IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks fell for a third straight day on Friday after disappointing data on durable goods orders and housing, while Research In Motion's lackluster results dented optimism about tech spending.

President Barack Obama's pay czar said on Friday he was using formulas and data analysis to determine executive compensation rather than relying on pay caps.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials mused about the timing and pace of the central bank's removal of its unprecedented support for the economy on Friday, saying the shift could be abrupt and might be hard to communicate to financial markets.

Fed anticipates; G20's Shift; BofA Urges

Vanguard Group Inc wants to help investors watch their money while they're on the go, even as it wonders how much interest its long-term oriented customers have in minute-by-minute updates.

Ambac Financial Group , Bank of America and Germany's central bank are among new entities claiming assets against Lehman Brothers after banks and investors worldwide took losses to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

IBM was the main supplier in a failed project by British intelligence to upgrade its communications system so various organizations and agents in different locations could share information, a report said on Friday.

Cadbury Plc CEO Todd Stitzer said on Friday he did not believe Kraft's offer for the company made strategic sense, as he tried to clarify remarks he made that drew scrutiny from Britain's Takeover Panel.

An estimated 5.7 million U.S. families live in substandard housing, with one in every three houses in U.S. metropolitan areas plagued by health hazards, according to a study released Thursday.

The Black Eyes Peas' I Gotta Feeling reigned for a 13th week on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, besting the 12-week stay at the summit of Boom Boom Pow, the hip-hop band's previous single that directly preceded its follow-up at No. 1.

Internet microblogging service Twitter said it closed a new round of funding on Friday with five investors, including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price and private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.

Bank of America Corp urged a federal judge to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint accusing it of misleading shareholders about bonuses it let Merrill Lynch & Co pay employees before the companies' January 1 merger.

AT&T Inc said any new net neutrality rules imposed by U.S. regulators need to apply to Web companies like Google Inc as much as to phone companies to ensure a level playing field.

Airgas Inc is not yet out of the woods brought on by the recession, the specialty gases supplier's chief executive said on Friday.

Stocks fell on Friday as investors wrestled with disappointing data on durable goods orders and housing, while Research In Motion's lackluster results dented recent optimism about technology spending.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will exhibit a large collection of important 20th century art amassed by the founders of the Gap apparel chain including pieces by Warhol, Lichtenstein and de Kooning.

The Dow briefly turned positive and the S&P 500 trimmed losses as gains by companies which fare better in an uncertain economy offset disappointing data.

Google Inc's voice service is an online software tool and should not be regulated, a Google lawyer told Reuters on Friday.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion could see its share of the smartphone market eroded by competing devices like Apple's iPhone, analysts warned on Friday as RIM's stock plunged more than 16 percent in the wake of a disappointing profit and outlook report.

The Group of 20 will become the forum for global economic management, giving rising powers such as China more clout, and will roll out tougher rules for banks by the end of 2012, a draft communique said on Friday.

U.S. commercial banks reported a drop in trading revenues for the second quarter as earnings from interest products plunged, though revenues were boosted by improving credit markets, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Friday.

Twitter closed a new round of funding on Friday with five investors including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price and private equity firm Insight Venture Partners, underscoring growing investor interest in the three-year-old Internet microblogging service.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden demanded that European nations withdraw their troops from Afghanistan in a new audio tape aired on Friday, saying they were sacrificing men and money in an unjust U.S.-led war.

Honda Motor Co has unveiled an electric battery-powered personal transporter, a unicycle shaped like the number eight that riders steer by leaning in the direction they want to travel.

Fitch Ratings put AIG's aircraft leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corp. on negative rating watch on Friday, citing concerns whether the company could be sold in a way that would keep its ratings at investment grade level.

A shift in the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy will likely come before it is clearly necessary based on economic data and could be rapid, a top Fed policymaker said on Friday.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - The Internet is the future for experimental film-making, but the time has come to make online video art profitable, Isabella Rossellini says.

U.S. stocks fell for a third straight session on Friday due to weaker-than-expected data on durable goods and home sales, while disappointing results from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion weighed on the Nasdaq.

President Barack Obama's pay czar said on Friday he will not cap compensation for the top employees at bailed-out companies, and will not reveal names, when he releases the first wave of decisions within a few weeks.