IBT Staff Reporter

Talk of an initial public offering for General Motors Co by the second half of next year is so premature as to border on the ludicrous, a former director of the largest U.S. automaker said on Monday.

China's reluctance to let markets play a freer hand in setting the value of the yuan, also called the renminbi, is a festering irritant that both the United States and China want to keep from getting out of hand.

Outside of the well-known wine-producing countries of France, Italy and Spain, a quiet wine revolution is taking place in the southern cone. Down in South America, winemakers have been using

Most visitors come to Tokyo, Japan for the springtime blossoms or the fall colors, but winter in Tokyo can be a special, as well as a cheaper time to visit.

Getting a patient's family history is widely regarded as a standard element of good medical care. But a report published today concludes that there isn't much good evidence that obtaining such

The hepatitis B vaccine - given to protect against infection by a virus that can cause severe liver damage and cancer - may protect for more than two decades, according to a new study.

Worried about what to do with fat you've had liposuctioned from pudgy areas? Researchers have turned it into stem cells in the lab, but here's a more immediate use: Fat liposuctioned from other parts of the body can safely be used to increase a woman's breast size, according to study findings presented this week at the Plastic Surgery 2009 meeting in Seattle.

An international team of researchers said Monday it had mapped the DNA of a domestic pig, work they say could help lead to better breeding techniques as well as improve vaccines against diseases such as swine flu.

A person's long-term risk of heart disease is better assessed by a pair of studies, as performing only one may miss a dangerous buildup of calcium in arteries, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Some of the antibiotics used to treat urinary tract infections during pregnancy may increase the risk of several birth defects if a woman uses them early in pregnancy, a new study in the Archives of

Nearly a million people die from malaria each year because they cannot afford the most effective treatment and instead often buy old drugs to which the malaria parasite has become resistant, researchers said on Monday.

Up to 30 million doses of vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 flu have been delivered to the U.S. government and production is now picking up, officials said on Monday.

An outbreak of food-borne illness, linked to dangerous bacteria in ground beef, sickened 28 people and may have caused two deaths in the U.S. Northeast, health officials said on Monday.

Stanley Works struck a deal to buy rival Black & Decker Corp for $3.46 billion in stock, combining a top hand tool maker and power tool maker to benefit from higher margins and cost savings.

General Motors Co had $13.6 billion remaining in its U.S. government-funded escrow account as of October, after making payments related to the restructuring of its former parts subsidiary Delphi, the company said on Monday.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd on Monday jumped into the fast-growing electronic reader market, unveiling a platform that the company says will allow for a new generation of zippier, lower-cost devices.

Ford Motor Co posted a $1 billion quarterly profit on Monday, defying Wall Street forecasts of a loss, as it cut costs and gained market share, leading it to raise its 2011 outlook to solidly profitable from break-even.

The Australian Dollar opens at 0.9022 after a volatile session on Monday. With local equities opening in negative territory the Aussie fell in quick fashion down to an intraday low of US89 cents.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday after another round of solid economic reports but pulled off session highs after a Federal Reserve official's warning about banks' loan losses.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday after another round of solid economic reports but pulled off session highs after a Federal Reserve official's warning about banks' loan losses.

U.S. manufacturing activity hit its highest level in 3-1/2 years last month and pending home sales contracts unexpectedly surged in September, allaying fears the economy's budding recovery would falter.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday after another round of solid economic reports, but pulled off session highs after a Fed official's warning about banks' loan losses.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday after another round of solid economic reports, but pulled off session highs as investors sold some bank shares following a Fed official's warning about banks' potential losses on commercial real estate loans.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials meeting this week must weigh improving economic data against the risk, reinforced by a persistently weak job market, that a burgeoning recovery remains on shaky ground.

Human Genome Sciences Inc said its experimental lupus drug Benlysta eased symptoms in more than 43 percent of patients who took it in a clinical trial, paving the way for approval of the first new treatment for the disease in 50 years.

Oil prices rose more than $1 to top $78 a barrel on Monday as strong manufacturing data from the United States and China stoked optimism for a turnaround in the economy and in fuel demand.

The Maldives could achieve its aim of becoming carbon neutral well before its 2020 target, the Indian Ocean island nation's president said Monday.

Former Advanced Micro Devices Inc Chief Executive Hector Ruiz will step down as chairman of contract chip maker Globalfoundries, following reports linking him to the largest hedge-fund insider trading scheme ever.

Piracy, long a problem for foreign media companies in China, also stands to stifle innovation by the country's own dynamic Internet industry, the chief executive of one of China's oldest Web companies said on Monday.