IBT Staff Reporter

PC maker Dell Inc has agreed to promote Salesforce.com Inc software products to its U.S. customers, as it tries to expand revenue from higher-margin services business.

Stanford University is trying to sell $1 billion of its $12.6 billion portfolio of assets including investments in venture capital, its head of investments said on Friday.

U.S. retailers that pushed deep, margin-sapping discounts in 2008 to try to lure holiday shoppers during the recession are going to try to break consumers of the 70 percent-off habit in 2009.

Canadian hedge funds may lose more than 20 percent of their business if the European Union approves a proposed directive restricting foreigners' ability to sell into the EU, a top fund manager said on Thursday.

Brazil stocks racked up yet another high for the year to date on Friday, as Brazilian stocks followed foreign markets upward after profit-taking in the morning. The benchmark Bovespa index rose 0.49 percent to 64,071.01, after hitting a new intraday high for the year as investors stayed optimistic about Brazil's economic recovery.

Alicia Keys will release her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom, on December 1.

Disappointed investors who threatened to abandon venture capital have carried through, sending the number of new funds tumbling and signaling a smaller industry with fewer venture capitalists.

The U.S. Federal Reserve must continue to prop up the economy for an extended period but can't do so indefinitely for fear of triggering an inflationary surge, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Thursday.

Bank of America Corp appointed on Tuesday two new directors to asset manager BlackRock Inc's board, swapping current and former bank employees.

Heidelberg, the world's largest maker of printing presses, expects its full-year loss could triple compared with fiscal 2008/09 as underutilised print shops remain unwilling to invest in new machines.

Dole Food Co Inc, the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables, set terms for a planned initial public offering, including a price range and the number of shares it expects to sell, suggesting that the IPO is imminent.

Home accessories retailer Tuesday Morning Corp posted a 4 percent fall in its first quarter sales, but forecast a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss.

Good Hair, a documentary starring comedian Chris Rock that discusses people's obsession to get a good hair, hits theaters Friday.

National Semiconductor Corp Chief Executive Brian Halla plans to retire at the end of November, and Chief Operating Officer and company veteran Donald Macleod will take up his post.

The chief executive of Brazil's TAM Linhas Aereas resigned unexpectedly on Friday after less than two years on the job, prompting the airline to promote its chief financial officer on an interim basis.

A committee of former Enron employees is seeking U.S. bankruptcy court approval to distribute about $24 million in severance pay from a litigation trust to 3,500 former employees of the collapsed energy trader.

Giant initial public offerings this week by Banco Santander (Brasil) SA and Verisk Analytics are likely to be followed by more outsized IPOs, but the mixed performance of the stocks shows selling future deals could be difficult.

The biggest week for initial public offerings in 18 months, fueled by offerings from Banco Santander (Brasil) SA and insurance risk specialist Verisk Analytics Inc that raised a combined $10 billion, provided a much-needed boost to investment bankers.

Frozen food company Birds Eye Foods Inc plans to raise up to $350 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing.

A management buyout of Malaysia's national carmaker Proton Holdings (PROT.KL) could be possible, the firm's chairman was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying.

Two people died and 19 more were taken to hospital Thursday evening, after being overcome while sitting in a sweat dome during a spiritual retreat at the Angel Valley Resort in Sedona, Arizona, the Associated Press reports.

The U.S. jobs market continued to remain tight in August amid recent payroll data showing job cuts nationwide, according to new data released Friday.

YouTube now gets over a billion hits a day, according to a new video blog post by the founder of the website.

Solar thermal power company eSolar Inc said on Friday it granted South African company Clean Energy Solutions exclusive rights to represent and distribute eSolar's concentrating solar power technology across seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Germany's Economy Minister sought to shore up support for his government's rescue plans for Opel amid signs of growing opposition at home and abroad to the Berlin-brokered deal with Canadian automotive firm Magna (MGa.TO).

General Motors Co GM.UL is looking for a new advertising agency for its luxury Cadillac brand as it tries to reverse a slide in sales in its home market.

General Motors Co's flagship Chevrolet brand expects to boost sales driven by new launches such as the Cruze small car and may represent 70 percent of the automaker's North American sales, the brand's chief said on Friday.

Canada's largest public sector union said on Friday that the strong Canadian dollar is hurting manufacturers and called on the government to take action to help pull the currency closer to its historic range.

General Motors Co GM.UL said on Friday that its China vehicle sales in the first nine months of this year jumped 55.6 percent from a year earlier, boosted by Beijing's stimulus policies and boding well for record sales for the full year.