IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks fell on Wednesday after President Barack Obama warned of stricter oversight for Wall Street, raising the specter of greater regulation that investors fear could sap profits.

The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia is eyeing entering the laptop business, its Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview to Finnish national broadcaster YLE on Wednesday. We are looking very actively also at this opportunity, Kallasvuo said, when asked whether Nokia plans to make laptops. Industry has rumored about Nokia's possible plan to enter the PC industry since la...

The Australian Dollar opens a shade weaker today at 0.6468 but remains entrenched in its recent broad range between 0.6350 and 0.6550. The Aussie hit an overnight high of 0.6554 – a level which is proving a tough one to break. Despite further poor economic data out of the United States last night, this time in the form of a 12-year low in existing home sales, the Aussie was caught up in moves lower by the Euro and Yen.

a feature aimed at encouraging banks to redeem the shares or replace government capital with private capital.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as more weak housing data reinforced fears about the economy, while banks weakened in late trading after the government launched tests to gauge their ability to withstand a long and deep recession. * Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged much more than expected January, pulling homebuilders down 2.1 percent. * After a choppy session that saw indexes swing both ...

Oil prices jumped 6 percent to above $42 a barrel on Wednesday, after a U.S. government report showed a sharp drop in gasoline inventories in the world's top consumer.

the massive concrete barrier separating Israel from the Palestinians. Over the Internet, a group of Palestinian graffiti artists is offering to spray-paint your personal message on Israel's towering security wall in the occupied West Bank. It costs 30 euros ($40) per message and they can be as solemn or wacky as you want. Everything goes, except for obscene, offensive or extremist hate speech. Cl...

Large majorities of Americans support U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to revive the economy and his efforts to work across party lines, according to a pair of public opinion polls released on Monday.

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. Still, the mood at Wednesday's annual meeting was casual. Shareholders joined in a Happy Birthday chorus for Jobs, who was absent but turned 54 on Tuesday. In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event in June 2008, touching off speculation that his cancer had returned. The...

Stocks fell on Wednesday as investors were hit by a report showing yet more deterioration in the housing market, while uncertainty about Washington's plans to shore up the banking system persisted. President Barack Obama's first address to Congress offered few new insights on government plans to stabilize the economy and shore up banks. Investors sold off shares of financial services companies a...

Netflix Inc Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday it plans to offer its online streaming service on a stand-alone basis.

Netflix Inc Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday it plans to offer its online streaming service on a stand-alone basis. We're likely to do that in the foreseeable future, McCarthy said at the Jefferies 5th annual Internet and Media conference in New York. Netflix customers currently pay a fixed monthly subscription fee for access to the company's popular by-mail DVD servi...

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. Still, the mood at Wednesday's annual meeting was casual. Shareholders joined in a Happy Birthday chorus for Jobs, who was absent but turned 54 on Tuesday. In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event in June 2008, touching off speculation that his cancer had returned. The...

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday.

Apple Inc's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday.

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday. Facing a prolonged recession and drought in consumer spending, Apple has been unable to shake questions regarding the future of its charismatic CEO, who has been on medical leave and out of public view for more than a month. J...

Google's e-mail service, Gmail, was smacked with an outage lasting two and half hours yesterday morning. However, Google responded to it quickly.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plan on Wednesday to lay out broad principles for Wall Street regulatory reform aimed at preventing a repeat of the current financial crisis, an administration official said.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plan on Wednesday to lay out broad principles for Wall Street regulatory reform aimed at preventing a repeat of the current financial crisis, an administration official said.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as President Barack Obama's first address to Congress shed little new light on how he plans to stabilize the economy and shore up banks, and gloomy home sales data fed the negative sentiment. Obama said in his speech on Tuesday night the United States would emerge stronger from the ongoing crisis, but investors found little in what he said to spur buying after the market...

Three potential bidders are still looking at buying a large stake in American International Group's key Asian life insurance unit, people close to the matter said on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks cut losses on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in Congressional testimony that regulators do not plan anything like nationalization for Citigroup.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged in January, reversing the previous month's surprise jump, and prices spiraled down to a six-year low as the deep recession and rising joblessness took its toll. A drop in number of unsold homes offered some hope for the housing market, the main trigger of the worst financial crisis in the post-war period. The pace of sales of existing home fell 5.3 p...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that he had an exit strategy from the U.S. central bank's recent massive monetary expansion that will keep inflation under control as the economy recovers.

U.S. stocks cut losses on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in Congressional testimony that regulators do not plan anything like nationalization for Citigroup . * Shares of Citigroup rose nearly 3 percent to $2.67. Before Bernanke's comments the stock was down more than 4 percent. * Weighing on the market was disappointment that a major speech by U.S. Preside...

management can say, 'The paper still came out every day ... we still have some fat left to cut,' said Jim Hopkins, a former Gannett journalist who now writes a blog about the company. Cornell's Blau agreed furloughs could offer employers a way to experiment with lower staffing while they're waiting for the economy to determine how much further they'll have to cut. Still, I don't think...

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open for U.S. shares on Wednesday, following a surge in the previous session. At 5:30 a.m. EST, futures for the Dow Jones were flat; those for the S&P 500 were up 0.l percent and those for the Nasdaq were down 0.2 percent. Macro data due includes sales of existing homes in January. A Reuters poll suggests sales will have risen to an annual pace of 4.79 ...

and the number of pairs of skis sold annually has more than halved in the past 15 years to 3.5 million. Leisure habits have changed. Skiers today make shorter trips than a decade ago, usually for a long weekend or a week, and rent to avoid having to transport their gear. They can also save money by renting if they do not travel to the mountains frequently. SKI BOOTS Many skiers have switched t...

Stocks fell on Wednesday due to disappointment U.S. President Barack Obama shed little new light about how his administration would stabilize the economy in a major speech before Congress. Long-standing worries about recession and the fate of the banking sector persisted, sending shares of financial services companies, big manufacturers and energy companies lower. Bank of America s...