IBT Staff Reporter

Goodrich Corp reported a third-quarter profit on Thursday that was helped by cost cuts and strong defense demand, but cut its sales outlook for this year and forecast 2010 earnings below current Wall Street estimates.

When a young couple decides to leap off the beaten path to explore nature in all its rugged extremes, you know they are heading for the vacation from hell.

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Oil slipped toward $80 on Thursday as a stronger dollar encouraged investors to lock into profits from a 12-month high hit the previous day.

Cash-rich Nestle SA, the world's biggest food group, said it was speeding up a programme to buy back shares and was likely to raise fresh funds from the sale of its stake in eye care firm Alcon.

Top earners at financial and auto companies bailed out by the U.S. government will see their pay slashed under an Obama administration plan aimed at addressing public outrage over eye-popping paychecks, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

McDonald's Corp posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost controls and rising sales in all regions, and expects same-store sales to remain positive in October even though people eat out less often.

Disappointing corporate results knocked equities lower on Thursday, set Wall Street up for a poor start and helped the dollar bounce off 14-month lows. Gold and oil both slipped as the dollar rose. Euro zone government debt was stronger.

The New York Times Co's (NYT.N) quarterly loss shrank after taking a writedown last year, the newspaper publisher said on Thursday, while revenue fell on a 27 percent decline in advertising sales.

Stock futures were mixed on Thursday ahead of leading indicator and jobless data and a slew of big corporate earnings reports, including UPS, Amazon.com, 3M, Dow Chemical and Merck.

The U.S. economy will grow reasonably in the second half of this year, but the Federal Reserve needs to see more progress before taking some of its economic support away, Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed said on Thursday.

The U.S. economy will grow reasonably in the second half of this year, but the Federal Reserve needs to see more progress before taking some of its economic support away, Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed said on Thursday.

U.S. Midwest regional bank Huntington Bancshares Inc (HBAN.O) posted its fourth straight quarterly loss, as it had to set aside more money to meet losses from bad loans.

Travelers Cos Inc's (TRV.N) quarterly profit more than quadrupled beating expectations, as underwriting gains surged.

Sterling Bancshares Inc (SBIB.O) posted a surprise quarterly loss, hurt by a three-fold increase in provision for loan losses and higher charge-offs.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc (BBX.N), a U.S. regional bank, posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss, hurt by higher loan loss provisions.

News, details on bond issues in the European markets on Thursday:

In a supplement to the October 2009 Short-Term Energy Outlook, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) analyzed the inherent volatility of energy prices by looking at the options market. This supplement was the first product under the EIA's Energy and Financial Markets Initiative launched in September. The Initiative is aimed at examining all the variables that affect energy prices and price volatility.

The Bank of Japan is leaning towards scrapping some corporate finance support programmes in December, sources with knowledge of the bank's thinking said, rebuffing government pressure to delay an exit from credit markets.

China's economic growth picked up last quarter as expected as a combination of breakneck investment and buoyant bank lending more than made up for a slump in exports.

Britain's top share index shed 1 percent by midday on Thursday, suffering a broad-based sell-off after disappointing earnings news from the U.S., with energy stocks the biggest laggards as crude fell.

U.S. stock index futures dipped on Thursday ahead of leading indicator and jobless data and a slew of big corporate earnings reports, including American Express, Amazon.com, Dow Chemical and Merck.

Disappointing results from telecom equipment heavyweight Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and profit-taking after a recent strong run helped send European shares lower around midday on Thursday.

Russia has dropped its $22.5 billion lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon , in line with an earlier request by the country's Customs Service, a judge said on Thursday.

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Co estimates northeast Asia will need about 1,200 airplanes worth about $190 billion over the next 20 years, a senior company executive said on Thursday.

Credit Suisse Group AG said it was upbeat about its prospects after exceeding third-quarter net profit forecasts by a wide margin thanks to a solid investment banking performance and good client inflows.

A Test for Windows; Bailed Out Get Pay Cut; GM's Culture Problem

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 to 0.5 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Thursday.

Job prospects for executives at multinationals in Greater China and Singapore have improved sharply in the past three months amid growing optimism that Asia's recovery from the global recession will be sustainable, a quarterly survey showed on Thursday.