IBT Staff Reporter

Applied Materials Inc , the world's largest producer of chip-making gear, posted lower quarterly profit on Wednesday, but beat Wall Street estimates and said it planned to cut jobs globally.

Shares of 3Com Corp soared more than 35 percent in extended trading on Wednesday after Hewlett-Packard Co agreed to acquire the networking solutions provider for $2.7 billion, while HP shares slipped 0.7 percent to $49.65.

The slump in the housing market ended around March, and while there is improvement, it will be slow and fitful, U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc's Chief Executive Robert Toll said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama convened his war council on Wednesday for talks considered critical to his deliberations on boosting troop levels in the increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.

Black Friday 2009 deals are being unveiled by major retailers in the United States. Target, Kohl's and Best Buy are some of the companies with special deals for this year's Black Friday.

Advanced Micro Devices said it expects its chip design business, the backbone of the company, to be profitable next year, adding more fuel to hopes that the technology sector is rebounding.

US based personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday it is acquiring 3Com. This acquisition deal is worth $ 2.7 billion, or $7.90 a share.

US based personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday it is acquiring 3Com. This acquisition deal is worth $ 2.7 billion, or $7.90 a share.

Hewlett-Packard Co struck a deal to buy network equipment maker 3Com Corp for $2.7 billion to step up competition against Cisco Systems Inc and expand into China.

Hewlett-Packard Co struck a deal to buy network equipment maker 3Com Corp for $2.7 billion to step up competition against Cisco Systems Inc and expand into China.

The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at 13-month highs on Wednesday as an upbeat forecast from a top homebuilder and data from China pointed to a strengthening global economy.

Singer Celine Dion is not pregnant, despite reports to the contrary from earlier this year, her representatives said on Wednesday.

Venerable English stage actor Ian McKellen has played all the great parts from Hamlet to Richard III, but in the twilight of his career, he is finding new roles in mainstream film and TV -- and as a gay icon.

Acer and Apple have gained the most market share in PC sales in Europe, especially in the UK, while most other vendors are facing a difficult time, Gartner said in a research note on Wednesday.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler joined Joe Perry on stage in New York to set the record straight about the future of the feuding rock group.

The last phone call Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar made before he was gunned down on a Medellin rooftop was to his son, and many thought Juan Pablo Escobar would follow in his father's footsteps.

Target, Kohl's, Best Buy and major retailers have unveiled their special deals for Black Friday 2009, according to Gottadeal.com, a self-called official Black Friday deal website.

A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is an influential voice in English-language Internet forums increasingly used by militants unfamiliar with Arabic.

The president of Calpers urged fellow board members at the biggest U.S. public pension fund on Wednesday to back his plan to require placement agents to be subjected to laws for lobbyists in response to events alleging their undue influence over investment decisions.

A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is an influential voice in English-language Internet forums increasingly used by militants unfamiliar with Arabic.

American International Group Inc Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said on Wednesday he remains totally committed to staying at the company, countering an earlier report that he was considering stepping down.

Imagine it is thirty years in the future, 2029, and you are driving in a hard top convertible made in 2009. It has had three owners, and sports a healthy six-figures on the odometer.

Britons are among the ugliest people in the world, according to a dating website that says it only allows beautiful people to join.

Hewlett-Packard said on Thursday it would acquire 3Com Corp. for $2.7 billion, or $7.90 a share.

Many travelers love to experience a destination through its local cuisine. And while it is nice to treat yourself to a relaxing restaurant meal on vacation, it's not necessarily the best way to find the most vibrant and exciting regional foods. For that, you need to take to the streets!

It's still not cheap, but Livin' La Vida Madoff may now cost a bit less. Asking prices for homes once occupied by now imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff in Manhattan's Upper East Side and in Palm Beach, Florida, have been cut, after about two months on the market.

Motorola Inc is in the early stages of looking into a potential sale of its $4.5 billion television set-top box and network equipment business, two sources said on Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a fresh 13-month high on Wednesday as an upbeat forecast from a top homebuilder and data from China pointed to a strengthening global economy.