IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama remains committed to ending unfair loopholes and tax breaks for international corporations, but congressional tax writers and others doubt that will happen without broader reforms, such as cutting the top corporate tax rate.

Procter & Gamble Co will introduce more value-priced items, increase its focus on emerging markets and take other steps to ensure growth after a difficult year, its top executives said on Tuesday.

Executives from two of the United States' biggest home mortgage lenders said the nation's housing market is still in a tenuous state despite signs of stability over the summer months.

The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Tuesday after Johnson & Johnson reported disappointing third-quarter sales, while the Nasdaq edged up after Cisco Systems Inc announced a large acquisition.

Major U.S. defense contractors, braced for restrained U.S. spending and higher pension costs, are likely to forecast flat or slow growth for 2010, while commercial aerospace firms could offer more evidence that economic conditions are firming.

The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co have reached a tentative agreement on contract changes the automaker wants to bring labor costs in line with U.S. rivals, the union and company said on Tuesday.

Celebrity chef and restaurant owner Todd English, 49 didn't show up at his wedding last Saturday with girlfriend Erika Wang,33 who blames him for causing her, her friends and family, so much pain, the New York Post reports.

Johnson & Johnson posted weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue on Tuesday as sales of prescription drugs and heart stents disappointed, sending its shares down 2.5 percent.

Crude oil rose to a seven-week high near $74 a barrel on Tuesday after OPEC raised its 2010 demand forecast and the dollar weakened, boosting demand for commodities.

President Barack Obama remains committed to reforming international corporate taxation to end unfair loopholes, although congressional tax writers and others doubt that will happen without broader reforms such as cutting the top corporate tax rate.

Cisco Systems Inc plans to buy wireless telecommunications equipment maker Starent Networks Corp for $2.9 billion, betting that demand for advanced wireless equipment will grow as more consumers download videos and access the Web from mobile phones.

Stocks traded mixed on Tuesday on the heels of a six-day streak of gains, after Johnson & Johnson's third-quarter sales disappointed investors and stirred doubts about the strength of the latest earnings season.

Michelle Mack, a 37 year old woman who was born with half of her brain, showed her story to the world on Tuesday.

CIT Group Inc is seeing little interest from bondholders in a debt exchange offer aimed at repairing its fragile balance sheet, making bankruptcy increasingly likely, sources familiar with the matter said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's online division said on Tuesday that it is now selling a wide range of personal care items, including diapers, vitamins and over-the-counter medication, for home delivery.

The world needs to build 100 major projects for capturing and burying greenhouse gases by 2020 and thousands more by 2050 to help combat climate change, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would hear an appeal by former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling of his 2006 felony conviction stemming from the giant energy trader's collapse.

Investors have bid up General Electric Co shares to almost triple their March lows but the largest U.S. conglomerate will have to deliver solid quarterly results for them to rise much further.

Want a snapshot of the U.S. housing market? Check out a mortgage modification event -- the lending equivalent of speed dating.

Freddie Mac, a dominant provider of housing finance money, sees tough times ahead for the U.S. residential market, even as government programs seek to soften the foreclosure crisis, two top Freddie executives told Reuters.

The rivals in Honduras' political crisis open new talks on Tuesday to discuss the proposed return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a thorny issue that could derail the fragile negotiations altogether.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Iran's appeal courts Tuesday to carefully review death sentences handed down for three people over street unrest following the disputed election in June.

Pakistani aircraft bombed militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Tuesday as government forces prepare for a ground offensive against the militant hub, security officials said.

Afghan politicians on Tuesday expressed frustration over delays to the outcome of the August presidential election, held up by elaborate efforts to wipe clean the widespread fraud that marred the vote.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday the time had not yet come for more sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and praised what she said was Russia's help in tackling the issue.

Singer Carly Simon is suing Starbucks Corporation blaming the coffee chain for the poor sales in her 2008 album saying the company failed to adequately promote her 2008 album ahead of its release.

North Korea was preparing to fire a fresh barrage of short-range missiles, a report said on Tuesday, in a move seen as an attempt to boost its bargaining position ahead of expected talks on ending its nuclear weapons program.

Gone Too Far, the documentary that DJ AM conceived to help eight drug addicts regain their sober life, aired Monday on MTV exposing shocking footage from the extent of an addiction in young adults, to how it perturbs an entire family and how they handle a time given for rehabilitation.

Russia and China bolstered their close but increasingly imbalanced relationship on Tuesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ushered through a tentative gas supply agreement and deals worth $3.5 billion.