IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks were down more than 3 percent on Thursday afternoon after briefly nosediving, with the Nasdaq at one point down more than 9 percent and the S&P 500 and Dow briefly falling into negative territory for the year, as worries about contagion from Greece's debt problems mounted.

A surge in productivity slowed in the first quarter, hinting that employers may soon need to step up hiring after months of squeezing more output from a smaller pool of workers.

The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring financial turbulence in Europe as it could have repercussions for the United States and its markets, policymakers at the central bank said on Thursday.

The United States was unprepared for the 2007-2008 financial crisis, underestimated its seriousness and lagged in coming to grips with the damage, past and current Treasury chiefs said on Thursday.

Genzyme Corp , trying to restore investor confidence, said on Thursday it will look into selling three non-core businesses -- genetic testing, diagnostic products and its pharmaceutical materials unit.

Steven's original résumé did little to present him for his career of choice-historian or history teacher-and instead simply presented descriptions of tasks performed.

Phone lines at the command center where teams are directing clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are often jammed, but media-savvy fishermen, residents and others can find the latest updates on Twitter and Facebook.

BP engineers prepared to start lowering a 98-ton metal chamber over a ruptured undersea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday as officials confirmed the first oil landfall from the spill on a Louisiana island beach.

It's axiomatic on Wall Street that summer is a bummer. Stocks tend to do well in the winter and spring, and then go cold when the weather gets hot.

Warner Music Group posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as growth of digital sales helped compensate for declining CD revenue, sending its shares up nearly 10 percent.

A surge in U.S. productivity slowed in the first quarter, hinting that employers may soon need to step up hiring after months of squeezing more output from a small pool of workers.

Yahoo Inc will spend up to $85 million on the second phase of its $100 million ad campaign, as the Internet portal seeks to revive its growth and reconnect with consumers.

Greek lawmakers approved the government's 30 billion euro ($40 billion) austerity bill in a vote in parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a record bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance fell slightly less than expected last week, government data showed on Thursday, implying a measured job market recovery.

Nokia's chairman said the board fully supported management's current strategy, while small shareholders in the world's top cellphone maker criticised management at the annual meeting.

U.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday afternoon, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell more than 3 percent.

We have been informed by sources in the US Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Florida Department of Environmental Protection that the Obama White House and British Petroleum (BP), which pumped $71,000 into Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign -- more than John McCain or Hillary Clinton, are covering up the magnitude of the volcanic-level oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and working together to limit BP's liability for damage caused by what can be call...

(Reuters) - Americans are being bombarded with chemicals, gases and radiation that can cause cancer, and the federal government must do far more to protect them, presidential cancer advisers said on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve is closely watching for signs the European sovereign debt crisis could derail a fragile U.S. economic recovery, a top Fed official said on Thursday.

The Greek government's 30 billion euro ($40.25 billion) austerity bill passed a preliminary test in parliament before a final vote later on Thursday.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson admitted on Thursday the United States was ill-prepared for the financial crisis that struck in 2008 and said he had not foreseen the depth of mortgage-related problems.

The European Central Bank resisted market pressure to ride to the rescue of struggling euro zone countries on Thursday, giving verbal support to Greece's tough savings plan but stopping short of any fresh action.

Stocks fell on Thursday after weaker-than-expected retail sales and as the European Central Bank stopped short of taking any additional measures to keep a debt crisis from spreading in the euro zone.

European sovereign debt woes are a risk to the improving U.S. economic outlook, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Thursday.

Egypt's Communications Ministry said Thursday it had launched the first Internet domain name using Arabic letters to try to boost e-services and the number of people online in the most populous Arab nation.

Warner Music Group, the world's third largest music company, posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as growth in digital services overshadowed the decline in music CD sales.

U.S. bank lending remains tight but there are reasons for optimism as economic activity has continued to strengthen and banks may be changing their attitudes toward lending, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve is considering revealing more supervisory information, as public disclosure was an important part of the success of last year's bank stress tests, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Steel prices are set to suffer a setback in the coming days as China is bracing fro a slowdown in realty sector and the American Iron & Steel Industries reported a rise of US domestic raw steel production, which was 1.754 million tonnes while the capability utilization rate was 72.5% in the week ended on May 1.