IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. economy is no longer on the brink of disaster but recovery will be slow and the jobless rate will remain stubbornly high in coming quarters, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said on Wednesday.

U.S. Banks confront losses, Morgan Stanley's Woes, Big Pharma Beats Expectations

The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday as solid profits from technology bellwether Apple Inc and coffee chain Starbucks Corp overshadowed disappointing bank results and a pullback in energy shares.

The annual crowning of a goat as king of Ireland at one of the country's oldest fairs is in doubt after organizers said the heir to the throne may be stopped from traveling to the festival.

Shares of Yahoo Inc rose 3 percent in late Wednesday afternoon trading, bouncing back from a sharp decline earlier in the day.

Japan hinted on Wednesday it might do more to ease credit and Britain awaits more data before doing the same, while disappointing earnings from Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo tempered optimism Wall Street can extend its recent rally.

The worst is yet to come for debt-laden, cash-strapped and increasingly jobless U.S. consumers.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc announced on Wednesday it has redeemed the warrants under the TARP's Capital Purchase Program at $1.1 billion.

U.S. drug enforcement agents and Los Angeles police on Wednesday raided a Houston clinic owned by Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with pop icon Michael Jackson when he died, searching for information on the singer's use of the anesthetic, propofol.

U2, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton are some of the bands and singers scheduled to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 29 and 30 in New York City's Madison Square Garden, the foundation announced today.

Airlines around the world now spend millions of dollars annually upgrading their inflight entertainment systems, but iPods and other mobile entertainment gadgets could render all that useless.

Israel's venture capital giant Pitango plans to team up with a Chinese partner to launch a $100-$200 million fund with investment focus on China's start-up companies, sources said on Wednesday.

The Beijing municipal government will fully support a bid by Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) for Ford Motor's Volvo car unit if the Chinese automaker fails in its current quest for General Motors' Opel, sources said on Wednesday.

A Chinese worker committed suicide in Shenzhen, South of China on July 16 on learning he was suspected of leaking company secrets. The incident sparked a web firestorm in China and has provoked criticism of Apple's intensely secretive culture.

Canada's Magna is still Germany's preferred bidder for carmaker Opel, a government spokesman said on Wednesday ahead of a meeting with General Motors representatives to discuss the takeover offers.

The Hubble Space Telescope may beam back photos as early as Thursday of the new “scar” generated by the impact of an unknown object on Jupiter's surface, which was first observed on Sunday by amateur Australian astronomer Anthony Wesley.

Delta Air Lines Inc , the world's biggest carrier, said on Wednesday it no longer expects to make money this year, while AirTran Holdings posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and saw its shares jump more than 16 percent.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday fought hard to protect the independence of the U.S. central bank and keep responsibility for consumer protection on financial products in its hands.

General Electric Co has received approval to step back from a U.S. government-backed debt program, a change that the largest U.S. conglomerate said will allow it to issue some debt more cheaply.

Net Servicos de Comunicacao SA, Brazil's largest cable services provider, said on Wednesday profit more than quadrupled in the second quarter after pay television and broadband Internet subscriptions surged.

Japan's biggest mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo Inc's group operating profit likely fell 16 percent to about 250 billion yen ($2.68 billion) in the April-June quarter as the year-earlier boost from reduced sales costs wore off, the Nikkei business daily said.

The ratings of embattled U.S. lender CIT Group will be downgraded to restricted default if it completes its offer to purchase its floating rate notes due in August, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday.

Proteins in spinal fluid accurately detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease in patients and could pave the way for better drug research, Swedish researchers said on Tuesday.

Share of Advanced Micro Devices Inc fell 12.50 percent to $3.57 Wednesday morning as it posted second quarter yesterday evening with another loss deeper than expected.

New studies have found direct evidence of a lung cancer risk from the presence of colorless, odorless radon gas in many homes, a United Nations committee said in a report released Tuesday.

Even among those people who have had pre-cancerous growths on previous colonoscopies, waiting ten years after two negative such tests could be safe, according to a new study.

Moms-to-be who smoke but quit early in pregnancy can sharply reduce their risk of having a premature or too-small baby, new research in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology shows.

Investment gains are likely to boost valuations of U.S. property-casualty insurers when they report second-quarter results, after bruising investment losses marred recent quarters.

A small study suggests that obese adults could improve their balance by shedding pounds and boosting their muscle strength -- with weight loss being especially effective.