DOWN

The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment benefits hit a record in February as companies struggle with a 14-month recession, data showed on Thursday, but a slight easing in retail sales last month offered cautious optimism.

The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment benefits hit a record in February as companies struggle with a 14-month recession, data showed on Thursday, but a slight easing in retail sales last month offered cautious optimism.

Microchip Technology Inc, leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, saw significant increases in inventory during Q3 and 2009 Q4 net sales are expected to be down 8 to 12%.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted a lower profit as it slashed prices aggressively to win market share, while smaller rival BJ's Wholesale Club Inc topped Wall Street expectations by luring shoppers with fresh food and prepared meals .

An aggressive effort to win market share by slashing prices took a toll on Costco Wholesale Corp as the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club posted lower quarterly profit the same day smaller rival BJ's Wholesale Club Inc reported better-than-expected results.

Gap Inc on Thursday posted a lower quarterly profit, but cost cuts helped counteract a drop in sales at the global apparel retailer.

Asian stocks edged lower on Thursday after an early rally fizzled and investors found few incentives to make long-term bets with economic and corporate profit prospects worsening.

The volume of carbon dioxide traded globally this year will increase by 20 percent to 5.9 billion metric tons from 4.9 billion in 2008, research group Point Carbon said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday due to uncertainty about the likely success of the government's latest bid to shore up beleaguered banks, including Citigroup , and a drop in technology shares pulled indexes lower. Initially, investors welcomed reports that the government could convert an earlier investment in Citigroup into a larger common stock holding as a sign the United States is ready...

U.S. agencies detailed financial rescue plans on Monday and insisted they did not want to nationalize banks as investors fretted over how struggling firms will cope with rising recession-driven losses.

Shares in UBS were indicated to open down 2.2 percent on Friday after U.S. tax authorities said they were seeking 52,000 bank client names even though the Swiss bank has agreed to a hefty fine to settle criminal charges. The stock was seen down at 12.52 Swiss francs, premarket data provided by bank Clariden Leu showed, reversing some of Thursday's strong gains. Analysts had welcomed a settlemen...

rose, reflecting the payouts under the long-term incentive plan. It is important that the board and I have the freedom to compensate our senior executives in a fair and reasonable way, Immelt said in the statement. GE shares rose 4 cents to $10.85 in pre-market trading, up from a $10.81 close on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Derek Caney and Steve Orlof...

for U.S. credit cards rose to 7.82 percent in January from 7.71 percent in December, while the rate for loans at least 30 days delinquent increased to 5.02 percent from 4.78 percent. The McLean, Virginia-based company said it expects loan losses from U.S. cards to increase to 8.1 percent in the first quarter. In auto loans, Capital One's charge-off rate rose to 6.09 percent in January from 5.9...

Government pressure is taking hold in the midst of crisis at another major bank, as RBS announced today it reached a deal with the UK, its majority shareholder, to cut the total bonus pay by 90 percent to 175 million pounds ($247.5 million).

Walt Disney Company said its first fiscal quarter net profit fell 32 percent . Shares of Disney plunged 6.9 percent to $19.20 but decreased as much as 10 percent during the session following the company's report .

Release Explanation: CPI measures the average price of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by consumers, and therefore give an overall read of Inflationary pressures. It is the most widely used Inflation indicator of Central Banks

A Russian cybermilitia has knocked the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan off the Internet, a security researcher said today, in the latest manifestation of digital warfare.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Thursday to require that a military prison in Guantanamo Bay be closed within one year.

Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs is standing for re-election for the board of directors of Walt Disney Co. despite taking a six month medical leave from his duties at Apple.

JP Morgan Chase which was expected to break even or report a small loss in the fourth quarter said Thursday its profit plunged 76 percent.

Microsoft's website struggled to stay online today as the masses swooned to its online properties to get their hands on a special pre-release version of its upcoming operating system.