IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. mortgage applications fell for a second straight week, led by a plunge in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Research In Motion is rolling out an updated version of its top-end BlackBerry Bold smartphone, aimed at the company's base of professional users as well as wealthier retail consumers.

Eli Lilly and Co posted third-quarter profit well above Wall Street expectations on Wednesday on strong performance of its major prescription drugs and lower taxes, sending shares up 1.9 percent.

Striving to attain that perfect life, work balance? You're not alone, but if you live in Chicago you're more unlikely to find it with residents of the Windy City the most stressed in the United states.

Michael Jackson intended his run of 50 live concerts in London to be his live performance farewell and an event to share with his growing children, the director of his new movie said on Tuesday.

Have a headache and don't know why? It could be high levels of air pollution.

A single pill containing the pain relievers tramadol and acetaminophen is as effective as the drug gabapentin for treating diabetes-related nerve pain, according to study findings presented Tuesday at the 20th World Diabetes Congress in Montreal.

Research presented Tuesday at the 20th World Diabetes Congress in Montreal provides further evidence that healthy behaviors reduce mortality in people with and without diabetes.

Half of those hospitalized with the new H1N1 virus are under 25, a clear illustration that the pandemic is affecting the young disproportionately, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday after Dow component Boeing reported disappointing quarterly results and on increased concern that a market pullback looms.

Eli Lilly and Co posted better-than-expected profit on Wednesday, helped by higher sales of its Cymbalta anti-depressant and Alimta cancer drug, and raised its full-year forecast.

Merck and Co's failed AIDS vaccine may not have worked, but it probably did not raise the risk of infection either, doctors said Tuesday.

Months before Fed Tightens; Japan's Alternatives; Dell's Windows 7 Boost

Hooked on cocaine or cigarettes? The U.S. government wants drug companies to make a vaccine for that.

U.S. regulators are examining the growing number of nutrition claims found on the front of food packages after complaints that they give a misleading picture of their health benefits, officials said in a warning to food companies on Tuesday.

China on Wednesday voiced confidence that the economy has recovered from the global financial crisis, sending its clearest signal yet that it might gradually unwind its ultra-loose pro-growth policies.

Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday, ending a string of three straight losing quarters.

Morgan Stanley reported a better than forecast third quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong fixed income sales and trading revenues, ending a string of three straight losing quarters.

Media General Inc (MEG.N) reported a quarterly loss on Wednesday because of a writedown and said revenue fell 18 percent, but the newspaper publisher also said it sees signs that ad spending is improving.

Plains Capital Corp, a Dallas-based bank holding company and mortgage lender, said it expects its initial public offering of 15 million shares to be priced at $14 to $16 a share, in what could be the first IPO by a bank in more than two years.

For two decades, Aron Aronov has transported embroidered garments, oil portraits of rabbis and other examples of traditional Bukharian Jewish culture from his native Uzbekistan to a small museum in New York.

Oil fell to around $78 a barrel on Wednesday, extending the previous session's decline from a one-year peak after a bigger-than-expected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Canada's currency fell againstthe U.S. dollar on Wednesday as traders overseas got a chanceto react to the Bank of Canada warning that a strong domesticcurrency was undermining economic recovery.

Boeing Co on Wednesday posted a quarterly net loss on charges related to the first three 787 flight-test planes and the 747 program.

A U.S. congressional committee is likely on Wednesday to endorse the creation of a financial watchdog agency to protect consumers, with large banks likely to feel its bite worst.

Eli Lilly and Co posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as sales of its top-selling prescription drugs beat projections, and the drugmaker raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Stock futures fell on Wednesday as growing concern about a market consolidation loomed despite another round of solid quarterly earnings.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 down 0.24 percent, Dow Jones DJc1 futures down 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures down 0.34 percent.

Britain's top share index was 1 percent lower in midday trade on Wednesday, as miners and energy stocks fell on weakness in commodity prices while banks fell after the BoE Governor said regulation would be tightened.