IBT Staff Reporter

Eight people charged in a coast-to-coast U.S. hedge fund insider trading investigation have at least one more month for possible resolution of their cases, according to court records on Monday.

The Australian Dollar opens higher against the greenback today at 0.9135.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended slightly lower on Monday and the Dow was flat, reversing earlier gains, after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparked jitters about the economic recovery.

The Obama administration's greenhouse gas ruling Monday was meant to send a warning to industry, the U.S. Congress, and the world: with or without a law, Washington will tackle global warming in a serious way.

The queen of pop when recently questioned whether she would adopt again responded with Never say never on GMTV.

Business groups reacted with alarm and environmentalists with applause to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's formal declaration Monday that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, clearing the way for federal regulation.

Uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions could lead to global warming of 4 degrees centigrade or more by the end of the century, Britain's Meteorological Office said on Monday.

Google announced a very cool new product on Monday at its Searchology event called Google Goggles - a new feature that allows you to search with images. By using a camera on your Android cell phone, you can take a picture of your location or object, and then enter it in and Google Goggles will pull up information associated with the image.

Project developers are baffled by a U.N. climate panel's decision to block 10 Chinese wind farms from receiving carbon financing, saying the move could slash investment in Chinese wind and other forms of clean energy.

Business groups reacted with alarm and environmentalists with applause to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's formal declaration Monday that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, clearing the way for federal regulation.

MetLife Inc forecast 2010 earnings that could beat average Wall Street expectations, helped by cost cuts, improved investment returns and higher revenue, but said it did not see a return to historical growth levels until at least 2011.

Washington took a step on Monday toward curbing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, aiding the first day of the biggest climate talks in history where 190 nations are seeking a deal to curb global warming.

Stocks ended little changed on Monday as investors paused to gauge prospects for the U.S. economic recovery and interest rates after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy faced formidable headwinds.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally declared that greenhouse gases endanger human health Monday, allowing President Barack Obama to show his commitment to act as a major climate change summit opened in Copenhagen.

Wanderlust's Editor-in-Chief Lyn Hughes travelled to the Icehotel in Arctic Sweden to experience a host of natural and manmade phenomena.

Google has beefed up its search capabilities by releasing real-time search and announcing a new product in Google Labs called Google Googles which is a visual search feature. Google made the announcements during Google's 3rd annual review of Internet search technology; an event the company calls Searchology.

Iranian security forces fired warning shots in Tehran on Monday and beat opposition protesters among thousands seeking to renew their challenge to the government six months after a disputed election, witnesses said.

About 15,000 delegates from about 190 nations are meeting in Copenhagen from Dec 7-18 and have been tasked with agreeing immediate action to curb greenhouse gases and come up with billions of dollars in climate aid for poorer countries.

COPENHAGEN - World concern about climate change has fallen in the past two years, according to an opinion poll on Sunday, the eve of 190-nation talks in Copenhagen meant to agree a U.N. deal to fight global warming.

France's strategic investment fund (FSI) is not yet ready to invest in manufacturer Heuliez's electric vehicle project as new owner Bernard Krief Consulting (BKC) has not met necessary guarantees, a fund spokesman said.

Football film The Blind Side tackled the top spot at North American box offices with $20.4 million in ticket sales for a rare climb up the charts in its third week, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

President Barack Obama will lay out policy proposals to combat double-digit unemployment in a speech on Tuesday tackling an economic problem that has become a political drain on his young administration.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and Chief Financial Officer Mike Cavanagh are expected to publicly review the bank's financial results for the fourth quarter and take questions from banking sector analysts on January 15.

Tiger Woods who has been away from the public eye since November 27 is expected to appear this weekend at his best friend's wedding, TMZ reports.

Oil fell toward $74 a barrel on Monday as low demand for crude oil in the wake of the economic downturn continued to pressure prices, outweighing last week's strong U.S. job report.

U.S. securities regulators on Monday charged three former executives at now-bankrupt lender New Century with fraud, the latest government attempt to bring bad actors in the subprime market to justice.

MetLife Inc forecast fourth-quarter and 2010 earnings that could beat average Wall Street expectations, helped by cost cuts, improved investment returns and higher revenue, but said it did not see a return to historical growth levels until 2011 or 2012.

Efforts by Barnes & Noble Inc to get its Nook electronic reader into customers' hands suffered another setback on Monday, when the bookseller said it was postponing the in-store debut of the device until early 2010 to fulfill orders already received.

A bubble has formed in commodities as speculative fervor returns to markets after the global financial crisis, veteran Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman said on Monday.