IBT Staff Reporter

Very few U.S. mutual funds put their investors first, and funds from big ones such as Fidelity Investments and Federated Investors lag in governance rankings because of weaker boards or corporate culture, a study found.

FL Group, one of the largest shareholders in AMR Corp, has urged the board of the American Airlines parent to consider strategic alternatives, including spinning off its frequent-flyer program, to boost its flagging share price.

The housing market will stay in a slump until buyers feel more confident about the economy and their own finances, and sellers are ready to accept more realistic prices.

A $25 billion takeover of Sallie Mae was on the verge of collapse on Wednesday after the student lender said a consortium does not expect to complete its planned acquisition on the agreed terms.

KB Home on Thursday posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on write-downs for land values, and revenue fell 32 percent as the swelling supply of homes and tighter mortgage standards kept potential buyers on the sidelines.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $12.5 million to resolve regulatory charges that it failed to provide arbitration plaintiffs with e-mails it said were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks, when in fact it had saved the e-mails on backup files.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Thursday urged the U.S. Senate to make permanent the moratorium on taxes for Internet access and electronic commerce.

Many of Jun Ogawa's friends frown on his playing the stock market, but he's not bothered. The 68-year-old retiree has built up a nest egg to fund his hobbies -- skiing, cycling and overseas travel -- by investing in domestic stocks using a slice of his retirement payout.

Middle-aged workers counting the days until they can retire may not be eager to pursue a hobby, spend time with family or even take a long holiday -- they could be depressed.

Employees are contributing too little to defined-contribution work pension schemes to support themselves well in retirement, according to a survey by consulting firm Mercer.

Google Inc is planning to expand its staff by a third, with most of the new hirings in Europe, the Financial Times reported on its Website.

Leading microchip maker Intel Corp will offer online training to help teachers incorporate technology into their lesson plans in a program it estimates is worth $300 million over four years.

The luxury unit of Nokia has started selling a phone designed jointly with Ferrari for about 18,000 euros ($25,400) at its stores in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore, it said on Thursday.

The Internet in China is not as restricted as sometimes believed in the West, with most controls actually coming from sites practicing self-censorship, an academic who studies the Chinese Web said on Thursday.

Seeking to narrow the gap with Google, Microsoft Corp unveiled a retooled Web search service that aims to deliver more relevant results and combines text, video and other information onto a single page.

A group involving title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc and several private equity firms has emerged in the bidding for burger chain Wendy's International Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Website on Thursday.

World stocks powered ahead on Thursday and the dollar hit another low against the euro as investors banked on more U.S. interest rate cuts and at least temporarily set aside gnawing fears about global credit.

Pakistan's military leader, President Pervez Musharraf, filed nomination papers on Thursday to run for re-election on October 6, while the Supreme Court prepared to rule on the army chief's eligibility to stand.

Sales of new single-family U.S. homes fell 8.3 percent in August to a 795,000 annual sales pace, its slowest rate in over seven years, while the inventory of homes dropped, a Commerce Department report showed on Thursday.

The White House demanded on Thursday that Myanmar's military government immediately halt an intensifying crackdown by security forces against protesters mounting the country's largest uprising in 20 years.

Troops cleared protesters from the streets of central Yangon on Thursday, giving them 10 minutes to leave or be shot as the Myanmar junta intensified a two-day crackdown on the largest uprising in 20 years.

The U.S.-sponsored meeting of major emitting countries is aimed at supporting and accelerating the U.N. process on climate change, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted on Thursday.

Healthy business investment helped the U.S. economy grow at a revised 3.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, slightly less than previously thought because of brisker demand for foreign goods and services, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower but brisk 3.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, and fresh signs of a surprisingly buoyant job market emerged last week, government reports on Thursday showed.

Usually, when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, it's a good time to buy bonds. Folks who had money stashed in bonds this summer, while the stock market was doing its tumultuous thing, are pretty glad they did. And the financial services industry has made it easier than ever to buy individual bonds or baskets of bonds at rock-bottom prices.

British Airways ended decades of loyalty to Boeing's 747 jumbo with a switch to Airbus's new A380 superjumbo on Thursday as it announced a mixed plane order worth up to $8.2 billion.

British Airways said Thursday that it has ordered 12 Airbus A380 and 24 Boeing 787 aircraft and has options for a further seven Airbus A380s and 18 Boeing 787s, it's largest order since 1998.

Consumer confidence in South Korea climbed to a 5-year high according to a new report released on Thursday.

Asian markets advanced sharply on Thursday alongside Hong Kong and Sydney and Singapore setting new intraday highs as financial and energy stocks soar.