IBT Staff Reporter

Oil fell more than $1 on Monday after forecasts projected Hurricane Dean would skirt to the south of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that is home to half of U.S. refining capacity and pumps a third of its oil.

Lowe's Cos. reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, and its shares rose more than 6 percent as the home-improvement retailer said sales were improving in some regions despite the soft U.S. housing market. The company, which ranks second behind Home Depot Inc., said difficult sales comparisons were starting to lessen, but still cut its full-year profit and sales forecast.

China Minsheng Banking Corp is in the final stages of talks to buy control of a domestic trust firm, as it diversifies in the financial sector, two sources familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Gold gained on Monday with a drop in the dollar and recovery in stocks, but investors remained cautious as they digested the U.S. federal reserve's surprise move to slash the rate it charges banks on loans.

The yen fell on Monday, giving up some of last week's steep gains, as some risk appetite returned to the market after the Federal Reserve's surprise decision on Friday to cut its discount lending rate.

Mortgage lenders' and financial companies' debt insurance costs fell on Monday, continuing improvements from Friday when a Federal Reserve discount rate cut sparked a rally in most global markets.

American Airlines, the world's largest airline, said on Friday it sued Internet search leader Google Inc for selling search words involving its name.

Diversified manufacturer 3M Co said on Friday that two of its products that are the subject of a patent fight with medical filter maker Pall Corp are no longer on the market.

Cisco Systems Inc. is best known for selling routers and switches to telecoms companies, but its strongest sales growth these days comes from an area that seldom gets much attention: hospitals.

Aniboom, an Internet home for animators to create and share original clips, is launching its own channel on video site YouTube with the aim of hatching the next animated blockbuster that could rival The Simpsons or South Park.

Microsoft Corp is cutting the European price for its Xbox 360 video game console by 50 euros to 349.99 euros ($470), following a similar cut in the United States. Faced with unexpectedly strong competition from Nintendo Co Ltd's cheaper Wii console, Microsoft is aiming at expanding the appeal of the Xbox 360 to an audience outside its core fan base of young men.

Stocks were little changed on Monday as investors mulled the likelihood of more Federal Reserve action after Friday's surprise cut in the rate at which banks borrow from it.

Canon Inc said on Monday it will launch a new digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera for advanced amateur users to better compete with Nikon Corp in the fastest-growing segment of the digital camera market.

The American Dream of home ownership may not be quite as dreamy as it once was. Sky-high prices, risky mortgages, and job instability have made home buying a bigger investment than it used to be. For some folks, it's an investment not worth making.

Zimbabwe's parliament meets for a new session on Tuesday that will consider two major pieces of legislation, one to give the president considerable sway in appointing a successor and another to nationalize foreign firms.

India is committed to developing its nuclear energy capability and other sources of power as its oil bill will impose an unbearable burden as growth continues, the prime minister said on Monday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy returned from his summer break on Monday to a sluggish economy, a court decision to scrap a tax break he promised and a scandal over a pedophile who says a prison doctor gave him Viagra.

Plants that can be grown for fuel are often touted as a vast, clean energy source -- except by those who say precious food is being diverted into gas tanks, and that biofuel crops are using up dwindling land and water.

Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc, which has struggled with liquidity problems because of investments in mortgages, on Monday announced a bailout in which it would sell a majority stake in itself at a deep discount.

Mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Monday it sold $20.5 billion of assets and reduced its borrowings to cut its risk amid a difficult market for home loans.

They've become as much a symbol of Africa's landscape as the stereotypical lions and plains

Mankind's response to climate change will shift how the world gets its energy and is already making green barons out of early investors in renewable energy, clean technologies and carbon trading.

Upcoming deals such as Sirius Satellite Radio's planned takeover of XM Satellite Radio could be helped by a court decision in favor of a takeover deal between two organic food retailers.

SunTrust Banks Inc., the seventh-largest U.S. bank, on Monday said it expects to eliminate about 2,400 jobs by the end of 2008 as part of a plan designed to save $530 million annually by 2009.

Investors boosted stocks and moved back into other riskier assets on Monday as immediate fears of a credit crunch waned following the Federal Reserve's confidence-building move last week.

Policymakers and investors breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as Federal Reserve action brought calm to shaken financial markets, but experts said it was too soon to discount a global credit crisis.

Asian companies will have a tough time raising funds and face weaker export demand if the global credit squeeze persists and a deteriorating U.S. housing market crimps consumer spending.

Dell Inc's disclosure that executives routinely adjusted accounts to meet financial goals raises questions about the role of founder Michael Dell.

Google Inc revealed on Monday that it had acquired a stake in Chinese community Web site Tianya.cn, indicating a foray by the global search leader into social networking in the world's second-largest Internet market.