IBT Staff Reporter

The following are some of the largest planned initial public offerings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Kraft Foods Inc said new growth targets from Cadbury Plc were not enough to prompt it to raise its takeover offer, while workers for the British chocolatier said they would fight the 10 billion pound ($16.2 billion) hostile bid.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that U.S. banks will be in a better position to resume lending as they pay back the unprecedented cash injections the government provided to keep them afloat during the financial crisis.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) pledged on Monday to loan an additional $5 billion to small businesses in 2010, after the top executives for the largest U.S. banks met U.S. President Barack Obama.

Image Entertainment Inc (DISK.O) said it may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it defaulted on payment under convertible note and it was exploring strategic alternatives.

AT&T Inc (T.N) is looking to sell its outsourced services business in Japan, in a pullback for the U.S. giant from Asia's largest telecommunications market, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Hospira Inc (HSP.N) said on Tuesday that it would buy Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd's (ORCD.BO) generic injectable drug business for $400 million in a deal that will expand its global reach and position as the market leader

A Michigan investment firm has finalized a deal to sell its 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers to a group led by Kenny Huang, bringing LeBron James' team a step closer to adding the National Basketball Association's first big Chinese investor.

YouTube is considering offering users the option to pay for subscriptions in a bid to encourage more media companies to license premium TV shows and movies to the popular online video site, a senior executive said.

Canada's Khan Resources (KRI.TO) said it rejected an unsolicited bid from Russian state uranium miner ARMZ to acquire Khan for 65 Canadian cents a share, saying the offer was inadequate and contained objectionable terms.

Egypt is working on a $1 billion plan that will include increasing broadband penetration fourfold in the next four years to 4 million households, Communications Minister Tarek Kamel said on Tuesday.

The Dow and S&P 500 were slightly lower on Tuesday, slipping from 14-month highs, as a jump in producer prices ignited fears of inflationary pressures.

Dubai firms told bondholders they were safe a day after a bailout allowed troubled developer Nakheel to repay its bond, but investors still fretted over the future of the United Arab Emirates as an investment destination.

British and Irish Cadbury workers kicked off a campaign to fight a hostile bid from Kraft Foods on Tuesday vowing to pressure the UK government to do what it can to resist the bid.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed on Thursday to cooperate to lead the Copenhagen talks to the success.

There have been about 30 serious inquiries about IT Holding (ITH.MI), the owner of fashion brand Gianfranco Ferre, a source close to the special commissioners trying to find buyers said on Tuesday.

Top U.S. electronics chain Best Buy Co said gross margins during the holiday season would fall short of expectations as it sells more discounted goods like flat-screen televisions, sending shares down 8 percent.

Leading U.S. senators on opposite sides of the healthcare debate are emphasizing different parts of a proposed bill to show that while health insurance coverage will expand and individual costs for healthcare will drop, overall spending by the federal government will grow.

British Airways has started legal action in an attempt to halt the 12-day strike planned by its cabin crew over the Christmas holidays.

NEW YORK - Advertisements for junk food may be cluttering many of the Web sites most popular with children, a new study suggests.

British Airways is taking legal action to halt a 12-day strike planned by cabin crew over Christmas, alleging balloting irregularities.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that she was growing nervous about the lack of progress at the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen.

Trade in controversial carbon rights under the Kyoto Protocol after 2012 could undermine emissions targets agreed under a new global climate pact, the European Union environment commissioner said on Tuesday.

General Motors Co Chairman and acting Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said on Tuesday luxury car maker Spyker is the only remaining party with which GM is negotiating for the sale of its Saab brand.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's executive compensation reforms are not significantly burdensome for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as the two Wall Street giants largely met the new standards even prior to the credit crisis, Sanford C Bernstein said.

Boeing Co is set to make the first test flight of its 787 Dreamliner on Tuesday, almost two and a half years after the new, fuel-efficient plane, which is key to the company's financial future, was supposed to fly.

Forest products maker Weyerhaeuser Co plans to convert into a real estate investment trust and pay a special dividend, a plan that will give it greater financial flexibility as the recession fades.

Japan Airlines Corp said on Tuesday 5,700 retirees were willing to accept proposed cuts to pension payouts, falling just short of the numbers the struggling airline needs to secure approval for reducing its pension burden.

Capital One Financial Corp and Discover Financial Services reported that credit-card charge-offs rose in November -- a sign that consumers remain under stress.