IBT Staff Reporter

The West Antarctic ice sheet may start to collapse if sea temperatures rise by 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit), triggering a thaw that would raise world ocean levels by 5 meters (16 ft), U.S. scientists said.

Hundreds of people in the United States are under investigation for financial scams, many involving Ponzi schemes, a U.S. regulator said on Friday, calling the phenomenon rampant Ponzimonium.

The iTunes store has begun selling HD movies for the first time, Apple said Thursday.

The European Union on Friday pledged more than $100 billion in new loans to the International Monetary Fund to bail out countries in the global recession and urged the G20 economic powers to help double its funding.

An AIG unit and Countrywide Financial Corp, now part of Bank of America Corp , have sued each other, alleging breach of contract, in a dispute over insurance losses for subprime mortgage loans now in default.

An AIG unit and Countrywide Financial Corp, now part of Bank of America Corp , have sued each other, alleging breach of contract, over a dispute about insurance losses for subprime mortgage loans now in default.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a request for additional information on Friday for the proposed merger between concert promotion giants Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.

The U.S. software industry is pushing for a greater role as government officials develop a policy to ward off attacks on the nation's communications infrastructure, a trade group said on Friday.

Government aid requests from General Motors Corp and Chrysler may rise considerably, a top adviser to President Barack Obama's auto task force said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

IBM is still in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc and discussions could take several more days as IBM studies various parts of Sun's computer server and software businesses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Stocks slid on Friday as the Federal Reserve's plan to rekindle consumer and small business lending fell short of expectations and General Electric was hit by analysts' bearish comments.

Stocks fell on Friday as a Federal Reserve's plan to rekindle consumer and small business lending fell short of expectations and General Electric was hit by bearish analyst comments.

A top priority for policy makers considering financial reform should be addressing the “too-big-to-fail” issue, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said on Friday, suggesting five fronts policy makers should look at.

Chrysler LLC said on Friday that Italy's Fiat SpA would not assume any of its debt under a proposed alliance between the automakers, backing down from a claim it had made just a day earlier in a bid to bolster support for the deal.

Oil fell on Friday, dragged down by economic concerns, the stronger dollar and a dip in the stock market.

China and the United States traded blows over entertainment and software piracy Friday as the World Trade Organization formally ruled some Chinese practices were illegal but exonerated it of other complaints.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc did nothing wrong when it accepted payments to close out trades with American International Group , the giant insurer rescued by the U.S. government, Goldman's chief financial officer said on Friday.

An AIG unit and Countrywide Financial Corp, now part of Bank of America Corp , have sued each other, alleging breach of contract, over a dispute about insurance losses for subprime mortgage loans now in default.

Federal Reserve chief told bankers on Friday that continuing to lend in the current economic environment was no inconsistent with maintaining good risk management and high underwriting standards.

Xerox Corp chopped its first-quarter earnings forecast by as much as 85 percent, as the slowdown in office equipment spending badly hurt revenue and thwarted its cost-cutting efforts.

The following is the full text of a statement released by several federal agencies in the United States on November 12, 2008, encouraging financial institutions to set in place the conditions to improve lending in a responsible way.c

Goldman Sachs Group Inc insists it did nothing wrong when it accepted payments to close out trades with American International Group before and after the insurer was rescued by the U.S. government last September, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar told reporters on Friday.

UAL Corp , parent of United Airlines, said on Friday it expected its consolidated passenger unit revenue to decline by 11 percent to 12 percent in the quarter and it would take an $80 million cash loss related to fuel hedge contracts that settled in the quarter.

Stocks fell on Friday, as long-standing worries about the health of the banking system resurfaced and a brokerage said American Express may post yearly losses and cut its dividend.

Cisco has announced its intent to acquire privately held Pure Digital Technologies Inc. as the company continues its effort to expand into consumer products.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said the Fed's buying of longer-dated U.S. Treasuries would taper off when the economy no longer needed help, allowing the Fed to cease its emergency support.

A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.

U.S. regulators and law enforcement officials said on Friday they are aggressively cracking down on fraud related to the financial crisis and are seeking more powers to prevent predatory lending in the future.

Chrysler LLC said on Friday proposed partner Fiat SpA would not assume any of its debt if it takes an equity stake in the U.S. automaker.