IBT Staff Reporter

At least eight brokerages raised their price targets on Apple Inc Wednesday, a day after the company posted stellar quarterly profit on record iPhone sales and forecast strong third-quarter revenue.

Corrects percentage change to 18 percent in first paragraph

(Reuters) - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, billionaire Bill Gates and Queen Rania of Jordan will put their fame to work this week as they join a Twitter campaign to end malaria deaths.

Boeing Co , the world's second-largest plane maker, on Wednesday posted a narrowed quarterly profit on an 11 percent decline in commercial airplane deliveries.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp posted a 20 percent rise in profit that topped Wall Street's expectations and ended a four-quarter streak of declines.

McDonald's Corp reported quarterly profit on Wednesday that beat analysts' forecasts as its U.S. business picked up in March and global sales were keeping up their momentum in April.

The Nasdaq was set to rise on Wednesday boosted by Apple's blowout quarter, while the broader market pointed to a flat open as bank shares faced pressure despite strong earnings from Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley reported on Wednesday a first-quarter profit behind strong trading results.

Lockheed Martin Corp posted a 22 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Wednesday and lowered its full-year outlook, citing a charge tied to recent U.S. healthcare reform.

H&R Block Inc , the largest U.S. tax preparer, posted a 5 percent fall in total returns filed for the latest tax season as it continued to lose market share to rivals.

U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Wednesday with Nasdaq lifted by blowout profits from Apple as the focus shifted to results from four Dow components and other bellwethers including Morgan Stanley.

U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Wednesday with Nasdaq lifted by blowout earnings from Apple late Tuesday as the focus shifting to results from four Dow components and other bellwethers including Morgan Stanley.

TORONTO - When doctors performed a coronary artery bypass on a Montreal man with a failing heart, they added a little something else before closing up his chest -- stem cells purified from his bone marrow that they had removed earlier that day. The stem cells serve to regenerate blood vessels and heart muscle cells.

Developing a good marketing plan doesn't have to be complicated. A simple plan can be just as easily implemented. The following are the steps use to create an effective marketing plan that will produce positive results for any product or offered service:

Stock index futures point to a mixed open on Wall Street on Wednesday, as investors braced for another raft of results, including those from Morgan Stanley .

Strong earnings from tech stock Apple and other U.S. companies helped lift global stocks on Wednesday, boosting tech-heavy markets in Asia and feeding optimism about the global economic recovery.

Good morning dear traders, how was your yesterday´s trading day? I hope, you could fetch some pips out of the market. As there have been a lot of chances yesterday.

A technology-inspired rally lifted Asian stocks on Wednesday, after Apple Inc unveiled results that blew past Wall Street's expectations, while the euro suffered more falls on fears over debt-stricken Greece.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, led by gains in tech shares after Apple Inc unveiled results that blew past Wall Street's expectations, while the euro struggled as worries mounted about debt-stricken Greece.

A British woman has woken up speaking with a Chinese accent after reportedly suffering brain damage brought on by a severe migraine.

Innkeepers USA Trust , a U.S. real estate investment trust with interests in about 73 hotels, is getting ready for a possible bankruptcy filing after missing debt payments earlier this month, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Europe's flight ban is preventing some life-saving transplant tissue from reaching patients, and other operations have had to be canceled because surgeons are stuck overseas.

Some of John Paulson's clients are indicating they may withdraw money from the billionaire's hedge fund firm, after it was involved in a transaction that led the U.S. government to file a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc , The Wall Street Journal said.

Innkeepers USA Trust , a U.S. real estate investment trust with interests in about 73 hotels, is getting ready for a possible bankruptcy filing after missing debt payments earlier this month, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Stryker Corp and Edwards Lifesciences Corp posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, reflecting healthy demand for medical devices amid a gradual economic recovery.

Global miner BHP Billiton revealed on Wednesday possible violations of anti-graft laws inside the company, in another blow to the mining industry's tarnished image.

Yahoo Inc said large advertisers showed a renewed appetite for online display ads in the first quarter, but the Internet company's troubled search business put a damper on the company's comeback plan.

Sharon Osbourne says she's having her breast implants removed this summer and will give them to her husband, rocker Ozzy Osbourne, as a paperweight.

Award-winning Irish writer Colm Toibin firmly believes the novel will remain fundamentally unchanged by the Internet or other high-tech innovations, a realm in which he admits he is nearly illiterate.