IBT Staff Reporter

Apple Inc.'s iPhone may be too expensive for most Americans, but the much-hyped device is expected to help AT&T Inc. win quality customers and drive shoppers into its stores.

UBS cut its earnings forecasts and share target prices for South Korean chip makers Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., citing bigger-than-expected price declines for DRAM memory chips.

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to pay 94 million yuan ($12.3 million) for a stake in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. and will form a cooperative alliance with the TV and electrical appliance maker, the Chinese company said on Monday.

General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc may challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co., with a plan that could let Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family keep an interest in the company, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites on Sunday.

London-based private-equity firm BC Partners was in the lead to purchase satellite operator Intelsat Ltd. for about $5 billion plus the assumption of about $11.5 billion in debt, The Wall Street Journal Online reported.

The head of Boeing Co.'s commercial aircraft unit on Sunday backed a call by rival Airbus to work closely on producing more environmentally friendly planes, but said real progress was the responsibility of jet engine makers, rather than plane builders.

Hong Kong and Shanghai listed shares would be allowed. Talks are underway.

Oil prices edged up on Monday to add to last week's rally as dealers worried about supplies from Nigeria and the Middle East at a time of peak summer gasoline demand in the United States.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency government on Sunday in a move that could bolster him in his power struggle with Islamist rivals by unlocking foreign aid in the West Bank.

Bigger is becoming better.

Financial Times publisher Pearson Plc. is seeking partners to make a possible bid for Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones & Co. Inc., the Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

General Motors Corp. said on Friday it is accelerating its hydrogen fuel cell program, shifting work from laboratory to engineering groups that aim to develop the technology for mass production.

Central banks should be ready to respond to events that could have systemic risks but should not try to 'prick' asset bubbles with tighter monetary policy, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen said on Friday.

The control of a reorganized and potentially profitable U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp. may come down to a fight between its two largest shareholders.

The world of professional e-sports and virtual heroes may soon see profound changes.

They may not be blaming him for making their lives more difficult -- yet. But rivals at private equity firms sure wish that Stephen Schwarzman, the founder and CEO of buyout firm The Blackstone Group, would get his name off the front pages.

South Korea said on Sunday that the United States had proposed some revisions to a free trade agreement between the two countries, in areas including labor rights, environment and investment.

Japan and the United States are set to allow private defense contractors to directly share and transfer information on defense technology, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

Powerful investors continue to buy into commodities despite sharp price falls in some markets.

Stocks rose for a third straight day on Friday after tame consumer price data put aside inflation fears, while an upgrade of bellwether Intel helped fuel gains in the tech sector.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Friday said a complaint lodged by Google Inc. was 'baseless' as the software company was complying with a 2002 antitrust settlement.

DVD sales to consumers are down nearly 8%, as of the first quarter. And no wonder: After years of trying to space out big new releases throughout the year, studios again appear to be focusing on the fourth quarter and cutting back on the rest of the year.

China has censored part of the latest installment of hit Hollywood movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean' for 'vilifying and defacing the Chinese,' the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world's largest memory chip maker, said it would invest $3.5 billion in its 10-year-old U.S. chip plant by 2008 to produce flash memory chips.

Blackstone Group LP, which is preparing to go public, said on Friday that proposed U.S. Senate legislation on the taxation of private equity firms could materially increase its tax liability and lower the partnership's value.

Changes in financial and credit conditions can amplify cyclical swings in the economy and the effect of monetary policy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday.

Boston's police, facing an upsurge in murder and other violent crimes, have set up a system to allow witnesses to tip them off to crime by sending anonymous text messages.

For tourism chiefs eager to entice 'set-jetters' to Britain, Harry Potter offers the ideal location vacation -- and the latest book and film look certain to stoke renewed Pottermania.

Oil steadied around $71 a barrel on Friday after two days of gains sparked by worries of low fuel supplies from creaking U.S. refineries and an upsurge of violence in the Middle East.