IBT Staff Reporter

Barnes & Noble Inc , the No 1 U.S. traditional bookseller, posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as it cut expenses and its shares rose 2 percent.

A nagging question haunts U.S. government efforts to revive a dormant financial system: Can a crisis that started because of excess credit be solved with more debt? The typical answer from economists is a qualified no. That is, No, more credit will not make the problem go away. But yes, the government should do its best to restore bank lending to prevent an even worse economic outcome.

Sony Electronics Inc. is joining forces with Google Inc. to battle Amazon.com Inc. in the growing electronic books market which is projected to more than double this year.

Stocks extended losses on Thursday, and the Dow slid 1 percent, as investors fretted about the implications of the U.S. Federal Reserve's action to flood the financial system with cash.

Online travel agencies, eager to spur spring bookings in the recession, are locked in a price battle that has some of them cutting fees and reimbursing customers if the price of their trip falls after they book.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday the only discussion he's had with Yahoo Inc's top executive was a single phone call, but is holding out hopes for further talks.

Discover Financial Services , the fourth-largest U.S. credit card network, posted a deeper-than-expected quarterly operating losses on Thursday, cut its dividend and set aside more money to cover bad loans as credit defaults mounted.

Online travel agencies, eager to spur spring bookings in the recession, are locked in a price battle that has some of them cutting fees and reimbursing customers if the price of their trip falls after they book.

Stocks slipped on Thursday due to a drag from 3M Co, profit-taking in financials and unease about the implications of the Federal Reserve's action to flood the financial system with cash.

Cisco Systems Inc is buying digital camcorder-maker Pure Digital Technologies as it seeks to push further into the consumer market.

Package delivery giant and U.S. economic bellwether FedEx Corp said on Thursday it was taking market share despite a recession that drove its profit down 75 percent, and its shares jumped.

Cisco Systems Inc is buying digital camcorder-maker Pure Digital Technologies as it seeks to push further into the consumer market.

Oil jumped more than 5 percent Thursday to above $50 a barrel after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a new plan to fight recession and a weak dollar boosted the appeal of commodities to investors.

Citigroup Inc on Thursday said it may conduct a reverse stock split as part of an exchange offer that could give U.S. taxpayers a 36 percent stake in the bank.

Stocks rose on Thursday as resurgent oil prices lifted energy shares and sentiment was underpinned by optimism about the Federal Reserve's push to lower borrowing costs.

General Electric Co expects its GE Capital finance unit to be profitable in 2009, the U.S. conglomerate's chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Stocks headed for a higher open on Thursday as resurgent oil prices lifted energy shares and sentiment was underpinned by optimism about the Federal Reserve's push to lower borrowing costs.

President Barack Obama is grappling with the AIG bonus furor by both accepting responsibility for the government's failure to head off the payments and blaming it on the big mess he inherited.

European Union plans to re-write the rules of a $6 billion scheme that pays developing nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions risks stalling climate investment, policymakers and industry leaders said on Wednesday.

The global financial crisis should offer EDF Energies Nouvelles opportunities to acquire assets on favourable terms, the head of the French wind and solar power company said in an interview with Reuters.

Strict measures across the world to act against climate change could seriously affect the economies of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, a Saudi official said on Thursday.

Amid economic jitters and worries about diminished investor interest in a massive North Slope natural gas pipeline, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday defended her efforts to secure the mega-project that has been pursued for decades and that has been a centerpiece of her political career.

The Internet could provide an early warning system for environmental damage, imitating an online watchdog that gives alerts about outbreaks of disease, scientists said on Thursday.

Investments of $750 billion could create a Green New Deal to revive the world economy and protect the environment, perhaps aided by a tax on oil, the head of the U.N. environment agency said on Thursday.

Package delivery company FedEx Corp reported a 75 percent drop in profit due to the global recession, gave a low quarterly outlook and said it was taking fresh actions to cut costs.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup have canceled orders for private jets for top executives in the wake of the financial crash and a public backlash over corporate perks, French planemaker Dassault Aviation said on Thursday.

The number of U.S. workers drawing state unemployment benefits scaled another record high early this month, government data showed on Thursday, highlighting the difficulties of getting new jobs as the economy battles a severe recession.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday flashed back almost 50 years to a campaign code-named Operation Twist, as it announced the purchase of longer-dated Treasury securities to help end a deepening U.S. recession.

Pfizer Inc may have to shed some of its animal-health business so that it can gain antitrust clearance for its planned purchase of Wyeth , the Wall Street Journal cited a Pfizer executive as saying on Wednesday.