IBT Staff Reporter

Walt Disney sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian reigned at the weekend box office in North America, grossing $19.3 million but is likely to fall short of industry expectations, according to preliminary data issued on Saturday.

The total jobs Morgan Stanley cut this week could get close to 2,000 jobs. A report said Morgan cut 1,500 jobs this week, but few affected employees have not been notified yet, media reports said on Friday.

Workers at General Motors Corp. ratified a new local contract with the company on Friday afternoon ending a strike in one important factory producer of popular crossover vehicles.

The Food and Drug Administration warned one more time about the risks of Novartis and Roche transplant drugs for pregnant woman.

At present, Sinopec supplies Chengdu with 1.3 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, which is basically the same quantity as that before the earthquake.

Financial stocks fell on Friday on slipping consumer sentiment, led by losses at large regional banks Keycorp and Regions which were hurt by downgrades.

3M Co. said late Friday it signed a license agreement with Sony Corp. granting Sony rights to use certain 3M optical film technology for its LCD televisions.

Pioneering winemaker Robert Mondavi, who helped put Californian Cabernets and Chardonnays on the world's wine-tasting map, died Friday at the age of 94.

Genentech Inc., the developer and maker of pharmaceutical products, said Thursday it expects final results from a clinical trial of a cancer drug Avastin in patients with colon cancer to be done by 2009, a year earlier than it previously forecasted.

Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will begin to cut jobs on May 19 and plans to shed 5 percent of its workforce, according to media reports.

It was just after 10 p.m. when William Cotter, wearing a belt full of ammunition, burst into the home of his estranged wife, Dorothy, shooting her in the back with a sawed-off shot gun before taking his own life.

The GT-R--one of the quickest, fastest, most capable, and, arguably, desirable cars in the world--shares a showroom and engineers with the $13,335 Versa

With U.S. crop prices soaring to historic levels, times are seemingly good for grain farmers and agribusiness firms. So why are lenders worried about the U.S. farm economy?

The dollar versus the euro and yen on Friday after a report showing that consumer confidence in the U.S. fell as oil reached a new record.

Shares of Advance Auto Parts Inc. rose on Friday as the company reported a better than forecasted profit for the first quarter.

Wal-Mart is planning to prepare and serve fresh food at delicatessen counters in its new Marketside convenience stores, in a bit to compete with Tesco's Fresh & Easy offering.

Starbucks Corp shares jumped on Friday a day after billionaire investor Nelsol Peltz's Trian Fund disclosed its stake in the coffee retailer.

Copper prices climbed on Friday on worries that a new strike in Chile's Codelco, the largest copper producer of copper in the world, may diminish supplies of the metal.

Gold futures closed near $900 an ounce on Friday in New York, making it the highest gain for the contract in 10 weeks as energy costs surged to a record and the dollar weakened, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a hedge against inflation.

Lockheed Martin Corp. beat out Boeing Co. to win a $1.4 billion U.S. Air Force competition to build a next-generation GPS satellite.

Macy's Inc, the second largest U.S. department store company, is partnering with toy store chain FAO Schwartz to let it open smaller stores within nearly 700 of its locations over the next two years.

Crude oil soared to a new record high on Friday above $127 a barrel, after Goldman Sachs significantly increased its projections for oil prices while trader's feared demand for distillate fuels from China will increase next month.

Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips today announced that they will build a refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Time Warner Inc. Chairman Richard Parsons said Friday he will likely step down at the end of the year, a opening the door for Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes to take over the position at the world's biggest media company, according to a media report.

British Airways said on Friday that its profit more than doubled in the fiscal year ending March 31.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday for the second day this week, after reports showed consumer confidence plunged to a 28-year low while crude oil soar to another record high,

Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage finance company, will end its practice of requiring larger down payments in areas where home prices are falling.

General Electric confirmed Friday that the nation's economic slowdown is prompting it to get out of the appliance business.

Shares of major U.S. financial institutions were mixed on Friday as the broader market advanced on easing fears of poor market liquidity.