IBT Staff Reporter

Microsoft is set to transition one of its largest business software suites away from traditional hosting methods to the online arena, pitting its latest offering against entrenched competitors which include Oracle, SAP AG, along with burgeoning Salesforce.com.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran's refusal to accept an international incentives offer to negotiate curbs on its nuclear programme will force major powers to decide on Wednesday to deal with the Islamic Republic at the U.N. Security Council.

Premier Foods has agreed to buy the UK and Irish businesses of Campbell Soup for 460 million pounds ($846 million), adding Oxo stock cubes, Batchelor soups and Homepride flour to its stable of brands. Premier Foods, which already owns household names such as Angel Delight desserts and Smash instant mashed potato, said on Wednesday it would finance the deal mainly from a fully underwritten rights issue to raise 450 million pounds.

Film and television studio Lionsgate said on Wednesday it bought Debmar-Mercury LLC, an independent television distributor with rights to such shows as Comedy Central's popular animated sitcom South Park.

A U.S. Treasury market rally that has driven bond yields below the key inter-bank overnight lending rate may be the strongest signal yet from the bond market that the Federal Reserve has gone too far in its campaign to raise interest rates.

The U.S. Army will discontinue its multi-billion dollar contract with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Oil prices are hovering near record highs, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the foreign exchange market.

All eyes are back on Phelps Dodge in a complicated intercontinental bidding war over two Canadian nickel miners.

General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said on Tuesday the proposed alliance between GM, Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA was an interesting idea that would get full consideration from GM leadership.

Recent airplane production delays, the resignation of a pair of top executives and competition from Boeing have seen Airbus shares plunge. However, the manufacturer is moving forward as it undertakes the second half of 2006.

Myspace.com, the social networking phenomenon, ranked as the top U.S web site last week the Internet tracking site, Hitwise stated Tuesday.

South African president Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday that fears regarding the country's financial and logistical ability to host the World Cup 2010 were untrue.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., the maker of Panasonic brand electronics, said on Monday it hoped to start selling the world's largest plasma television by early next year.

Online multimedia site Guba has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that makes it the first video-sharing community to distribute Sony Pictures movies online.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is set to report a 7 percent fall in quarterly profit on Friday on shrinking margins in mobile phones and flat screens, but analysts forecast a recovery in the second half.

After years of paltry yields in the high-yield junk bond market, of all places, investors are back in the sector with a vengeance, taking advantage of rising coupons.

Time Warner Inc. estimates its AOL division would lose almost $1 billion in operating profit through 2009 under a plan to offer the unit's services free to some customers, The Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

Lucent Technologies Inc. said on Monday it expects third-quarter earnings to fall due mainly to slower sales of wireless network equipment in North America, in news that pushed down its shares.

How easily global equities bounce back from May-June losses is in large part dependent on how much of a bargain shares have become for investors, and that depends on what measure you choose to determine value.

Big investors buying into baskets of commodities saw lower returns in the first half of this year, compared with a year ago, as oil generated slimmer gains and the search intensified for new strategies.

As GM, Renault-Nissan prepare to pursue “exploratory” talks about a possible alliance, GM investors are wondering whether the partnership can benefit the world largest automaker, currently in the midst of a major restructuring.

EBay's Paypal and Google's Checkout: Which will be the payment platform of choice?

The iPod and a growing need for local news have done the unthinkable: They have cost Chicago, one of America's great jazz cities, its last major source for jazz programming on local radio.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in three weeks as interest rates on home loans fell from a four-year high during a week when the Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs, an industry trade group said on Thursday.

Airbus orders plunged by more than half in the first six months of the year as confusion over its product range robbed the company of wide-body sales throughout the second quarter, new figures showed on Monday.

The $15 billion market for antidepressants, one of the biggest in the pharmaceuticals industry, is in danger of crumbling as generic competition eats away at existing products and drug companies struggle to develop replacements.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recently ended a seven nation tour of Africa on June 25 in a bid to improve economic, social and diplomatic ties between China and Africa.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's probe into whether insurance companies paid retirement plans to offer their investments is expected to lead to lawsuits and settlements in the next several months, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

More than 14 percent of Americans lacked health insurance last year, a slightly lower share than 2004, according to federal statistics published on Wednesday.