IBT Staff Reporter

Bank of America Corp said on Thursday it may swap 200 million common shares for existing preferred stock, moving it more than $2 billion closer to plugging a $33.9 billion capital shortfall.

With unemployment rising to its highest level in more than a quarter century, more Americans are confronting the double crisis of losing both their jobs and their employer-sponsored insurance, which covers 177 million people.

The melting ice sheet this century in Greenland is a bigger threat to major U.S. coastal cities than previously believed, according to a new government study.

Stocks rose on Thursday as energy and commodity shares climbed on higher oil prices and after results of a Treasury bond auction eased any fresh worries over demand for government debt.

Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a redesigned site of its Live search engine in the coming days called Bing which the company hopes it will lure Web surfers away from its competitors.

General Motors Corp appeared to clear a major hurdle on its way to filing the kind of bankruptcy it favors on Thursday by persuading major bondholders to accept a sweetened deal -- even as talks over the carmaker's Opel unit stalled.

A new study demonstrates why parents need to know how their teenage girls present themselves online.

U.S. auto parts makers Visteon Corp and Metaldyne Corp filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, becoming the latest casualties of the global auto industry crisis and adding to the pressure on cash-strapped automakers.

The health sector can play a leadership role in reducing the magnitude and consequences of global warming by reducing its climate footprint. These efforts, some of which are already underway, can greatly reduce the serious health threats posed by global warming and set an example for other sectors.

Bill Ackman, the biggest shareholder in bankrupt mall operator General Growth Properties Inc , said he could gain 13 times his investment in a company he called high quality after it is reorganized.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will discuss with top Chinese officials how to boost global economic growth as well as the importance of flexible exchange rates for smoothing imbalances, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said on Thursday.

Microsoft Corp is revamping its search engine to counter the dominance of Google Inc in the Web search and related advertising business.

Russian police have taken into care a 5-year-old girl who has been shut up in a flat in the company of cats and dogs for her entire life, police said on Wednesday.

Star chefs are ditching foie gras and foam for tacos and French fries. From Los Angeles to Lyon, here’s where to sample their delicious cheap eats.

General Motors Corp said on Thursday it had reached a deal with major bondholders that would give them a bigger stake in a reorganized and effectively nationalized automaker and could pave the way for a fast-track bankruptcy by GM within days.

Stocks rose on Thursday as a surge in crude oil prices lifted energy shares, sending the benchmark S&P 500 to a session high.

AT&T Inc's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday that the No. 2 U.S. mobile service would be keen to sell Palm Inc's high-profile Pre phone at some point in the future.

AT&T Inc's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday that the No. 2 U.S. mobile service would be keen to sell Palm Inc's high-profile Pre phone at some point in the future.

Verizon Wireless plans to start selling Palm Inc's Pre and a new version of the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm in about six months, the top executive for the venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc said on Thursday.

The U.S. housing bust and auto sector upheaval have left hundreds of thousands of workers looking for jobs in the same sectors, in the same places, and at the same time.

Til Schuermann, VP of Financial Intermediation at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is testifying today on issues in Commercial Real Estate, and his prepared remarks essentially drown the prospect of green shoots in the context of CRE.

One of eight U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

Freddie Mac (FRE.P) (FRE.N), the second-largest U.S. home funding company, on Thursday said its mortgage investment portfolio shrank by an annualized 50.9 percent rate in April, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

One of eight U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters gave gloomy forecast for Dell’s first quarter which ended at the end of April, expecting a 21.1 percent drop in sales compared to a year earlier.

Procter & Gamble forecast fiscal 2010 earnings way below Wall Street estimates, as it invests in international markets and new products, but the shares were unchanged as analysts recognized it as a sign of future growth.

Procter & Gamble forecast fiscal 2010 earnings way below Wall Street estimates, as it invests in international markets and new products, but its shares fell only slightly as analysts said the investments were needed for future growth.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, as a rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, overshadowing mixed economic data on housing sales and manufacturing orders.

Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, moderate alcohol use and not smoking, only a small proportion of adults follow this healthy lifestyle pattern, and in fact, the numbers are declining, according to a study by Dana King, M.D., and colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).