IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks surged on Thursday as a drop in the number of Americans on jobless benefits and a batch of solid corporate profit reports bolstered hope for an economic recovery.

Oil rose above $64 a barrel on Thursday, boosted by stock markets in Europe and Asia, better than expected corporate results and data suggesting the economic downturn was bottoming out.

General Electric Co shares climbed more than 7 percent on Thursday after a powerful U.S. lawmaker said he saw no great need for the largest U.S. conglomerate to spin off its finance arm.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc post low second quarter profits as oil, natural gas prices and refining margins plunged. NRG Energy's net income increased helped by the acquisition of Reliant Energy's Texas retail business.

A Judge from the San Mateo County Superior Court struck down a request from Martin Eberhard, former chief executive officer of Tesla Motors, to be declared one of only two founders of the electric car maker, according to a statement from Tesla Motors Wednesday night.

Rainstorms have left at least 66 people dead, 66 missing and more than 30,000 relocated from their homes since the beginning of June in five of China southern provinces, official Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday ramped up her criticism of insurance companies, accusing them of unethical behavior and working to kill a plan to create a new government-run health plan.

Rumors about the Windows 7 RTM crack was confirmed by Microsoft after the latest intriguing news spread quickly.

Motorola Inc shipped more cell phones than expected in the second quarter and raised its target for cost cuts for the year, sending its shares up 9 percent.

Stocks Rebound, Exxon's Profit Sinks, MasterCard Beats

A new iPhone virus has been discovered on Thursday that could infect every iPhone in the world through Short Message Service (SMS), or text messaging.

MasterCard Inc , the world's second-largest credit card network, reported better-then-expected quarterly earnings Thursday as it raised fees charged to banks and cut expenses, sending its shares up 6.5 percent.

The number of Americans collecting long-term unemployment aid fell to the lowest in three months in mid-July, according to government data that implied a slowing pace of layoffs as the economy stabilizes.

In the past week the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to numbers slightly above the expected numbers according to government data on Thursday. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000 in the week ended July 25.

An iPhone Virus is set to be unveiled at a cyber conference today in Las Vegas. Two researchers, Charles Miller and fellow cybersecurity researcher, Collin Mulliner, have found an iPhone bug that could infect phones virally through SMS.

Stocks advanced on Thursday as a string of solid corporate profits and a drop in the number of Americans staying on jobless benefits fueled economic recovery hopes.

Jonathan Spicer and Daisy KuAggressive cost cutting helped NYSE Euronext beat earnings expectations for a second straight quarter Thursday, and the company expects staff reductions to yield more savings.

Motorola Inc shipped more cell phones than expected in the second quarter and raised its target for cost cuts for the year, sending its shares up 9 percent.

A Mac security expert has discovered a technique that hackers could use to take control of Apple Inc. computers and iPhone's in order to steal data, disproving the long believed theory that Apple products are more secure than PCs.

Exxon Mobil Corp reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as natural gas and crude oil prices slid from a year ago and the global recession hurt demand for fuel.

Ferrari said on Wednesday that retired seven time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, 40, will get back into the race cockpit for the team, temporarily replacing injured Felipe Massa, 28.

Independent power producer NRG Energy Inc posted higher second-quarter earnings, helped by the acquisition of Reliant Energy's Texas retail business and a tax gain on the sale of its equity stake in Mibrag.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly more than expected last week, but the number of workers staying on jobless rolls fell to the lowest in three months, government data showed on Thursday.

The corporate bond market is signaling trouble ahead for those U.S. regional banks that are facing rising loan losses from commercial real estate.

The Federal Reserve seems to be volunteering to be top bubble burster. In a recent speech, Bill Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,

U.S. banks' losses from loans to homebuilders should start to taper off in about six months, a Standard & Poor's analyst said on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, driven by a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for a second consecutive week as Treasury yields climbed, a move that does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market.

Motorola Inc posted a bigger quarterly profit in the second quarter as it cut costs and shipped more cell phones than expected, sending its shares up 7.6 percent.