IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. credit card charge-off rate rose to a record high in August, as more Americans lost their jobs, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday, in another sign consumers remain under stress.

REALTORS specializing in commercial real estate experienced a slowdown in sales transaction volume in 2008, but also reported an increase in commercial leasing volume, according to the 2009 National Association of REALTORS Commercial Member Profile.

Duke Energy Corp has signed a clean energy technology agreement with China's ENN Group, adding to a deal it struck last month with the country's top power provider in Duke's push to cut carbon emissions.

The Connecticut state attorney general called on AT&T Inc on Wednesday to abandon plans for 2,500 new layoffs and criticized the phone company for deteriorating services in the state.

Hummer plans to invest $9.4 million over five years and take advantage of tax credits to set up a Michigan headquarters after China's Tengzhong acquires the brand from General Motors Co, a Hummer spokesman said on Tuesday.

Fisker Automotive was awarded a $528.7 million U.S. government loan on Tuesday for development of gas-electric hybrid plug-ins.

The European Union's anti-trust chief wants to reach a deal with Microsoft Corp in a dispute over Web browsers before she leaves her post later this year, she said in an interview published on Wednesday.

The U.S. government will have issued $7 trillion in bonds by the time the current fiscal year ends next week, but it expects the debt deluge to stabilize by mid 2010, a Treasury official said on Wednesday.

South Korea's telecommunications regulator said Wednesday that Apple Inc. can sell its hit iPhone in the country, after the Korea Communications Commission lifted a ban on the popular device which may potentially shake up a cell phone market controlled by domestic manufacturers.

Amid a falling trend, the U.S. government on Thursday is expected to release its unemployment insurance weekly claims data on Thursday.

CarMax Inc (KMX.N), the largest U.S. retailer of used cars, posted strong quarterly results as the company received an unexpected boost from the cash-for-clunkers program and its finance unit recorded a one-time gain.

Magna International Inc (MGa.TO) has not lost any contracts because of its investment in Opel, a senior company executive said on Tuesday, after outlining some of the ways the Canadian auto parts supplier plans to keep the operations separate.

Oil dropped nearly 4 percent to below $69 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a big jump in crude and products stockpiles, stirring concerns about demand in the world's top energy consumer.

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it planned to restore about 3,000 jobs at U.S. assembly plants and related facilities and is getting set to raise North American production by up to 45 percent next year.

Cost-savings talks between Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Canadian subsidiary and the Canadian Auto Workers union continued on Wednesday, but the union said Ford had so far failed to address its key issue.

AutoNation Inc.(AN.N), the top U.S. auto dealership chain, is ready to go on offense by acquiring new stores and buying more vehicles as it bets that the battered U.S. auto market is headed for a long and steady recovery, the company's chief executive said.

Nintendo Co Ltd may cut the price of its Wii video game console by $50 to about $200, starting this weekend, according to several technology blogs.

Appeals court judges hearing the latest round of a long-running patent fight between Microsoft Corp and Toronto technology company i4i on Wednesday questioned a lower court's calculation that the software giant owed $290 million in damages to the smaller firm.

Muammar Gaddafi, in his first address to the United Nations in 40 years as Libya's autocratic ruler, on Wednesday accused major powers on the Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. charter.

Actress Mackenzie Phillips said in a memoir published on Wednesday that she had an incestuous affair for years with her father John Phillips, the late singer with 1960s band The Mamas & the Papas.

Former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dashed speculation on Wednesday that he once had an affair with Lady Diana, saying his novel about a romance between a French leader and a British princess was pure fiction.

President Barack Obama pressed world leaders on Wednesday to help confront challenges ranging from the war in Afghanistan to nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea instead of expecting the United States to do it all alone.

Actor John Travolta acknowledged Wednesday that his son Jett, 16 who died in January, had autism and suffered from a seizure disorder.

So you're moving from the United States to another country and the most important thing you can think of is how you can watch the new season of American Idol?

A blockbuster sci-fi movie which caricatures Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals and a Sony PlayStation advert which implies they are fraudsters have infuriated a government battling to improve the country's image.

President Barack Obama delivered his first speech on Wednesday to the United Nations General Assembly.

Rumors may becoming true that Microsoft is planning to launch its own tablet PC with new photos appearing on Gizmodo that show Microsoft's new tablet along with a pr demo of the device.

As of September 18, Baker Hughes Incorporated reports 293 rigs drilling for oil and 705 rigs drilling for natural gas.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve said economic activity has picked up following a severe downturn, an assessment that suggested the outlook for corporate profits was brightening.