IBT Staff Reporter

American Express Co reported on Thursday lower quarterly earnings as consumers spent less with their credit cards and credit losses rose.

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday posted quarterly profit that handily beat Wall Street estimates and said holiday sales could come in far above expectations, sending shares of the world's largest online retailer up 8 percent.

Higher passenger car sales in the quarter ended September is likely to boost Maruti Suzuki India (MRTI.BO) earnings, while India's Tata Motors (TAMO.BO) will benefit from a recovery in truck sales, say analysts.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after quarterly results from insurer Travelers and regional bank PNC Financial gave a boost to financial stocks.

Video-viewing site Hulu is experimenting with different business models and initiatives, from bumping up advertising to designing subscription-based content, to boost revenue, said NBC Universal's TV chief, Marc Graboff.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter, while the economy rose 7.7 percent in the first three quarters year-on-year, Li Xiaochao, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Thursday.

Former Vivendi boss Jean-Marie Messier and the head of Warner Music Group Edgar Bronfman Jr have been told to stand trial on various charges of financial wrong doing, according to a court document obtained by Reuters.

Microsoft Corp. formally unveiled Thursday its newest operating system, Windows 7, as the software giant hopes to breath new life into its Operating System product line. Steve Ballmer said the product was a result of an intense collaboration between Microsoft and its partners - 50,000 software, hardware, and peripheral vendors, as well as 8 million beta testers.

Fortune Magazine published its 40 under 40 list featuring the business's hottest young rising stars.

Former Friends star Courteney Cox says she has no problem starring in a TV comedy called Cougar Town.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday it will keep its conservative approach to U.S. expansion as it pours resources into renovating stores or exploring higher-return investments abroad.

Freckle-faced, prairie-voiced and fiercely independent, Hilary Swank's depiction of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair's biographical film Amelia is of a high order. It ranks with recent portrayals of Ray Charles by Jamie Foxx and Truman Capote by Philip Seymour Hoffman and could be similarly awards-bound.

Let's imagine that you only have 24 hours to spend in Barcelona, you arrive at 0900 AM to the city centre and leave the next morning the same time. Sounds like there is very little you can do in one

A bigger-than-expected rise in U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid last week underscored how fragile the labor market remains even as a measure of economic prospects hit a two-year high last month.

A new generation of biofuels, meant to be a low-carbon alternative, will on average emit more carbon dioxide than burning gasoline over the next few decades, a study published in Science found on Thursday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is offering a new support service to help shoppers set up consumer electronics in their homes, posing a new challenge to rival Best Buy Co In .

As Microsoft Corp. released its much-talked about Windows 7 operating system on Thursday, the software giant quietly opened its first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasuries at the Federal Reserve rose sharply in the latest week, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday. Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed jumped 28.71 billion to total $2.129 trillion in the week to Oct. 21.

Can a weaker dollar propel oil prices higher than current levels near $81 a barrel, or will bearish oil market fundamentals hold oil prices back? The correlation between oil prices and the dollar has reached a coefficient of -0.9 in 2009, Reuters data shows.

Pay Cuts at Bailed Out Businesses; Leading Indicators on Six Mont Tear; Wal-Mart's Modest Approach

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after several companies reported solid earnings that lent credence to the idea corporate profitability has stabilized.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, will make a week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh, his aide said on Thursday, a trip that is bound to upset Beijing, which claims part of the territory as its own.

While the main gauge of U.S. manufacturing has rebounded from the depressed levels of late 2008, smaller businesses are struggling with lackluster sales and tight credit as the recession wanes.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday it expects sales to grow 1 to 2 percent in the current fiscal year and 4 to 6 percent next year, with square footage up 4 percent in both years.

Japan said on Thursday it could not sign off on a planned reorganisation of U.S. troops in the country before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo next month, after the U.S. defense secretary bluntly called for the deal to be implemented.

Someone once told me that India is growing at such a fast rate that the number of babies born in the country per year is equivalent to the entire population of Australia. So every year that passes, India

Rock band Bon Jovi announced Thursday its two year world tour, The Circle World Tour, launching in February 2010 in Seattle, Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama should do much more to ensure Congress passes a greenhouse emissions bill, giving global climate talks a major boost, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Panel said on Thursday.

The U.S. pay czar on Thursday slashed cash compensation for the top earners at seven companies that received massive taxpayer bailouts, while allowing for some increases to retain key talent.