IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rose on Monday, ending a four-day losing streak as data showed the services sector expanded for the first time since August 2008 and optimism about upcoming earnings took hold.

A U.S.-led group that includes former Ford Motor Co director Michael Dingman is in talks to acquire the automaker's money-losing Volvo brand, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Time Inc is gathering U.S. magazine publishers to start a jointly run digital newsstand next year that would deliver their titles to mobile devices like increasingly popular electronic book readers.

Two independent record labels sued U.S. rock band Guns N' Roses for $1 million, claiming the group used portions of two songs by a German musician on their last album Chinese Democracy.

CIT Group Inc is looking at increasing the size of a $3 billion loan it took in July to meet funding needs as the troubled commercial lender restructures, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

CIT Group Inc is looking at increasing the size of a $3 billion loan it took in July to meet funding needs as the troubled commercial lender restructures, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank plan to sign a deal for a 55 percent stake in German carmaker Opel next Monday or Tuesday, several sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

News Corp's MySpace has named a former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer consultant as its chief financial officer, a new position for the online social network.

The International Monetary Fund is evolving into a central clearing house that will help manage the global economy, the head of the IMF's policy-steering committee said Monday as nations debated the lender's future role.

U.S. network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc expects to continue on the acquisition trail after last week's agreed $3 billion offer for Norwegian videoconferencing company Tandberg.

Burning coal underground could be one of the next breakthroughs to increase the world's energy supply, similar to establishment of Canadian oil sands, executives and academics told a conference in London on Monday.

Renewable Energy Certificates are not carbon offsets and should not be eligible as such under a U.S. climate bill, an environmental policy expert told Reuters.

A guilty plea in a tax case related to the ongoing criminal investigation of U.S. clients of UBS AG is expected later on Monday, a government official told Reuters.

Stocks snapped a four-day losing streak on Monday, after a broker issued a bullish call on big banks and as data showed the services sector expanded for the first time since August 2008.

The entire city of Buenos Aires seems to drink mate. Families lounging on blankets pass it around in parks. Friends sitting on benches sip it while chatting. Beach-goers break out mate tote bags. Some

Bank of America Corp will spend as much as $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 to relaunch Merrill Lynch's name and long-time bull logo.

Oil fell 2 percent to below $69 a barrel on Monday, pressured by jitters over the pace of U.S. economic recovery and easing concerns about Iran and Nigeria.

President Barack Obama gathered doctors from every U.S. state at the White House on Monday to press his case for healthcare reform in a week when the sweeping overhaul could clear a major hurdle in Congress.

With the population aging and fewer young people to take the place of baby boomers, the demand for housing may slow for years to come, keeping home values from increasing as they have done since World War II, according to at least one well-known housing expert.

More than 80 percent of new single-family homes have at least two bathrooms, which occupy an average of 300 square feet of floor space, or 12 percent of the total area, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders.

A court in Azerbaijan sentenced a group of militant Islamists including two Lebanese men to between 12 and 15 years in jail on Monday for plotting attacks on the Israeli and U.S. embassies in Baku.

As Rio de Janeiro revels and rejoices in a runaway victory for the right to stage the 2016 Olympics, a chill wind is blowing through Chicago, seen by many as favourites before Friday's stunning IOC vote.

As many as 6.2 million Ethiopians need emergency humanitarian assistance due to severe drought, an official from the Oxfam charity said on Monday.

The European Union and Brazil will put pressure on the United States Tuesday to set out its demands to conclude the Doha round of world trade talks in 2010 to boost dwindling world trade, a draft document showed.

American Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited Iraqi refugees in Syria, in a suburb in southern Damascus on October 2, 2009.

U.S. network equipment maker Brocade Communications Systems Inc has put itself up for sale and Hewlett-Packard Co is among the possible bidders, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, triggering a 17 percent jump in Brocade shares.

NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker could be about to get a new boss -- and asked to explain a three-year run when his company expanded its cable business and won acclaim for its Olympic broadcasts, but failed to score a single breakout prime-time TV hit.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday called for patience and discretion as President Barack Obama decides how to conduct the war in Afghanistan, urging advisers to speak candidly but privately on strategy.

Caterpillar Inc , the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment, said on Monday it plans to raise prices on most of its machinery up to 2 percent next year.