead of last year's level.

CVS Caremark Corp will remove Walgreen Co from its pharmacy benefits management network in retaliation for Walgreen's decision to stop filling prescriptions for new CVS Caremark business.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the U.S. economic recovery was on a solid footing but cautioned it could be years before the jobs lost during the deep recession of 2008-2009 are restored.

Economic activity improved nationwide last month, but worries about Europe's debt crisis dented confidence, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book collection of anecdotal reports.

U.S. economic activity improved nationwide last month, but worries about Europe's debt crisis dented confidence, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book collection of anecdotal reports.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has abandoned his proxy fight at Genzyme Corp in return for the biotechnology company's acceptance of two of his representatives to its board.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the U.S. economic recovery was on a solid footing but cautioned it could be years before the jobs lost during the deep recession of 2008-2009 are restored.

BP shares trading on U.S. exchanges fell 14 percent in New York on Wednesday on growing worries about the costs the oil company will incur as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

(Linda Stern is a freelance writer. Any opinions in the column are solely those of Ms. Stern. You can follow Linda Stern's financial notes on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lindastern)

Germany dashed Opel's hopes of receiving state aid on Monday, at least initially, in a ruling the carmaker believes was motivated by sovereign debt crisis rather than anger over perceived sins committed by its Detroit parent.

Hyatt Hotels Corp is trying to lock its workers into recession-era wages despite an economic uptick that has helped bolster shares about 40 percent since Hyatt's initial public offering in November, a union spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Germany's economy ministry rejected a request for 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in loan guarantees for loss-making carmaker Opel.

It is difficult to forecast the impact of severe tropical weather in the Gulf of Mexico region on crude oil production, because shut-in production in any particular year varies depending on the overall level of severe weather and the specific track of each storm (see Figure 1). The 2008 and 2009 hurricane seasons illustrate a wide range of oil production impacts.

The following are highlights from a House of Representatives Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying. For text of prepared testimony, click on

Home buying applications sank for a fifth straight week to a fresh 13-year low, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, suggesting that tax credits had robbed more from future sales than expected.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has abandoned his proxy fight at Genzyme Corp in return for the biotechnology company's acceptance of two of his representatives to its board.

The United States is not facing a double-dip recession, and with inflation low conditions are setting up for equities in general to do well, Goldman Sachs' senior U.S. investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen said on Wednesday.