IBT Staff Reporter

Activision Blizzard Inc said its video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 scored record sales of $550 million in its first five days, but the company is still concerned about weak consumer spending.

Rising energy costs likely pushed consumer prices up in October, but core inflation was likely tempered by sagging rents, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

A senior Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank may start tightening financial conditions by adjusting its extensive asset purchase programs rather than raising interest rates.

U.S. actor Johnny Depp is 2009's Sexiest Man Alive, according to People Magazine. This is not the first time that Depp, 46, is given the title; he also won it in 2003. Only actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney have been named Sexiest Man Alive twice.

World number two truckmaker Volvo said vehicle shipments tumbled in October from last year, but a rise over September deliveries offered hope the sector's headlong plunge in demand may have bottomed.

Italy's Ferrero and U.S.-based Hershey are reviewing options over a possible bid for Cadbury , but hostile bidder Kraft's $16.8-billion offer is still seen as the front runner.

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it will unveil the U.S. production version of its Chevrolet Cruze small sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December.

Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets grew to $31.7B in September.

The S&P 500 briefly pared losses and turned positive after the open on Wednesday, led by gains in financials and materials stocks.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc reported a lower quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by falling food prices and lackluster demand for its general merchandise.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc could have suffered dramatic losses if the federal government had not intervened to prop up American International Group Inc, according to a government report.

American Express Co agreed to acquire Internet-based payment platform Revolution Money for $300 million, the credit card company and network said on Wednesday.

Construction of new homes in the United States fell sharply last month, showing potential weakness in the economy's recovery, while consumer prices rose slightly more than expected.

Hong Leong Group, owned by Singapore billionaire Kwek Leng Beng, has received approaches about its 90 percent stake in Xinfei, China's No.3 refrigerator maker by market share, the company said on Wednesday.

Potential weakness for economy; Thain seeks new start; Financial reform taking shape

British cable operator Virgin Media is continually looking to take costs out of the business and expects to reduce its property portfolio as part of that drive, its finance officer said on Wednesday.

Malaysian telecoms company Axiata said it will form a strategic partnership with world No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker Huawei to develop new technology and cut Axiata's equipment procurement costs.

The world may have already moved on, but quantitative finance guru Paul Wilmott is undaunted in his quest to save the global financial system from mindless mathematicians.

U.S. stocks were set to open lower on Wednesday after data showed U.S. housing starts fell unexpectedly in October, offsetting strength in the natural resources sectors amid U.S. dollar weakness.

Vestas Wind Systems said Wednesday it plans to announce significant orders for its wind turbines in the next five months, citing a pick-up in demand for wind power in Asia as more funding for projects becomes available.

Chile's peso CLP= rose 1 percent to a 17-month high in early trade on Wednesday on global dollar weakness, increasing the likelihood of threatened central bank intervention to tame the appreciation.

A looming government clampdown on CO2 emissions is about to confront an already embattled U.S. coal power industry with two stark options: capture carbon or die.

Investors shifted out of bonds into equities and commodities in November as confidence in the global economic recovery underpinned their risk appetite, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Wind farms account for about a quarter of Australian electricity generating developments now under construction or planned as the country moves to increase its reliance on renewable energy, a government report said on Wednesday.

India's Suzlon Energy said on Wednesday its German unit REpower Systems has signed a contract to supply wind turbines with a total capacity of 18.45 megawatts to U.S. firm Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC.

It sounds painful, but shockwave therapy may be an effective treatment for men who suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a small study showcased here at the European Society for Sexual Medicine.

The European Union's Swedish presidency urged Russia on Wednesday to do more to combat climate change and discussed Russian energy supplies to Europe, which could be threatened by a dispute with Ukraine.

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp said steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has pulled out of a project to jointly develop an oil block in Kazakhstan, but their partnerships in other blocks were intact.

U.S. oil major Chevron Corp is in talks with Turkmenistan over its possible participation in developing the giant South Iolotan gas field, the company's country head said on Wednesday.