IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. Senate will approve a $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers auto sales incentive by week's end, Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday, giving new life to a successful program that has boosted industry sales to a 2009 high.

Stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by the financial sector as economic data pointed to a sustained if slow recovery from the recession, taking the Dow and the S&P 500 to nine-month highs.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

Richard Santulli, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc NetJets Inc and long considered a possible successor to Warren Buffett, has stepped down, effective immediately.

CVS Caremark Corp has the ability to make more acquisitions, but Chief Financial Officer Dave Rickard would not say whether his company wants to buy Aetna Inc's pharmacy benefit management business.

PepsiCo Inc agreed to buy bottlers Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc in a sweetened $7.8 billion deal, after a decade of operating as separate companies, as it seeks to cut costs and boost profits in North America.

Hedge fund firm Citadel Investment Group will return millions to clients who asked to exit last year, but were locked in when its flagship funds lost more than half their value during the financial crisis.

The Postal Regulatory Commission has released Tuesday nearly 700 locations of post offices in the United States that are proposed to be closed.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on the climate bill called Climate Change Legislation: Allowance and Revenue Distribution. Power company Duke Energy Co. said its profit declined 21 percent in the second quarter to $276 million or 21 cents per share from $351 million or 28 cents per share a year earlier.

World of Warcraft patch 3.2 has been released and is now available for download. It updates several user interactions including an array of game changes.

Apple Inc on Tuesday has finally landed its iTunes store in Mexico with a wide selection of Mexican, indie labels and international music.

Post offices are going to be another casualty of recession that has crippling effect on US economy. The U.S. government is to close around 700 post offices across the country as a result of the recession's crippling effect on US economy.

Whole Foods Market Inc on Tuesday posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, as sales rose, and the seller of organic and gourmet food items raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co nudged another step closer to merging with its Euronext-listed fund on Tuesday after the fund received enough support from its unitholders for the deal.

Electronic Arts Inc reported better-than-expected results on strong sales of The Sims 3 video game and cost-cutting, sending its shares up as high as 4 percent on Tuesday.

NetJets Inc, the fractional aircraft ownership firm, announced on Tuesday that its Chairman, chief executive and founder Richard Santulli is resigning.

A middle-income family can expect to spend $291,570 including inflation to raise a child born in 2008 to adulthood, the government estimated on Tuesday, up slightly from the estimate made a year ago.

Penny Worley Auctioneers on Tuesday announced two online auctions for items from banks seized by the U.S. government.

Allen Stanford's criminal attorney won't be allowed to withdraw just yet, a federal judge in Texas said on Tuesday, even though another law firm has said it would represent the accused swindler.

North Korea released two jailed American journalists on Tuesday after a visit from former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the highest-level U.S. contact with Pyongyang since Clinton was president nearly a decade ago.

Bill Clinton, whose hopes for a peacemaking trip to North Korea fizzled while he was still president, got a second chance on Tuesday and negotiated the release of two American journalists in Pyongyang.

Electronic Arts Inc reported better-than-expected results on strong sales of The Sims and reaffirmed its fiscal 2010 forecast, sending shares up nearly 4 percent on Tuesday.

Consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in June, exceeding analyst forecasts the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The increase could be attributed to consumers spending more on increasingly expensive staples, such as gasoline. After adjusting for inflation, spending fell by 0.1 percent.

Disagreement within the Obama administration over reshaping U.S. financial regulation flared on Tuesday, with top bank regulators defending their turf against key parts of a plan to overhaul bank supervision.

Kraft Foods Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as price increases, cost cuts and people eating more food at home helped boost results.

Stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by the financial sector as economic data pointed to a sustained if slow recovery from the recession, taking the Dow and the S&P 500 to nine-month highs.

Whole Foods Market Inc on Tuesday posted third quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, as sales rose, and the seller of organic and gourmet food products raised its full-year earnings forecast.

It will almost assuredly be ladies night this year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Pension managers and mutual fund houses have been among the biggest buyers of the Dow Jones industrial average in recent weeks, underscoring the growing belief the recession is over, according to an analysis conducted by Thomson Reuters.