IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee voted on Wednesday to approve a proposal that would empower government regulators to break up large financial firms that threaten economic stability.

Ambac Financial Group Inc said on Wednesday that the statutory capital of its main unit was well above a regulatory minimum at the end of the third quarter, easing concerns the company would fall short of funds and risk being taken over by state officials.

Analyst from Broadpopint AmTech on Wednesday reiterated a buy rating for Hewlett-Packard Co in its note to clients, expecting the company to give a strong fiscal report next Monday in accordance with its preliminary outlook.

Wells Fargo Investments LLC has agreed to repay about $1.3 billion to clients whose funds were frozen in the auction-rate securities market in the latest of a series of settlements with state securities regulators.

The mobile is potentially overtaking PCs as the device of choice for access to social network site (SNS) in Asia and Pacific, IDC said on Monday in a survey-based report. It also noted that the telecom carriers need to set the stage for mass adoption by lowering data tariffs and offering user-friendly mobile applications.

Google Wave is the future of communication but its ok if it takes you more than one try to understand the complicated web tool, said Gina Trapani, the founding editor of Lifehacker.com, a part of Gawker Media.

New U.S. housing starts in October unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in six months, weighed down by a sharp decline in construction activity for both single-family and multi-family dwellings, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The U.S. recession that began in December 2007 cost the top metropolitan areas all of the 2.29 million jobs they had gained in the previous expansion, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president vetoed an election law on Wednesday, prompting poll workers to halt some preparations and casting new doubt on whether the vote can take place in January.

A senior U.S. lawmaker unveiled a much-anticipated proposal on Wednesday that would empower government regulators to break up financial firms that pose a risk to economic stability.

Cuba's Raul Castro has kept the system his brother Fidel used to repress critics, refusing to free scores of people imprisoned years ago and jailing others for dangerousness, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he believes the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can be closed next year, but he acknowledged that he will not meet his original January deadline.

Republican Senator John McCain on Wednesday strongly defended the top advisers from his 2008 presidential campaign in the face of sharp criticism from his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin.

Algeria took the final spot in the 2010 World Cup African qualifiers list after beating Egypt 1-0 in Khartoum, Sudan.

Microsoft rolled out the beta versions of Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 that are available to download. Users can download the 2010 versions of Visio, Project, and Office Web Apps at www.microsoft.com/2010. Windows mobile clients are also available in beta via the Windows Marketplace.

Construction of new homes in the United States hit a six month low in October, providing more evidence of the economy's sluggish recovery, while a surge in the cost of new and used vehicles lifted consumer prices.

U.S. stocks broke three days of gains on Wednesday following worrisome outlooks from two major software makers and a surprising drop in home construction last month.

Third quarter Wage Cost Index data came in right on expectations increasing by 0.7% for the quarter and 3.6% on an annualised basis keeping the Aussie between 0.9290 and 0.9320 during morning trade. A story on Bloomberg quoting Chinese Central Bank adviser Fan Gang, who also heads the National Institute of Economic Research, as saying double digit growth in China would not be good as it poses a risk of promoting a property and commodity market bubble put a dampener on the AUD. With Chinese eco...

Retailer Wal-Mart's Black Friday advertisements have been published online promoting laptop computers below $200, $5 toys and $3 clothing, among others.

DirecTV Group Inc said on Wednesday it will appoint PepsiCo Inc executive Michael White as its new chief executive starting on January 1.

Microsoft Corp has been ordered by a Chinese court to stop selling versions of its Windows operating systems that include fonts designed by a local company, citing a violation of licensing agreements.

Private equity firms will need to become more like asset managers, offering buyouts as just part of their portfolio, or else focus tightly on specific sectors in order to prosper, industry participants said.

Michael Jackson's family was aware of his drug addiction, intervened to stop him but was not successful, Janet Jackson said in an interview airing tonight on ABC's Good Morning America.

A sustained U.S. economic recovery is unlikely until all banks, and not just the big institutions bailed out with government funds, start to recover from the effects of the financial crisis, according to longtime investment strategist Don Coxe.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, threatening to end three days of gains, following worrying outlooks from two major software makers and a surprise drop in home construction last month.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson is launching a new gold fund, which will include $250 million of his own personal investment, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Motorola is to sell over half a million combined Droid sales in the December quarter as demand for the company's latest phone remains strong following the initial rush of the November 6 launch according to analyst research.

Detectives have made the first arrests in Europe to tackle a trojan computer virus which is believed to have infected tens of thousands of computers across the world, London police said on Wednesday.

New Zealand was on Wednesday named the world's least corrupt nation out of a list of 180 countries, unseating Denmark after a year in which the global recession and ongoing conflicts proved challenging.