IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama chose a former South Carolina education superintendent to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission and announced plans to increase the number of its commissioners, the White House said on Tuesday.

The United States intends to work toward reducing emissions of potent greenhouse gases found in refrigerators and air conditioning systems but has not yet decided which international venue to use to advance the issue, U.S. officials said on Monday.

Negotiations in the U.S. House of Representatives on how to cut industrial pollutants that cause global warming reach a critical stage this week as President Barack Obama huddles with key lawmakers on Tuesday and Republicans ready for a fight.

Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, became available late Monday to the general public.

While stocks rose in March, the market for complex instruments is still shut down, UBS said on Tuesday. The Swiss bank, which today reported a first quarter loss of 1.975 billion Swiss Francs ($2.34 billion) today, said it remained “cautious on the immediate outlook for UBS” as the markets continue to be unsettled.

Oil edged up toward $55 a barrel on Tuesday, reaching the highest price of 2009, as rising equities and hopes for an economic recovery countered swelling oil inventories and falling demand.

Kraft Foods Inc posted a higher first-quarter profit helped by price increases and cost cutting measures.

Days away from its U.S. opening, 10 percent of Star Trek fans planning to see the movie say in a survey that they plan to show up to theaters in costume, online ticket seller Fandango.com said on Tuesday.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon, who put his act through a test drive on the Internet before unveiling his late-night talk show on television, won a Webby Award on Tuesday as the Internet's Person of the Year.

About 10 of the 19 largest U.S. banks being stress tested will be instructed by regulators to raise more capital, according to a source familiar with official talks.

Amazon.com Inc's Kindle electronic reader was supposed to revolutionize publishing by freeing people from having to carry books around. Now the Web retailer may super-size it for newspaper readers.

Oil fell to around $54 a barrel on Tuesday as forecasts that U.S. crude inventories probably rose from their highest level in almost two decades countered optimism about economic recovery.

Wall Street indexes pointed to a lower open on Tuesday with investors set to book profits a day after the S&P 500 turned positive for the year, while financials were in focus as the market awaits stress tests results from the government.

S&P stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Tuesday with investors set to take profits after a recent runup while the results of government stress tests on the financial sector remained a focus.

The BlackBerry Curve has managed to outsell the Apple iPhone in the first quarter of 2009 according to Research in Motion Ltd.

A systemic regulator needs a global reach to address a financial firm's multinational operations and increased use of derivatives around the world or risk being ineffective, a top Federal Reserve policy maker said on Tuesday.

Four months into her fix-it job at Yahoo Inc, Chief Executive Carol Bartz has worked through an impressive checklist.

Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, after the previous session's strong rally, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures flat and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.2 percent at 5 a.m. EDT.

UBS remained wary on its immediate outlook as it braced for the recession's full impact after a first quarter loss, but its shares rose as resilient capital ratios cut the need for a balance sheet boost.

Chrysler's car dealership network is on the verge of collapse, a U.S. bankruptcy court heard on Monday, as hundreds of dealerships have closed their doors this year and uncertainty about the company's future is driving consumers away.

Chrysler won interim approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to access a $4.5 billion loan as it tried to move ahead in its planned alliance with Fiat SpA, while the Italian automaker advanced its bid for General Motors Corp's European Opel brand.

Vivendi said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy will also become chairman of Activision Blizzard, the world's top video games company known for its Guitar Hero franchise.

American International Group Inc is expected to post a first-quarter loss on Thursday, but the embattled insurer's results will not trigger a new capital injection from the U.S. government this time, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Fiat plans to keep all German Opel plants open should its takeover plans for the General Motors unit succeed but would cut staff there, Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told a newspaper.

World stocks hit a fresh four-month high on Tuesday while government bonds steadied after signs of improvement in the U.S. housing sector and increasing optimism about banks triggered a rally on Wall Street.

UBS remained wary on its immediate outlook as it braced for the full impact of the recession after confirming it had posted a first quarter loss on yet more writedowns and client withdrawals.

Asian stocks rose to fresh seven-month highs on Tuesday as optimistic comments from central bankers bolstered confidence that the worst of the global economic downturn may have passed, offsetting anxiety about U.S. banks and their capital needs.

Warmer weather and a later Easter likely spurred many U.S. consumers to shop in April, and may lead retailers to post only a very modest decline in monthly sales later this week.

American International Group Inc is expected to post a first-quarter loss on Thursday, but the embattled insurer's results will not trigger a new capital injection from the U.S. government this time, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.