IBT Staff Reporter

Ford Motor Co. is considering closing more factories and eliminating more management jobs to cut North American salary costs by another 10 percent to 30 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported on its web site on Thursday.

Aug 18, 2006

President George W. Bush will wrap up conferring with his economic team on Friday on ways to keep the economy growing against a backdrop of higher interest rates, mixed data and fears of rising inflation.

Aug 18, 2006

Apple Computer Inc. said on Friday that its main supplier of iPod music players let employees in a China plant work longer hours than allowed by Apple's code of conduct, and that it had taken steps to address the issue.

Aug 18, 2006

A judge has ordered EchoStar to disable the digital video recorders used by several million subscribers to its Dish satellite TV service because they infringe on patents held by TiVo.

Aug 18, 2006

CBS said on Thursday it will stream its prime-time news program with Katie Couric live on the Internet simultaneously with the newscast, a first for a major TV network that highlights U.S. broadcasters' rapid expansion on the Web.

Aug 18, 2006

India's growing thirst for oil has prompted the country to seek investments worth $1-billion in oil development and mining projects in Africa's Ivory Coast.

Aug 18, 2006

Dell announced on Thursday that its second quarter earnings had dropped 51 percent from the previous quarter, blaming the figure on slower sales growth.

Aug 18, 2006

A Federal bankruptcy judge allowed Northwest's flight attendants to strike on Thursday, with the airline vowing that it would appeal the decision.

Aug 18, 2006

Delphi Corp., the world's largest auto-parts maker, announced on Thursday that a bankruptcy judge has agreed to postpone a hearing regarding the disposal of labor contracts until Friday, pending negotiations with unions and GM.

Aug 18, 2006

A jury in a U.S. federal court found that pharmaceuticals company Merck & co. was responsible for the death of a man who took the company's Vioxx painkiller drug.

Aug 18, 2006

Hewlett-Packard Co. reported a stronger net profit for the fiscal third quarter on Thursday, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

Aug 17, 2006

British entrepreneur Richard Branson's latest venture into South Africa, Virgin Money said on Wednesday it has already issued over 50,000 credit-cards in the six weeks since its launch.

Aug 17, 2006

Russia's economic minister said on Thursday that the country would cut preferences given to U.S. meat imports if Washington fails to allow Russia to join the World Trade Organization.

Aug 17, 2006

Indra Nooyi, 50, must maintain strong growth and face the perpetual Coca Cola challenge.

Aug 17, 2006

EMI Group, the world's third-largest music company said on Thursday it has signed a deal to provide preloaded music videos for Microsoft's soon-to-launch Zune player.

Aug 17, 2006

Imesh subsidiary MusicLab unveiled the latest version of BearShare on Thursday, its recently acquired fellow peer-to-peer network.

Aug 17, 2006

CNET Networks Inc. said on Wednesday it has received notice it is not in compliance with Nasdaq listing rules after it delayed filing a quarterly report due to an internal stock options investigation.

Aug 17, 2006

McAfee Inc, the security software provider, said on Wednesday that reviewers discovered problems in the dating of some of its option grants leading to a possible restatement in financial data.

Aug 17, 2006

British newspapers are now giving away free as many DVDs as are being purchased in stores, revealing a stealth contributing factor to the decline of Hollywood's cash cow format.

Aug 17, 2006

Carl Icahn is planning to increase his stake in Time Warner Inc through a new fund he is developing, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing a letter the billionaire sent to investors.

Aug 17, 2006

The number of U.S. workers seeking first-time jobless aid fell by 10,000 last week, a government report on Thursday showed, signaling a relatively healthy job market.

Aug 17, 2006

AOL announced on Wednesday that it would acquire leading independent video game publication Gamedaily for an undisclosed amount.

Aug 16, 2006

OPEC president Edmund Daukoru met the chief executive of Brazil's state-owned oil company on Tuesday to discuss the country's rapidly growing ethanol industry.

Aug 16, 2006

Delphi Corp., posted a half year loss of $2.6 billion of which the bulk comes from its special attrition program.

Aug 16, 2006

Teck Cominco, the world's largest zinc producer, has withdrawn its offer for mining giant Inco, after failing to raise enough cash to fund the acquisition. Teck Cominco, the world's largest zinc producer, has withdrawn its offer for mining giant Inco, after failing to raise enough cash to fund the acquisition.

Aug 16, 2006

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's No. 2 maker of personal computers, said on Wednesday quarterly profit surged from a year earlier, when it had a tax charge for repatriating foreign earnings.

Aug 16, 2006

The market for limited medical care could provide a significant growth opportunity for public pharmacies, stated Standard & Poor's Equity Research.

Aug 16, 2006

Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Tuesday the country plans to increase oil sales to China to 200,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.

Aug 16, 2006

Heinz announced that the results for a shareholder vote for its board of directors would not be known for weeks.

Aug 16, 2006