IBT Staff Reporter

Volkswagen AG is close to announcing plans to take a stake of up to 20 percent in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said on Tuesday.

The Small Car Glut?: Consumer Agency Gets Cold Shoulder; GM Moves on Executive Search

Dealmakers expect merger and acquisition activity to pick up in the first six months of 2010, with manufacturing, health care and financial services positioned to benefit most in the near term, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Taking advantage of down market prices, United Airlines said on Tuesday it placed a $10 billion-plus order for 50 wide-bodied jetliners divided between Airbus and Boeing Co , in a bid to slash fuel costs and emissions.

Google on Tuesday announced a Chrome browser beta version for Apple Mac and Linux. Chrome for Mac has been delayed for some time now, as it was first supposed to be released in the first half of 2009 but faced several delays.

Canadian uranium miner Cameco Corp has agreed to sell its stake in Asia-focused Centerra Gold for proceeds of C$872 million ($823 million), closing out an investment deal with Kyrgyzstan signed earlier this year.

Simon Property Group Inc, the largest U.S. mall owner, struck a deal to buy Prime Outlets Acquisition Co for more than $700 million, adding 22 outlet centers to its stable of high-end centers.

PepsiCo Inc lowered the top end of its revenue and earnings outlooks, as it steps up investments in projects aimed at increasing its growth and profitability amid falling North American soft drink sales.

Procter & Gamble Co is nearing the purchase of Sara Lee Corp's air care unit for about $700 million, CNBC said on Tuesday, citing a Wall Street Journal report.

Air France-KLM reported a 3.2 percent fall in passenger traffic for November but saw gradual improvement in unit revenues, while a more dynamic cargo sector underscored signs of a fragile economic recovery.

Drone-maker AeroVironment Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, as revenue from contract services slightly offset the drop in product sales, and it backed its full-year forecast for revenue growth.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that the hacked emails on climate change from the British university, have not affected the United Nations belief that humans are increasing climate change.

Texas Instruments Inc on Tuesday raised its fourth-quarter earnings target and said revenue would be at the high end of its forecast range, but its shares fell almost 2 percent as some investors had even higher expectations.

Michelle Duggar who stars on TLC's 18 Kids and Counting updated her fans about her health through a video posted on People Magazine.

A new lineup of small cars slated for showrooms next year may create an oversupply of compact vehicles in the U.S. market at a time when gas prices remain stable, an industry forecasting firm said on Tuesday.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after disappointing corporate news from 3M Co and McDonald's, while negative developments in global credit markets caused a shift to safe-haven assets.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday he would not let his country's literary heritage be taken away by a friendly large American company, in a thinly veiled challenge to Google

U.S. industry is freshening its attack on financial reform, pledging more cash to defeat a new consumer agency and raising concerns over a provision that could force secured creditors to shoulder losses.

Against a greater welter and flow of incoherence jerking the nation this way and that way en route to collapse comes ClimateGate, the latest excuse for screaming knuckleheads to defend what has already been lost. It is also yet another distraction from the emergency agenda that the United States faces - namely the urgent re-scaling, re-localizing, and de-globalizing of our daily activities.

JPMorgan Chase & Co sees additional losses on credit cards and home loans next year although there are some signs the rate of losses is settling and it may not need to build credit reserves much further, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday.

The board of General Motors Co will get an update on the search for a new chief executive by next month as a recruiting firm compiles a short list of candidates, a person familiar with the process said.

Climate change stands to drive as many as one billion people from their homes over the next four decades, the International Organization for Migration said in a study Tuesday.

Texas Instruments Inc said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue would be at the high end of its target range, but its shares fell almost 2 percent as some investors had higher expectations.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after disappointing corporate news from 3M Co and McDonald's, while negative developments in global credit markets caused a shift to safe-haven assets.

The Australian Dollar opens lower today at 0.9010 after mixed local economic data releases yesterday. Strong demand out of Asia lifted the Aussie to an intraday high of 0.9165 after the current account deficit came in at A$16.183 billion in the September quarter, compared to A$16.8 billion median market forecast. Also underpinning the local unit on the day was the latest monthly NAB business survey which showed confidence has risen to its highest level since May 2002. Overnight however, it was l...

Developing countries reacted furiously on Tuesday to leaked documents from the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) that shows unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries.

Scientists have found a whole new use for copier paper. According to Stanford University researchers, when ordinary office paper coated is coated with an inky layer of carbon nanotubes or nanowires, it will become lightweight, flexible and highly conductive battery or superconductor.

Microsoft Corp and SAP will attend an EU hearing on Oracle Corp's plan to buy Sun Microsystems Inc that could help EU regulators decide whether to clear or block the deal, two people close to the matter said on Tuesday.

Couture dresses belonging to Victoria Beckham valued at $630,000 were stolen from a delivery van, UK's Daily Mail reported on December 5.