IBT Staff Reporter

Germany's major automakers reported mixed results in the sales of their cars in North America during May, with BWM and Volkswagen reporting solid gains while sales by Porsche dipped, the companies said Friday.

Euronext's $10 billion tie-up with NYSE Group Inc. puts pressure on other exchanges to seek partnerships to catch up with what will be the world's largest financial marketplace, analysts said on Friday.

Microsoft Corp. expects Adobe Systems Inc. to file a lawsuit against it in Europe over the use of software to make electronic document files, according to a report.

NYSE Group, Inc. and Euronext N.V. announced on Thursday that they will merge in a cash and stock trade deal worth about $10 billion to create the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange to be called NYSE Euronext.

The Bush administration finally is on the verge of assembling a powerhouse economic team, headed by a Wall Street heavyweight able to set the terms for becoming its leader, after some 5-1/2 years in power.

Britain's leading shares bounced into positive territory on Wednesday, reversing direction from initial losses as consolidation hopes in the utility sector boosted stocks such as International Power, while insurer Friends Provident, rose after an analyst upgrade and financials generally added support.

Under pressure from Microsoft Corp. investors to return a portion of the company's $35 billion cash reserve and revive a flagging share price, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday defended the company's first-class problem of having too much cash.

Albertsons, the nations second largest supermarket chain, announced its first quarter earnings were up 67 percent on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares fell on Tuesday after Chief Executive Henry Paulson said he was leaving to become the U.S. treasury secretary, but investors say his heir apparent, Lloyd Blankfein, could continue the bank's winning ways.

The global semiconductor market is likely to grow 10.1 percent this year, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) said on Tuesday, raising its earlier forecast of 8.0 percent growth due to brisk memory chip demand.

German chemical maker BASF has agreed to buy U.S. catalyst producer Engelhard for over $5 billion, clearing the way for the biggest takeover in BASF's 140-year history.

German chemical maker BASF is set to announce an agreed deal to buy U.S. catalyst firm Engelhard for around $5.1 billion, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Virgin Mobile USA, a cell-phone service used mostly by teenagers and 20-somethings, said on Tuesday it was giving its customers the option to earn free calls if they view and respond to ads on their phones.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the No. 2 maker of microchips for personal computers, said on Monday it will spend an additional $2.5 billion to upgrade and expand its two factories in Germany.

U.S. telephone giant AT&T Inc. risks losing customers to cable rivals unless it builds a fiber network closer to customers than currently planned for its video and Internet services, analysts said.

Arcelor said on Friday it has agreed to buy Russia's Severstal to create the world's biggest steelmaker, in a move that threatens to block Mittal Steel's bid for the European group.

Afraid of the consequences for growth and jobs, cautious Chinese policy makers show no appetite for radical tightening measures to cool the economy.

More than 20,000 blue-collar workers at General Motors Corp. have accepted buyout offers, surpassing the automaker's internal target, with a month to go before the deadline, the Detroit News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The U.S. economy grew at a quick 5.3 percent pace in the first quarter of the year, more quickly than the past 2 1/2 years.

German media conglomerate Bertelsmann will buy out the 25-percent stake held by Belgium's richest man, Albert Frere, for 4.5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) and thereby avoid a public listing of the family company.

Along with rising gasoline prices, Americans are going to have to deal this summer with higher costs for cooling their homes.

Congress just tightened up the tax breaks on kids' savings accounts, but it's hardly game over for parents who know how to manage their family money.

Microsoft Corp. launched on Tuesday a new version of its Windows Live Local online mapping service with real-time traffic reports and features to make it easier to share maps and information.

Internet phone service provider Vonage Holdings Corp. on Tuesday priced an initial public offering worth about $531 million, according to an underwriter.

Worldwide output at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan's second-largest auto maker, plunged by a fifth in April, the company said on Wednesday, a drop that reflects planned inventory cutbacks but also falls in sales.

States already competing for Honda's proposed sixth U.S. auto plant have an added incentive to pursue a deal with the expanding carmaker after Honda's CEO said on Tuesday that the new plant will start small but leave room for growth.

Consumer sales of diamond jewelry so far this year are stronger than in 2005, but the cutting and manufacturing sector is sluggish partly due to a De Beers price hike on rough diamonds in February, officials of the diamond giant said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia's Aramco and French energy company Total signed a deal on Sunday to build an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia at an estimated cost of $6 billion.

Almost everywhere investors turn, signs of inflationary pressures make it less likely the Federal Reserve will pause from two years of interest rate increases.