IBT Staff Reporter

Adobe Systems beat expectations on Monday as its fourth quarter profit jumped 21 percent and its a forecast were ahead of analysts estimates on increased demand for its Creative Suite programs.

A new Goldman Sachs Group stock hedge fund could be launched with ore than $6 billion, with some investors expecting the fund to attract as much $10 billion, people familiar with the fund said. Goldman has been raising money and preparing to launch its latest fund for the past few months.

The weekend box office saw a revival with a hyped start from Will Smith's I Am Legend pushing out The Golden Compass from first place to give December its biggest weekend gross ever since the release in 2003 of the The Lord of the Rings: The Return the King.

Crude oil fell on Monday as the dollar gained strength and as news arose that OPEC may boost oil output at the cartel’s next meeting in February.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday, as investor grew concerned over rising inflation, sending shares of Exxon and Caterpillar lower.

Gold futures fell to a two-week low on Monday after the dollar rose against the Euro causing the precious metal to lose appeal for investors.

A snowstorm that blanketed parts of the Midwestern United States barreled into New England on Sunday, bringing snow, freezing rain and high winds that grounded flights and made driving treacherous.

Ford Motor Co. is set to choose a frontrunner to buy European brands Jaguar and Land Rover around the end of this week as it moves towards a sale early in 2008, said a person close to the matter on Monday.

European stocks on Monday recorded a sharp decline and closed at their lowest in three weeks amid concerns of inflation effects on global markets and expectations of further rate cuts in the United States.

Ribbit announced a new technology product on Monday that will eventually let web users make phone calls to any land line, mobile phone or other web browser, without the need for downloading additional software.

U.S stocks on Monday dropped amid concerns about the impact of mortgage rate on the economy, pushing down shares of bellwethers such as Caterpillar Inc.

Home builder sentiment held at a record low for a third consecutive month in December, weighed down by problems in the mortgage market and a huge supply of unsold houses, the National Association of Home Builders on Monday. On Tuesday, investors will get more insight into the hard-hit U.S. housing market when the Commerce Department releases November data on housing starts and building permits.

The heads of Hollywood's film and TV studios signed a statement of unity on Sunday, a day after striking screenwriters signaled they would try a divide and conquer strategy in an increasingly bitter strike that is paralyzing the industry.

The European Commission dealt a blow to European online gaming companies on Monday when it accepted a U.S. offer of openings in other sectors to compensate for closing the U.S. gambling market to foreign firms.

After years of modest results, the digital marketplace in 2007 finally began to yield considerable revenue streams for Latin labels and acts.

Silicon Valley start-up Ribbit Corp on Monday unveiled a technology platform that will let developers put Web telephony in everything from business software to popular social network sites such as Facebook.

At Goldman Sachs Group, success has become something of a liability.

Iraq will need foreign troops to help defend it for another 10 years, but will not accept U.S. bases indefinitely, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Russia has delivered the first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr atomic power station, a step Western powers worried by Tehran's nuclear ambitions had urged Moscow not to take.

Aon Corp, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, said on Monday it has agreed to sell two units for about $2.75 billion and will use the proceeds to buy back shares.

Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd on Monday said it agreed to acquire Trane Inc, an indoor heating and air conditioning systems maker, for about $10.1 billion in cash and stock to expand its climate control business.

Asian share markets, already ragged after five months of turmoil, fell deeper on Monday as rising U.S. inflation and high oil prices fanned concerns the Federal Reserve may be unable to make deeper rate cuts to prevent a possible recession.

U.S. consumers, who flocked to malls at the start of the holiday shopping season, have since backed off, kept out of stores by a Midwest ice storm and the ease of shopping online, data released on Sunday by SpendingPulse showed.

As the Nintendo Wii video game system continues gain in popularity worldwide, one firm is developing a new 3D video camera controller that may provide a new way to build upon the motion control already being used on the system.

Amazon.com said on Friday it will soon begin a limited-release test of its SimpleDB, a Web-based database service that will be an upgrade of its current S3 storage offering.

An idea to put a young ad agency worker in a Snow Globe and film it live as an eco-friendly digital holiday card has quickly turned into a buzz-worthy Internet phenomenon and set a world record.

Microsoft launched a test version of virtualization software ahead of schedule that will compete with offerings from the technology’s market leader VMWare.

A U.S. recession could ironically boost the dollar against the euro

Bribery investigations into U.S. oilfield companies is likely to spur reform in the industry