IBT Staff Reporter

The Teamsters union and United Parcel Service Inc on Sunday said they reached a tentative five-year agreement that will raise parcel workers' wages and increase the company's contributions to funds providing pensions and benefits.

Japanese big manufacturers' sentiment was unchanged in September compared with three months earlier, a Bank of Japan corporate survey showed on Monday, but the headline figure was slightly stronger than forecast.

The family meal may be threatened with extinction but High-Tech parents are now communicating much better with their teenagers and giving them more freedom, says child psychologist Richard Woolfson.

The $85-billion student loan industry is looking toward its next battle in the U.S. Congress -- one that could be for its very survival -- as President George W. Bush on Thursday signed legislation slashing federal subsidies to the troubled sector.

After posting solid gains in September, U.S. stocks are once again near all-time highs. But a significant hurdle in the form of monthly payroll data must be cleared next week if the advance is going to carry over to the fourth quarter.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 percent on Monday as investors bought Fanuc Ltd and other large-cap shares after the Bank of Japan's tankan survey showed manufacturers remained optimistic despite turmoil in global credit markets.

Swiss bank UBS is expected to warn on Monday that it has written off billions of dollars on fixed-income assets, making it the biggest casualty so far of turmoil in world credit markets, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported.

A court case brought by Nigeria against Pfizer resumes on Wednesday with the U.S. drug maker saying it answered a call for help to save the lives of African children during a meningitis epidemic.

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The dollar dropped to a record low versus the euro for the seventh consecutive trading session on Friday on expectations that continued weakness in the economy will force U.S. central bankers to continue to provide more motivation to investors by cutting interest rates.

U.S. stocks finished Friday's trading session with a loss as investors looked to lock in profits gained after the strongest September since 1988.

Gold prices leaped to their highest level since 1980 on Friday, as record weakness in the dollar and early strength in crude oil prices led to gains in precious metals.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, despite trading higher earlier in the day on continued weakness in the dollar fueled gains but losing ground late in the session.

Over 100 American multinational companies and a number of trade organizations petitioned Congress to reject protectionist legislation against China in Thursday.

As the economy winds through housing troubles and turmoil in credit markets, the picture emerging from data measuring the health of the job market is clouded.Firms are showing a reluctance to lay off workers at the same time they are apprehensive about hiring new ones, creating a puzzling picture, economists say. Usually, low layoffs coincide with robust hiring.

Stocks fell on Friday, hurt by near-record oil prices, concerns about the weaker dollar and profit-taking in sectors that had contributed to the market's recent gains.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is expected to rise by 4.6 percent this year and by around five percent in the first half of 2008, according to a forecast by the Research Bureau of the People’s Bank of China.

As the U.S. economy winds through housing troubles and turmoil in credit markets, the picture emerging from data measuring the health of the job market is clouded. Firms are showing a reluctance to lay off workers at the same time they are apprehensive about hiring new ones, creating a puzzling picture, economists say. Usually, low layoffs coincide with robust hiring.

Former French finance minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is expected to be named on Friday as the next head of the International Monetary Fund, continuing a six-decade tradition in which a European leads the world body.

Network equipment maker 3Com Corp said on Friday it will be bought by private equity firm Bain Capital Partners for $2.2 billion in a deal that will also give China's Huawei a minority stake.

The Justice Department will announce a $515 million fraud settlement with a major U.S. pharmaceutical company later on Friday, a spokeswoman for the department said.

Recession talk is heating up as the slumping housing market threatens to shackle free-spending consumers, yet stocks remain near record highs, indicating that many investors see little cause for alarm.

China welcomed more overseas investment to develop the country's hi-tech industry, a senior official said on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Times may launch a free, tabloid-sized daily newspaper, Times Publisher David Hiller said on Thursday.Hiller, speaking at a luncheon in Los Angeles, said the new paper would be similar to Redeye, a paper published and distributed for free at commuter stations by the Chicago Tribune.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday called for a "strong and transparent" way for nations to measure progress on fighting climate change but said each country should set its own approach. In a speech to a U.S.-sponsored conference of major emitting countries, Bush also called for the creation of a global fund to promote clean technology.

Oil rose above $83 a barrel on Friday and closed in on an all-time high as fund buying, spurred by a weak dollar, provided support.

Stocks dipped on Friday as money managers locked in profits on the last trading day of a strong September, while concerns surfaced about the strength of profits during a turbulent third quarter. Shares of technology, energy and material companies fell as investors took profits on the best-performing sectors for September, traditionally one of the weakest months for stocks.