IBT Staff Reporter

IBM said it expects its profit to nearly double to over $20 a share by 2015, helped by the company's push into profitable technology services and software businesses.

Last week's action on Wall Street and other world markets demonstrated anew gold's special qualities as a financial life preserver in tumultuous and uncertain times. With stock prices plummeting and the euro continuing to lose value as well as credibility, gold was virtually the only financial and investment asset to shine, continuing its recent sharp climb and breaking through the $1,200 level, according to Jeffrey Nichols, Senior Economic Advisor to Rosland Capital.

(Reuters) - U.S. pharmacy chain Walgreen Co plans to start selling genetic testing kits to help people assess their risk for inherited diseases in a move that has already drawn the attention of federal health officials.

Gold surged to a record high on Wednesday as investors sought safety from the risk of Greece's debt crisis spreading to other countries, with demand for coins, bars and bullion-backed exchange-traded funds all climbing.

Shoe lovers in London can give their Blackberries and iPhones a rest after one lucky fashionista won the race for a pair of free Jimmy Choos.

A private equity deal for Fidelity National Information Services Inc , currently being negotiated, could be worth around $15 billion if a buyout is agreed, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, boosted by gains in materials and technology shares and after Spain unveiled an austerity plan that further eased jitters over euro-zone sovereign debt woes.

Top oil executives faced a second day of grilling on Wednesday by U.S. lawmakers over a gushing well leak in the Gulf of Mexico as BP scrambled with its latest deep-sea effort to control the huge spill that threatens environmental disaster.

The U.S. trade deficit hit its widest point in more than a year in March, with a jump in imports swamping a rise in exports as the global economy strengthened, a government report showed on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage applications rose last week, reflecting a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates reached their lowest level since mid-March, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

More U.S. home sellers cut their listing prices in April, aiming to seal deals in the waning days of federal tax credits meant to revive housing, real estate web site Trulia.com said on Wednesday.

U.S. federal investigators are probing whether Morgan Stanley misled investors about mortgage derivative products it helped create and sometimes bet against, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Spain became the latest euro zone country to announce sweeping austerity measures on Wednesday as the executive European Commission sought unprecedented power to pre-vet national budgets.

Wall Street was set to open higher on Wednesday as Spain said it would take wide austerity measures, further easing jitters over euro-zone sovereign debt woes.

Ford Motor Co executives at the annual meeting Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, will have to make the case that the No. 2 U.S. automaker can outperform rivals in a recovering U.S. market as it did during the crushing downturn in auto sales that began in 2008.

The story of how Pennsylvania's capital city Harrisburg has lurched toward the precipice of financial ruin is a cuckoo tale involving one man's vision of creating a hub for museum lovers, a possible FBI investigation, and a $45,000 tomahawk that may or may not have been owned by Chief Crazy Horse.

Top oil executives face a second day of grilling by U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday over a deadly well rupture that unleashed a huge oil slick and the specter of environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday as Spain said it would take wide austerity measures, further easing jitters over euro-zone sovereign debt woes.

U.S. stock index futures rose modestly on Wednesday as Spain said it would make wide austerity measures, further easing jitters over euro-zone sovereign debt woes.

Global woes and the uncertainty over the future have forced investors to go for bullion and the prospects for silver is extremely good in the coming years, said metal consultants CPM Group.

After the initial surprise and shock generated by the Euro rescue mission worth $1 trillion, the ominous economic woes loomed large over the global markets and as a result the safe haven quotient of gold soared again and the yellow metals again started its upward journey with the prices jumping above $1,200 per ounce levels. Mostly the gold futures market across the globe witnessed the surge as investors were skeptical about the IMF-EU-sponsored bailout package for the Euro zone.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher start for Wall Street on Wednesday, on track to reverse the previous session's losses, with futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all up around 0.2 percent by 04:40 a.m. EST.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday described the Greek debt crisis to lawmakers as a European dilemma but one that could have hit U.S. banks if left unattended, senior senators said.

About 200 students have held a rally to protest in a series of violent attacks near the University of Tasmania's Hobart campus.

Global oil prices dropped below $76 a barrel in Asian trade Wednesday mainly on declining market enthusiasm over a huge Eurozone rescue package. Light sweet crude for June delivery was seen trading at $75.84 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $ 80.34 a barrel at the same time in London.

Gold prices eased in Asian trade Wednesday after closed near to all time high overnight. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1227.58 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time from Tuesday's close of $1232.05 an ounce.

Nissan Motor Co expects growth in emerging markets and launches of new models such as its Micra compact to provide only a modest boost to profits this year, in a cautious view echoing its larger Japanese rivals.

European shares jumped more than 1 percent and the euro strengthened on Wednesday on signs of continued German growth and Spain's plans to cut its deficit.

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman said he had no knowledge of any U.S. federal investigation into the Wall Street firm as was reported by media.