IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. consumer confidence plunged to another record low in February with expectations that already dire economic conditions will continue to weaken and the jobs market will further deteriorate. The Conference Board, an industry group, said on Tuesday that its sentiment index fell to 25.0 from a downwardly revised 37.4 in January. The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters was for a readin...

American International Group, rescued twice last year by the U.S. government, is asking for more aid and bracing for a fourth-quarter loss of roughly $60 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. It would be the biggest loss in a quarter in corporate history.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors snapped up shares in beaten-down sectors, including financials, a day after Wall Street skidded to a 12-year low. The benchmark S&P 500 index held a slight edge above its November bear market low, as JPMorgan , up 3 percent, and Citigroup , up almost 5 percent, led a rebound in financial shares. Shares of Home Depot <...

hence time to resolution may take longer than expected, they said in a note. Toward $100 PER SHARE? We are not surprised to see Genentech refuse Roche's lower offer, said Andrew Weiss, analyst at Swiss bank Vontobel. We continue to believe that the Genentech asking price of $112 is too high, and that eventually Roche will need to improve its offer to $95-100. Genentech shares trade...

Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier as the monthly pace accelerated, according to a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.5 percent in December from November, compared with a 2.3 percent decline in the previous period, S&P said in a statement....

As U.S. regulators prepare for a stress test of big banks, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Tuesday these institutions need adequate buffers against severe economic conditions. As of this date ... all these large banks exceed regulatory standards for being well-capitalized, so for right now they're fine, FDIC chief Sheila Bair said on CBS television's Early Show. ...

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase & Co, the second-largest U.S. bank, slashed its common stock dividend 87 percent on Monday, a surprise move by a lender considered among the strongest in the U.S. financial sector. The bank also said it has been solidly profitable this quarter, and that the outlook for the three-month period is roughly in line with analyst forecasts. Sha...

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and said it expected revenue to grow in 2009 despite job cuts and decreased spending among financial industry customers, sending its shares up more than 5 percent. The news and financial data publisher, which was formed by Thomson Corp's purchase of Reuters Group Plc last April, also said on Tue...

can influence children's behavior. The also suggest that parents should pay close attention to their teenagers' Internet use, and the potential effects on their real-life behavior, Ko told Reuters Health. According to Ko's team, some signs of Internet addiction include preoccupation with online activities; withdrawal symptoms, like moodiness and irritability, after a few Internet-free day...

Stocks headed for a modest bounce at the open on Tuesday, with investors likely to scour the market for beaten-down shares in sectors such as financials after Wall Street skidded to a 12-year low a day earlier. The benchmark S&P 500 index will start the regular session less than three points from a fresh bear market low, raising the potential for the market to sink on any fresh s...

Target Corp on Tuesday reported its sixth consecutive drop in quarterly profit as consumers pare spending on the retailer's fashionable clothing and fall behind making payments on their Target credit cards. Net income fell to $609 million, or 81 cents per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31, from $1.028 billion, or $1.23 per share, a year ago. Analysts, on averag...

Target Corp on Tuesday reported its sixth consecutive drop in quarterly profit as consumers pare spending on the retailer's fashionable clothing and fall behind making payments on their Target credit cards. Net income fell to $609 million, or 81 cents per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31, from $1.028 billion, or $1.23 per share, a year ago. Analysts, on averag...

Macy's Inc on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit that beat expectations, and the department store chain kept its current year's outlook, sending its shares up 6.1 percent in premarket trading. Macy's net profit fell to $310 million, or 73 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31, from $750 million or $1.73 a share, a year earlier. Excluding some items, Macy's s...

Yahoo is set to unveil several tools on Tuesday to help marketers better target their online adverts, as the Internet company tries to win back business during a recession, the Wall Street Journal said, citing senior company officials. Yahoo, the leading provider of online display advertising, has been under pressure for nearly a year as it held fruitless merger or partnership talks with Microsof...

Oil ticked up above $38 on Tuesday as investors took a fresh look at OPEC's greater than expected success in cutting supplies. Prices had tumbled earlier following Monday's fall in U.S. stocks to a 12-year low. The plunge on the Wall Street on Monday overshadowed figures from Petrologistics that OPEC producers were likely to pump less oil in February than January. A Reuters calculation based ...

is down 52.39 percent or $10.4 trillion. Diminishing confidence that the U.S. government will be able to stabilize the financial system helped drive the S&P 500 and the Dow to their lowest closes since the spring of 1997 on Monday.

U.S. President Barack Obama set the goal: double U.S. renewable energy production in three years. Congress provided the incentives as part of the $787 billion stimulus package.

The volume of carbon dioxide traded globally this year will increase by 20 percent to 5.9 billion metric tons from 4.9 billion in 2008, research group Point Carbon said on Tuesday.

Bright winter sun dissolves a blanket of snow on barn roofs to reveal a bold new sideline for Jean-Luc Westphal: besides producing eggs and grains, he is to generate solar power for thousands of homes.

NRG Energy Inc. announced on Monday a deal with eSolar to develop solar power plants with the capacity to power 400,000 homes at sites in California and the Southwest United States.

Top home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc delivered better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday as it held down expenses, but said per-share operating profit would fall in 2009. Home Depot, which is cutting 7,000 jobs as it shutters its Expo Design Center chain and trims corporate costs, also said it would open fewer new stores this year. The retailer posted a net loss of $...

LOS ANGELES - Vudu has become the first on-demand service to offer high-definition movies for download to own rather than just rent. Under agreements with such independent film companies as Magnolia Pictures, FirstLook Studios and Kino, Vudu will begin by offering 50 HD titles, including best documentary Oscar winner Man on Wire, for purchase. Vudu already offered a library of more than 1,4...

Amazon.com Inc has established a clear lead in user preference for digital media download sites in Britain, despite a relatively late entry into the market, a survey published by Strategy Analytics said.

Yahoo Inc is set to unveil several tools on Tuesday to help marketers better target their online adverts, as the Internet company tries to win back business during a recession, the Wall Street Journal said, citing senior company officials.

President Barack Obama takes center stage on Tuesday to try to sell the American people on his broader agenda for jolting the United States out of deep recession and confronting long-term economic challenges.

The government must swiftly begin spending $83 billion in the stimulus law for cleantech, or recent growth in the sector will quickly turn into bankruptcies, according to a study released on Tuesday.

UBS named Oswald Gruebel, who masterminded a turnaround at rival Credit Suisse, as chief executive on Thursday, replacing under-fire Marcel Rohner as it struggles to end a run of crises.

President Barack Obama has pulled out his most potent weapon -- the dry federal budget -- to try to carry out his promise of change, including winding down the Iraq war, expanding health care and tackling global warming.

Electronics retailer RadioShack reported a 39 percent fall in fourth-quarter earnings, hurt by lower sales as consumers curbed spending amid recession. Comparable same-store sales for company-operated stores and kiosks fell 9.2 percent during the quarter and the company also reduced inventories by $69 million at the end of the fourth quarter to $636 million. RadioShack said it expe...