IBT Staff Reporter

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday posted a lower quarterly net profit and thin operating margins that took some of the shine off the world's largest online retailer, sending its shares down 6 percent in after-hours trade.

Investors bid up shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Seattle Genetics Inc on Thursday after Medarex Inc agreed to be acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co at a 90 percent premium.

Microsoft released fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday which missed Wall Street estimates and reported its first decline in full-year revenue in the company's 34-year history.

Jon Heder got his big break with the 2004 teen hit movie Napoleon Dynamite. Ice skates then propelled him to even greater heights in the comedy Blades of Glory, co-starring opposite Will Ferrell.

Toshiba America on Thursday unveiled a new line of LCD TV/DVD combo with stunning stainless style design for kitchen applications.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday announced that sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in June, suggesting that the troubled housing market may be hitting bottom, private data showed Thursday. The value of existing single-family home and condominium sales continue to fall according to the Florida Association of realtors (FAR). According to FAR the median price, however, skidded 59 percent, from $132,900 in June 2008 to $54,500 in June 2009....

Stocks surged on Thursday, sending the Dow industrials above the key 9,000 mark for the first time since January, as strong corporate profits and rebounding home sales spurred optimism about the economy.

Amazon.com Inc posted a quarterly net profit on Thursday that fell by 10 percent as foreign currency fluctuations and a legal settlement hit earnings at the world's largest online retailer, sending shares down more than 5 percent.

Listed steel mills in China are expected to report either declining profit growth or losses for the first half-year period due to sluggish demand, lower steel prices and over capacity, ChinaDaily reported on Thursday.

President Barack Obama said police “acted stupidly” when the arrested black Harvard scholar outside his own home.

U.S. existing home sales notched their third monthly rise in June and prices hit the highest level since October, fueling hopes that the housing sector is finally on the mend and will help propel a broader economic recovery.

Solange Knowles, the younger sister of pop diva Beyonce Knowles went Wednesday for a haircut that has transformed her appearance, going from long to an army regulation cut.

President Barack Obama conceded on Thursday that Congress will not meet his August deadline for passing healthcare reform bills, but said he wanted lawmakers to keep on working on the issue.

Dozens of New Jersey politicians, officials and prominent rabbis were arrested on Thursday in a sweeping federal probe that uncovered political corruption, human organ sales and money laundering from New York to Israel, officials said.

The U.S. government has bought 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine for a possible autumn vaccination campaign, a U.S. federal official said Thursday.

Advisers to large bondholders of CIT Group Inc are pushing to allow the company to restructure its debt with a prepackaged bankruptcy option if later debt exchanges fail to attract enough creditors, a source close to the negotiations said on Thursday.

McDonald's Corp reported lower-than-expected June same-store sales on Thursday and its shares fell 4.9 percent after the top-performing restaurant chain only matched Wall Street's profit view.

President Barack Obama plunged his presidency into a charged racial debate and set off a firestorm in one of America's most liberal bastions by siding with a black Harvard scholar who accuses police of racism.

Stocks advanced on Thursday, sending the Dow industrials above the key 9,000 mark for the first time since January, as strong corporate profits and rebounding home sales spurred optimism about the economic recovery.

The Australian Dollar opens largely unchanged at 0.8160 after the domestic market's insipid reaction to yesterday's local inflation data which picked up in the June quarter by 0.5 per cent for a lower annualised reading of 1.5 per cent. With the CPI rate beneath the Reserve Bank's target range of 2-3 per cent, the door remains open for another interest rate cut should the need arise.

A Caltrain struck and killed a 63-year-old man in San Jose near Blossom Hill Station on Wednesday night, the eight fatality of this year.

Japanese electronics makers Sharp Corp and Sony Corp will likely finalize a deal by July-end to form a television LCD panel joint venture in Sakai, Mie Prefecture, the Nikkei business daily said without citing sources.

Three New Jersey mayors and several rabbis were arrested on Thursday in a sweeping federal investigation into political corruption that also uncovered human kidney sales and money laundering from Brooklyn to Israel, authorities said.

Yahoo Inc's third-quarter forecasts fell short of Wall Street expectations, sending shares 3.2 percent lower, as the Internet company announced plans to step up spending despite persistent weakness in the advertising market.

New York Times Co reported higher quarterly profit on cost cuts on Thursday, beating forecasts, but advertising revenue fell 30 percent and a recovery for U.S. newspaper publishers still looks a long way off.

Equity investors are too negative about the hedge fund industry, says Neptune's Jeremy Smith, who has recently bought shares in Man Group and expects more consolidation among traditional fund firms.

Ford Motor Co posted a $2.3 billion quarterly net profit, mainly due to gains from a $10 billion debt reduction plan, and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011, sending its shares up as much as 9.7 percent.

The chances that Canada's Research in Motion will enter a formal bid for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks are slim as a bidding war develops for technology coveted by the world's leading telecom-equipment makers.

President Barack Obama's drive for healthcare reform suffered a setback on Thursday when Senate leaders said they would not be able to pass the measure before leaving for a monthlong August recess.