IBT Staff Reporter

The Treasury must seek Congressional approval if it wants to funnel some of its $700 billion bailout fund to jobs programs that do not involve financial services firms as intermediaries, a key overseer said on Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar climbed against the U.S. currency on Wednesday, boosted by firmer commodity prices and as investor risk appetite returned after recent losses.

The Obama administration plans to announce on Wednesday that it intends to extend the life of the $700 billion financial bailout fund until next October, administration officials said on Tuesday.

Facebook, the world's No.1 Internet social network, took a step toward opening up parts of its site to outsiders Wednesday by introducing more options for user's privacy settings.

As soothsayers and strategists gaze into 2010, one statistic on the retiring baby-boom generation makes anxious reading for stock market bulls.

Concern over debts at Dubai's utility provider and losses at Nakheel, builder of the emirate's palm-shaped islands, hit markets on Wednesday, drowning out assurances by top officials that Gulf economies were sound.

The dollar had earlier advanced broadly after Fitch downgraded Greece on Tuesday to below the single-A bracket for the first time in a decade, and prompted short covering in the U.S. currency and the yen.

Japan's economy grew at a far slower pace in the third quarter than first thought as capital spending fell, but a double-dip recession is seen as unlikely as exports rebound and corporate spending shows signs of bottoming out.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, indicating shares could bounce back after two sessions of losses as investors regain some optimism about the strength of the market rally.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, signaling a recovery in Wall Street after the previous session's losses.

Concern over debts at Dubai's utility provider and losses at Nakheel, builder of the emirate's palm-shaped islands, hit markets on Wednesday, drowning out assurances by top officials that Gulf economies were sound.

China remains a top investment destination for U.S. companies in 2010 amid the global economic slowdown as they expect to see continuous growth in sales and profit, an American Chamber of Commerce study showed.

Global equities slipped on Wednesday with Japan leading the falls on concerns over the pace of recovery, while crude oil prices recovered and the euro picked up from a one-month low on bargain hunting.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered modest steps to spur jobs and defended his push to get the U.S. economy growing, amid deep public dismay over double-digit unemployment that has eroded his popularity.

Japan led a slide in Asian stock markets on Wednesday as worries about the strength of a global recovery prompted investors to trim some bets ahead of the year end, while the euro picked up from a one-month low on bargain hunting.

Asian stocks slid and government bonds mostly rose on Wednesday after U.S. corporate news increased worries on export demand and debt rating downgrades sent investors seeking safety ahead of the year end.

A memorial was on Tuesday held for the four officers slain in Lakewood, Washington nine days ago.

Chrysler is willing to let market share slide in the short term to further its longer restructuring goals, the company's chief executive said in a presentation of his business plan to members of Congress on Tuesday.

There is no clear evidence that Roche's widely used drug Tamiflu prevents complications such as pneumonia in people with flu, a group of medical experts said on Tuesday.

Manufacturers who set up shop in India in the 1990s often joke they didn't just have to build factories back then, but also roads because it was faster than waiting for the state to build them.

Japan's Chiyoda Corp and JGC Corp have received an order to build production equipment for the Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Project, the Nikkei buisness daily reported on Wednesday.

The contract with UAL Corp's United Airlines could boost ExpressJet Holdings Inc's revenue by 10 percent, the regional airline's outgoing CEO said on Tuesday.

In a grainy black and white Web video, similar to footage from an in-store security camera, you can make out the muscular frame of rapper 50 Cent, smashing dozens of TV sets with a baseball bat.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday said it was “probably a good thing” that credit card use is down.

It could be argued that 2009 was the year of the App Store, as Apple's bustling storefront for downloadable iPhone programs caught fire with consumers.

The acting head of Laghman province, Gulzar Sangarwal said Tuesday 13 civilians killed in the pre-dawn raid took place in Armul village led by NATO and Afghan troops.

Emails from a top eBay Inc executive showed the Internet giant was aware that a competing online classifieds site it launched while sitting on the board of Craigslist was a sensitive issue to be handled delicately, according to court testimony on Tuesday.

High-end hotelier Pebblebrook Hotel Trust priced shares in its initial public offering in line with expectations on Tuesday, according to an underwriter.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson said on Tuesday he still sees compelling long-term returns in equities even after their sharp run-up this year, while holding no short positions in the credit markets.