IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks jumped on Tuesday as an unexpected surge in February housing starts gave investors a rare bit of good economic news, and an upbeat broker comment on bellwether Cisco Systems drove technology shares sharply higher.

With General Electric Co having gone through a very volatile year so far, and shares at $10, the question of whether to buy or sell hinges on two factors.

The Internal Revenue Service issued new rules on Tuesday that would allow victims of Ponzi schemes like the one run by Bernard Madoff to recoup some money by claiming theft losses on their tax returns for 2008.

Japan's drugmakers will sit out a wave of consolidation sweeping through the industry, focusing instead on integrating past acquisitions and smaller, bolt-on deals.

U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday as an unexpected surge in February housing starts gave investors a rare bit of good economic news, and an upbeat broker comment on bellwether Cisco Systems drove technology shares sharply higher.

Google Inc is soon to roll out free software which allows consumers to track their home electricity use and improve energy efficiency in a bid to help mitigate global warming.

Thornburg Mortgage Inc , a large and troubled provider of jumbo mortgage loans, on Tuesday said it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Poland's banking sector faces an overall net loss of about 2-3 billion zlotys ($582-873 million) due to higher financing costs and credit risk, the head of Poland's leading bank PKO BP PKOB.

Kenya has slashed its visa cost for UK nationals by 50%, from US$50 (£35) to US$25 (£18); fees will be waived completely for children under 16.

Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana handed power to the armed forces on Tuesday, paving the way for an opposition takeover after a months-long power struggle on the Indian Ocean island.

U.S. stocks extended earlier gains in choppy trade on Tuesday, pushing the Dow and the S&P 500 up 1 percent as upbeat broker comments on technology bellwether Cisco Systems and retailers like Home Depot offset news of a dividend cut at Alcoa Inc .

New U.S. housing starts and permits unexpectedly rebounded in February, according to data on Tuesday that provided a rare dose of good news for the recession-hit economy and fractured housing market.

A shakeout of the hedge funds industry could be over by June 2009, with nearly half of firms likely to shut up shop, a leading hedge fund manager said.

Outrage over bonuses to employees of taxpayer-rescued American International Group dominated a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday where other insurers were renewing a call for creation of a federal regulator.

Shares of online travel agency Expedia Inc gained 5.18 percent to $7.71 on Tuesday on talk that the company might be a takeover target for Google Inc.

Stocks rose in choppy trade on Tuesday as upbeat broker comments on technology bellwether Cisco Systems and retailers like Home Depot offset news of a dividend cut at Alcoa Inc .

Royal Dutch Shell Plc affirmed its medium term production growth plans and said its dividend would rise over 1 percent this year as it unveiled flat oil and gas reserves at the end of 2008 compared with 2007.

Oil rose above $48 a barrel on Tuesday, testing the top end of a trading range it has held so far this month, ahead of United States inventory data expected to show a build in crude oil stocks.

Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, launched a $13.5 billion debt sale in five parts on Tuesday, said IFR.

Dell has begun selling its slim notebook Adamo online, which follows a trend set originally by Apple with its Macbook Air.

Activist hedge fund manager William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management said on Tuesday it will nominate five candidates, including Ackman himself, to discount retailer Target Corp's board.

Bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is auctioning a thrift and an industrial bank it owns, and the process is in the early stages, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

A prominent U.S. senator has intimated that executives of the troubled insurer American International Group Inc might consider suicide, adopting what he called a Japanese approach to taking responsibility for their actions.

New U.S. housing starts and permits unexpectedly rebounded in February, according to data on Tuesday that provided a rare dose of good news for the recession-hit economy and fractured housing market.

Stocks were set to open flat to slightly higher on Tuesday, with sentiment underpinned by data showing a surprise jump in U.S. housing starts and by hopes that banks may be seeing some stabilization.

Oil slid below $47 a barrel on Tuesday, although staying within the trading range it has held so far this month, ahead of United States inventory data expected to show a build in crude oil stocks.

Rio Tinto named a new chairman to help get a planned $19.5 billion tie-up with China's Chinalco approved, as Australian politicians opposed to the deal raised their level of protest on Tuesday.

A drastic climate shift such as a thaw of Greenland's ice or death of the Amazon forest is more than 50 percent likely by the year 2200 in cases of strong global warming, according to a survey of experts.

The global market for photovoltaic solar power grew 110 percent last year due to explosive growth in Spain, a report said on Monday.