IBT Staff Reporter

China's exports face a hard and tortuous path to recovery as uncertainties dog the global economy's gradual return to health, with this year's trade surplus set to shrink from last year's record, the Commerce Ministry said.

Tough economic times have hurt Harvard University's public standing in the media over the past nine months, while schools perceived as a safer educational investment have benefited, a research firm said.

U.S. authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation's banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.

Regulators are expected to seize Los Angeles-based California National Bank on Friday in what would be the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

U.S. Bancorp on Friday acquired nine banks held by FBOP Corp, picking up $18.4 billion in assets after regulators seized a major Los Angeles lender and eight other banks in the latest failures to emerge from the financial crisis.

CIT Group has met at least one of the hurdles necessary to file for a prepackaged bankruptcy, sources said, bringing the commercial lender one step closer to the fast bankruptcy process it is seeking to lower its liabilities and get back to health.

Time Warner Inc is set to take a restructuring charge of around $100 million for planned job cuts at its Time Inc publishing unit, according to people familiar with matter.

U.S. safety regulators on Friday hit oil giant BP with a record $87.4- million fine for failing to fix safety violations at its Texas City, Texas, refinery after a deadly 2005 explosion.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who had been trying to derail CIT Group Inc's efforts to launch a restructuring plan, said on Friday he was now backing the lender's pre-packaged bankruptcy, making a filing as soon as this weekend more likely, analysts said.

American Express Co , the largest U.S. credit card company by purchases, said on Friday it was eligible to issue $12.1 billion more of securities under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility plan, or TALF.

Cisco Systems Inc and EMC Corp are teaming up to sell a new line of networking gear, computers and storage equipment designed for use with cloud computing, according to sources familiar with their plans.

A huge influx of erroneous orders prevented the New York Stock Exchange from disseminating quotes shortly after the start of trading on Friday.

The Dow industrials suffered its worst slide since July on Friday on concerns that the economic recovery won't be robust enough to sustain the seven-month stock rally, while financials sank on renewed worries about Citigroup's balance sheet.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday let expire an emergency provision that had permitted banks to provide liquidity to affiliates unable to obtain funding during the crisis, citing normalizing credit markets.

U.S. consumers cut spending in September and turned gloomier this month, underscoring the fragility of the economy's recovery even as signs emerged that manufacturing may be picking up.

A huge influx of orders prevented the New York Stock Exchange from disseminating quotes shortly after the start of trading on Friday.

The Dow industrials suffered its worst slide since July on Friday on concerns that the economic recovery won't be robust enough to sustain the seven-month stock rally, while financials sank on renewed worries about Citigroup's balance sheet.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who had challenged CIT Group Inc's restructuring plan, said on Friday he was now backing the company's pre-packaged bankruptcy and would provide an additional $1 billion in credit to the lender.

U.S. stocks slumped on Friday as investors worried the economy's recovery might not be sustainable and financials sank as an accounting expert projected a $10 billion write-down for Citigroup .

Ford Motor Co is expected to post a narrower quarterly loss with support from the U.S. government cash for clunkers program, but the focus will be on the outlook for the U.S. economy and auto industry sales.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who had challenged CIT Group Inc's restructuring plan, said on Friday he was now backing the company's pre-packaged bankruptcy and would provide an additional $1 billion in credit to the lender.

NYSE Euronext said it sold a big stake in its U.S. derivatives trading platform to five powerful market players, following the pattern of exchange operators partnering with dealers in the face of possibly sweeping regulatory changes.

What do Jigsaw from Saw, Freddy Krueger, and Jason from Friday the 13th all have in common, besides serial killing? Videogames, if the horror stars' latest round of promotions are to be believed.

Stocks slid on Friday as investors worried the economy's recovery might not be sustainable and financials sank as an influential bank analyst projected a $10 billion write-down for Citigroup.

Iran has yet to give a formal response to a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel proposal after signaling it would do so this week, then leaking demands for major changes that could unravel the tentative pact.

IBM has replaced senior executive Robert Moffat as the head of its hardware division, saying he left the company two weeks after he was arrested in a high-profile insider trading scandal.

Nokia Oyj will close its battered gaming service N-Gage next year, acknowledging failure in its first major services offering.

U.S. stocks slid on Friday as investors worried the economy's recovery might not be sustainable and financials sank as an influential bank analyst projected a $10 billion write-down for Citigroup.

Chevron Corp posted a 51 percent drop in quarterly profit on Friday, becoming the latest oil major to be hit by the steep decline in oil and natural gas prices and anemic margins at refineries.