IBT Staff Reporter

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

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee will vote on Tuesday on a bill to reform the U.S. healthcare system, President Barack Obama's main domestic objective.

Bank of America Corp agreed to waive legal privileges linked to its purchase of Merrill Lynch, in a step that could force the bank to hand over more details of how much it knew when it bought the investment bank, federal regulators said on Tuesday.

The future of one of China's best-selling investigative magazines is at stake in an increasingly public battle for control that pits its envelope-pushing editor against her financial backers.

Japanese specialty chipmaker Rohm Co Ltd said on Tuesday that it will buy all the shares of U.S. sensor-maker Kionix Inc for an undisclosed sum in a bid to chase the growing motion sensor business.

Revenue from China's online game market grew 39.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous year to 6.18 billion yuan ($906 million), according to data from research firm Analysys International on Tuesday.

Acer, the world's No. 3 PC brand, should see revenues this year on a par with 2008, its chief executive officer Gianfranco Lanci told Italian newspaper La Stampa in an interview published on Tuesday.

* U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Tuesday as investors awaited earning reports from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Intel Corp (INTC.O).

Stock futures rose slightly on Tuesday as investors awaited earning reports from Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp .

Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] co-founder David Rubenstein said the private equity industry will grow larger than before its bubble burst, as it transforms itself over the next two to three years.

American International Group is to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, marking the largest disposal since a U.S. government bailout saved the insurer from collapse last year.

While optimism among small U.S. businesses perked up slightly in September, owners saw little to celebrate as they planned to cut inventories and trim their workforce, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

India's United Spirits (UNSP.BO), is set to sell new shares worth about $300-350 million to institutions to help cut its debt, after efforts to sell a stake to private equity firms and Diageo (DGE.L) failed.

Factory-built homes maker Champion Enterprises Inc (CHB.N) said its lenders agreed to refrain from taking actions after it failed to make certain payments.

European shares were lower at midday on Tuesday, dragged down by financials ahead of earnings news from major U.S. banks and after prominent sector analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded her rating on Goldman Sachs (GS.N).

Britain's leading shares were 0.3 percent lower early on Tuesday, retreating from a 12-month high set the previous session with investors staying on the sidelines ahead of UK inflation data and upcoming U.S. corporate earnings.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 down 0.13 percent, Dow Jones DJc1 futures down 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures down 0.06 percent at 0830 GMT.

The number of high net-worth individuals in Asia Pacific slumped 14 percent in 2008 and they lost over a fifth of their wealth, leading to only cautious moves from cash back into stocks this year, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES - Alas, the reigning champ of Twitter vitriol has decided to hang up her boxing gloves.

American International Group has struck a deal to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, marking its largest disposal of a unit since a government bailout saved it from collapse last year.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.13 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.06 percent at 4.30 a.m. EDT.

World stocks fell from this week's one-year high on Tuesday as investors grew cautious ahead of major third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings, while risk-hungry investors drove the Australian dollar to a 14-month peak.

Corrects staff being hired in 5 years to 200, not doubling; corrects spelling to Calamander from Calamandar

JPMorgan Chase & Co is promoting Kurt Simon to co-lead its technology, media and telecommunications team, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

Asian stocks rose to a 14-month high and the U.S. dollar steadied on Tuesday, with some investors taking bets that third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings, expected to shrink for the ninth quarter, will be good enough to keep a rally going.

Macau's move to review gaming rules in the world's fastest-growing gambling market could brighten the outlook for casino stocks as potential curbs would help profits by limiting oversupply, analysts said on Tuesday.

American International Group struck a deal to sell its Taiwan life insurance for $2.15 billion, marking its largest disposal of a division since a government bailout last year saved it from collapse.

A hijacker who avoided prosecution for more than four decades returned to the United States and surrendered, officials said on Monday.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday North Korea may be preparing to launch more short-range missiles.