IBT Staff Reporter

UBS AG's new chief executive hired a former colleague from rival Credit Suisse on Wednesday to lead a cost-cutting drive at the loss-making Swiss bank.

About 250-300 employees at fraud-hit Indian outsourcer Satyam Computer Services are joining Bank of America the Business Standard newspaper said on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage rates set fresh record lows last week, fostering demand for refinancing that drove home loan applications to the highest level since mid-January, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed on Wednesday.

Job losses in the U.S. private sector accelerated in March, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday.

The U.S. government, now directing the turnarounds of General Motors Corp and Chrysler, has said bankruptcy for both could be fast, clean and targeted -- like surgery or a quick rinse.

The European Union's executive arm welcomed on Wednesday a new U.S. plan on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, saying the proposal would facilitate a global deal late this year on fighting climate change.

IBM will sell a suite of Web-based collaboration software for businesses, including contact management, instant messaging and file sharing programs, the computing giant's biggest effort to date to sell software as a service.

A malicious software program that has infected millions of computers could enter a more menacing phase on Wednesday, from an outright attack to a quiet mutation that would further its spread.

Activist investors are looking to block the re-election of American International Group Inc director James Orr, chairman of the insurer's board's compensation committee, the Wall Street Journal said.

The International Monetary Fund sees the world economy contracting by between 0.5 and 1 percent in 2009, Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Asia's banks are likely to step in with loans and boost their presence across the region as the credit crisis has forced big Western rivals to retreat.

A possible bankruptcy plan being discussed for General Motors includes quickly forming a new company of the automaker's most profitable parts, while a group of other units would remain under bankruptcy protection for a longer period, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters on Tuesday.

Alcoa Inc rebounded on the stock market on Tuesday, a day after tumbling 14 percent and a week before it reports fourth-quarter results, and analysts said an upgrade by Deutsche Bank and a report suggesting Alcoa might be a takeover target of mining group BHP Billiton contributed to the stock boost.

Fiat SpA's CEO was set for talks with Chrysler LLC labor unions and creditors in Detroit after U.S. authorities gave the carmakers 30 days to set up a partnership to save the ailing U.S. group.

South Korean retail giant Lotte Group is ready to return to the fray and raise its initial offer for Oriental Brewery, which its owner Anheuser-Busch InBev (INTB.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) values at more than $2 billion, in a new round of bidding due next week, sources said.

Swiss bank UBS AG appointed former Credit Suisse executive Ulrich Koerner as chief operating officer to oversee a drive to centralize group services, aiming to cut costs and boost profits.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on Tuesday he is cautiously optimistic that the U.S. economy will start to grow again in the second half of 2009, breaking out of a lengthy recession.

Patrick Mortimer, head of Morgan Stanley's (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) U.S. prime brokerage business, resigned this week amid declining assets and profits of hedge fund clients that make up the division's client base, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Privately-held QuickPlay Media Inc plans to deliver full length popular television shows to BlackBerry smartphone screens via Research In Motion's applications store after forging agreements with TV networks, including NBC, CBS Corp and MTV.

Congress can fight the epidemic of childhood obesity by getting junk food out of school stores and snack machines, a parent-teacher group and the American Dietetic Association said on Tuesday.

A California nut grower and processor issued a nationwide recall of pistachios on Tuesday due to possible salmonella contamination, and authorities said consumers should avoid all pistachio products until more information was available.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002, as investors snapped up top-performing bank and technology shares as the first quarter came to an end.

Honda Motor Co Ltd said on Tuesday it would cut production in North America by 62,000 vehicles by shutting down factories for 13 days starting in May and said it would cut pay for salaried and factory workers.

Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday said it is laying off 1,500 workers in US and international operations, at “all functions, geographies and levels,” including vice presidents and directors.

Microsoft shares were raise to Buy from Neutral, as shares rose about 6 percent to $18.37 in the afternoon trading

General Motors warned on Tuesday there was a rising chance it could file for bankruptcy by June as Fiat and Chrysler executives met in a race to complete a tie-up the U.S. government has said Chrysler needs to survive.

France threatened on Tuesday to storm out of this week's G20 summit if it did not get the results it wanted, despite Britain's call for countries to unite and restore confidence to a broken world economy.

Hewlett-Packard Co. is testing Google Inc.'s Android operating system -- which is currently only available on mobile phones -- for its offering of netbooks, small laptops that are primarily used to run Web browsers and applications, according to media reports.

American Airlines is expanding in-flight WiFi service to 150 aircraft this year, allowing passengers to surf the Web and check their e-mails while in the air.