IBT Staff Reporter

American International Group Inc said Thursday it has completed the sale for $263 million to Bank of Montreal's BMO Financial Group, according to the reports.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-1/2-year high last week, data showed on Thursday, indicating that layoffs have yet to peak even as other reports signaled some improvement in the economy.

General Electric Co and Intel Corp have joined forces to develop devices to help doctors monitor patients' health remotely, an area they believe could become a multibillion-dollar business.

US President Obama will meet India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first time at G20 summit in London on Thursday.

As investigators delve into the private life and personal possessions of Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, at least one thing has become apparent -- he was obsessed with bulls.

U.S. lawmakers are pushing to raise U.S. defenses against cyber attacks, allowing the government to write and implement security guidelines for confidential industry.

International Business Machines Corp said Thursday it will cut its bid for Sun Microsystems Inc to an offering price ranging $9 to $10 a share.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion posted a surprisingly strong quarterly earnings report on Thursday and offered a rosy outlook that suggests it will continue to grow despite a global economic slowdown.

OPEC said oil was not to blame for climate change and consuming countries should pay to fight the threat, while the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said drivers could help by not buying Hummer sports utility vehicles.

Maurice Hank Greenberg, former CEO of American International Group Inc and creator of the AIG unit whose investments triggered the insurance giant's near collapse, portrayed himself as a victim in testimony before a congressional panel on Thursday.

Stocks rallied for a third day on Thursday as more data pointed to a stabilizing economy and changes to a bank-accounting rule that is seen as shoring up the volatile financial sector in the short term.

Clearwire Corp is building a high-speed wireless network in Silicon Valley this summer in an effort to encourage software developers to create new software applications for its wireless service, according to its co-chairman Benjamin Wolff.

U.S. accounting rulemakers bowed to congressional and financial industry pressure on Thursday by allowing more flexibility in valuing toxic assets, a move expected to boost bank earnings and improve their capital levels.

The global telecoms industry can help the world out of recession by creating 25 million jobs over the next five years, if regulation becomes less intrusive and it gets the spectrum it needs, industry leaders say in a letter.

Amid the current push for clean energy by President Barack Obama, Google Inc. and environmentalists have launched a map service to help renewable energy project managers see off-limits areas in the western U.S. where new infrastructure would cause significant damage to the environment.

Oil rose nearly 9 percent to top $52 a barrel on Thursday, in line with a broad rally in global markets on hopes actions agreed at the G20 summit in London would restore global growth.

Online video games maker Changyou.com Ltd soared in its trading debut on Thursday, with shares up 26 percent, putting it on pace for the most successful stock launch in nearly a year.

Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger warned the cable TV industry not to alienate consumers by restricting cable programing on the Web to paying TV subscribers.

Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger expressed caution over the US cable industry’s move to restrict online viewing of television shows to cable subscribers, saying that the limits could provoke backlash from consumers.

Oil rose 8 percent to $52 a barrel on Thursday, in line with a broad rally in global markets, on hopes actions agreed at the G20 summit in London would restore global growth.

Microsoft Corp expects several phones on the U.S. market to be powered by its Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system after it launches in the fall of 2009, according to a company executive.

Watch out scientists -- you may be replaced by a robot. Two teams of researchers said on Thursday they had created machines that could reason, formulate theories and discover scientific knowledge on their own, marking a major advance in the field of artificial intelligence.

IBM cut its offering price for Sun Microsystems Inc to $9 to $10 per share, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Stocks jumped on Thursday as changes in bank accounting rules boosted optimism the financial system may stabilize in the short term, while world leaders agreed on measures to fight the recession.

Shares of Dow Chemical Co. jumped Thursday, the day after the company closed on its $16.5 billion buyout of Rohm & Haas and immediately sold Rohm's Morton Salt division to cut its debt load.

Israel’s new Prime Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been questioned over corruption allegations for at least seven hours by police on Thursday.

World leaders on Thursday clinched a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and tightened the rules to stop it happening again.

After UBS analyst Heather Bellini repeated her Buy rating on the shares and lifted her target price and EPS estimates, Adobe shares jumped 35 percent since its March 4 guidance reset, and is up 7.6 percent today.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-1/2-year high last week, data showed on Thursday, indicating that layoffs have yet to peak even as other reports signaled some improvement in the economy.