IBT Staff Reporter

Spending more time on Facebook, Twitter and blogs? You're not alone, with the latest figures showing the number of minutes spent on social networking sites in the United States has almost doubled over the past year.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc employees could be shouting the retailer's corporate cheer with renewed vigor at this year's annual meeting.

Bank of America Corp , JPMorgan Chase & Co and several other banks said they have raised more than $19 billion as lenders scramble to extricate themselves from Washington's grip.

Two months ago President Obama stood with other Group of 20 nations' leaders in London and pledged not to introduce protectionist measures in the global economic crisis.

Tibco Software Inc will sell products to help companies build and run programs on Amazon.com's cloud computing system, a move that may spur adoption of the fledgling technology.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on October 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season.

A brief veil of anonymity has been lifted for the likely new owner of General Motors Corp’s Hummer brand. The American automaker and China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd announced Tuesday they have reached a preliminary agreement that will retain the brand’s current management, operational team and U.S. headquarters.

Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim confirmed Tuesday that wreckage spotted in the Atlantic Ocean is without a doubt” from the Air France flight 447.

Access to the popular social networking service Twitter and email service Hotmail was blocked across mainland China on Tuesday afternoon, two days before the 20th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The flagship U.S. program to revive consumer and small business lending picked up pace in June, showing investors have grown more comfortable with taking part in the government initiative and appetite for risk has increased across all markets.

Oracle Corp. chief executive Larry Ellison pledged to use the purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc. as a way to get into the rapidly growing netbook business and develop other electronics gadgets.

Batteries maker Valence Technology Inc. is applying for $225 million from federal funds to build a plant in Leander, Texas for the manufacturing of battery packs for electric vehicles, the firm announced last week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. took the lead among financial institutions to raise at least $8.7 billion after the Federal Reserve imposed additional capital requirements on banks seeking to repay government aid received.

U.S. auto sales fell nearly 34 percent in May from a year earlier, but aggressive discounting helped steady results for the battered industry, according to monthly results released on Tuesday.

Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison, whose company sells software to big corporations, is looking to extend his footprint to inexpensive laptops and other electronics gadgets.

Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim confirmed on Tuesday that the Air France Airbus crashed at approximately 400 miles from the Fernando de Noronha archipelago.

The Internet has helped Chinese dissident Wang Dan span the distance from his exile home in Los Angeles to Beijing, where 20 years ago he shot to fame as a top leader of the Tiananmen democracy protests.

Sony has its plans to debut the awaited PSP Go in October with a suggested price of $249 at an ongoing event in Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2009 conference in Los Angeles.

Clinton-era Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt has signed on as an advisor to Goldman Sachs Group Inc , the Wall Street firm said on Tuesday.

A chip maker and memory, storage provider Micron Technology has reached an agreement with Riverwood Capital and TPG Capital to sell a majority interest in its imaging solutions Aptina Imaging Corporation.

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes shot up by 6.7 percent in April, the biggest monthly gain in 7-1/2 years, according to a report on Tuesday that buttressed views the U.S. recession was easing.

MillerCoors, the second-largest brewer in the United States, sees beer sales growth slowing less rapidly in the downturn than wine and spirits and as the beermaker focuses on premium light and craft beers.

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes shot up by 6.7 percent in April, the biggest monthly gain in 7-1/2 years, according to a report on Tuesday that buttressed views the U.S. recession was easing.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a privately held Chinese company, part of an effort to drop four unprofitable vehicle lines and leave bankruptcy as a leaner company.

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday will open a debate that has stymied them for at least a decade: the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant housing finance agencies nearly felled by the credit crisis.

Microsoft Corp argued before an appeals court on Tuesday that its Outlook calendar date-picker tool did not infringe an Alcatel-Lucent patent and asked for a $358 million jury verdict to be overturned.

Stocks rose for a fourth straight day on Tuesday as an upbeat report on home sales bolstered hopes for an economic recovery as well as shares in construction companies.

The number of customers who don’t buy personal computers directly from PC makers will continuously increase over the next four years, forcing manufacturers to do a better job of customer segmentation and go-to-market strategies, research firm Gartner Inc. said on Tuesday.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor sought to answer critics on Tuesday with a vow to follow the law ultimately and completely, and a key senator said he wanted confirmation hearings next month so she can rebut what he called unfounded charges of racism.