IBT Staff Reporter

The chance of BHP Billiton making another attempt to take over rival Rio Tinto after a bid ban expires later this month is less than 30 percent, Liberum Capital said on Tuesday.

Top home improvement chain Home Depot Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as cost cuts offset weak sales.

The imperative of greater global currency stability means the world can no longer rely, as it has done since the end of the gold standard, on a currency issued by a single country, the head of the IMF said on Tuesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.27 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.18 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.25 percent.

World stocks slipped on Tuesday from the previous day's 2009 high and oil and gold fell as investors locked in gains from a strong rally, while the dollar edged higher from its 15-month lows.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has filed a lawsuit against Barclays Capital Inc alleging the British bank took control of excess assets in collusion with Lehman executives when it bought its U.S. brokerage business a year ago, court documents show.

Asian shares, gold and oil eased on Tuesday as investors locked in recent gains while keeping an eye on the ailing dollar, which was pinned near 15-month lows on expectations that U.S. interest rates will stay extremely low for some time.

Asian stocks surrendered early gains on Tuesday as investors took profits from recent gains, while the dollar was pinned near 15-month lows after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank was likely to keep interest rates at very low levels for some time.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Tuesday that he had agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama to increase international cooperation, after frank, constructive and fruitful talks in Beijing.

Asian stocks surrendered early gains on Tuesday as investors took profits from recent gains, while the dollar was pinned near 15-month lows after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank was likely to keep interest rates at very low levels for some time.

French Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Sunday he was horrified by a publicity stunt that attracted huge crowds hoping for a cash handout and led to serious violence when it was canceled for safety reasons.

China's appliance and top TV maker TCL and Shenchao announced a joint venture that plans to invest a total 24.5 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) to set up an LCD production line using advanced 8.5-generation technology to tap future demand for flat-screen TVs.

Japan's Sanyo Electric Co Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to more than quadruple its solar cell production capacity to 1,500 megawatts by 2015 to become one of the world's top three solar cell makers.

Ford Motor's Volvo car unit will retain the rights for its licenced technologies, while its Chinese bidder Geely will get the right to use the technologies, a Geely spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Ratan Tata, who bought the Land Rover and Jaguar brands, and Rupert Murdoch and Carlos Slim, who bought or invested in U.S. newspapers, said on Monday that they have no regrets with their purchases.

Banks' Worry; Coke's Double Aim; Berkshire's Stock bets

Billionaire investor George Soros' hedge fund reported holdings of $6.2 billion during the third quarter, an increase of $2 billion, after taking a stake in automaker Ford and boosting his holdings in communications services stocks.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York used a weak negotiating strategy that failed to wring concessions from AIG trading partners last year, allowing them to reap nearly $30 billion in payments from U.S. taxpayers, a government audit report said on Monday.

Since winning American Idol in 2005, country singer Carrie Underwood has become one of the show's highest selling graduates, but she warned the latest crop of Idol finalists to stay true to their fans if they want to find similar success.

Asian stocks rose to more than 15-month highs on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank was likely to keep interest rates at very low levels for some time, keeping the dollar pinned near 15-month lows and gold close to record highs.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York used a weak negotiating strategy that failed to wring concessions from AIG trading partners last year, allowing them to reap nearly $30 billion in payments from U.S. taxpayers, a government audit report said on Monday.

The New Moon premiere is being broadcasted live from Los Angeles Monday night on MySpace.com.

Some of the world's largest financial firms on Monday urged a top U.S. lawmaker not to pursue big bank break-up legislation, an idea attracting interest in Congress and causing alarm on Wall Street.

Former Bank of America Corp general counsel Timothy Mayopoulos was stunned to be fired as the bank was trying to wrap up its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co, after being promised the same job at the combined company.

Coca-Cola Co unveiled goals on Monday that call for the revenue generated by the company and its bottlers to double to roughly $200 billion by 2020, with profit margins increasing.

Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc said on Monday it will spin off its AOL unit to shareholders on December 9, nine tumultuous years after one of the most disastrous corporate mergers in history.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a rare comment on the U.S. dollar's value, on Monday acknowledged the currency's slump was causing some prices to rise, but said other factors restraining inflation were winning the day.

Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle AG and Exxon Mobil Corp and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc .

The Federal Reserve's low interest rate policy is meant to encourage investors to move into riskier assets in order to promote economic recovery, and there are no signs currently the policy is resulting in the build-up of a U.S. asset bubble, the central bank's number-two official said on Monday.