INVESTMENT

Demonstrators are expected to swarm Bank of America Corp's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday to voice anger over a range of issues from foreclosures to corporate taxes to financing for the coal industry.

Neither premium chicken sandwiches nor Angus burgers could tempt U.S. consumers to spend more on higher-priced items at McDonald's, as a tepid U.S. economic recovery kept restaurant spending in check.

As Italy's economy reels from the European debt crisis and politicians face allegations of corruption, comedian Beppe Grillo won a large consensus in local elections with a simple plan: Dump the euro and default on the debt.

As Mark Zuckerbeg and other top Facebook executives have hit the road in an effort to draw interest in what is estimated to be the largest intital public offering in internet history, the Co-Founder and CEO is betting that investors will Like Facebook. The Menlo Park, California-based Facebook will set its final price on the eve of May 18 -- the company's first day of trading.

ABC News and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision have announced they will be launching an English-language 24/7 news network later in the year that will be focused on the growing number of Hispanic media consumers in the United States.

Marubeni Corp., Japan's biggest grain trading company, is in exclusive talks to buy U.S. grain and energy trader Gavilon LLC for about $5.2 billion including debt, media reports said Tuesday, citing sources close to the deal.

America Movil the telecom group controlled by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, has offered to buy a stake worth up to 3.2 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in Netherlands-based KPN NV, seeing it as a base for potential expansion in Europe.

Drama, drama, drama. The gowns that stood out the most at the 2012 Met Gala at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit certainly brought the most drama. From trailing trains and see-through lace to feathers and layers upon layers of tulle, the most dramatic gowns of the night proved to be the most stunning. Check out photos of Beyonce, Florence Welch, Cate Blanchett and more.

Among the flurry of decrees Vladimir Putin issued after returning to the presidency for a historic third term were calls for faster privatization and government-sponsored boost in capital investment and closer ties with the US, based on equality, non-interference in internal affairs and respect for one another's interests.

Western markets rallied Monday to make up for jitters about French and Greek election results that sent them down earlier. The rebound was possibly due to investors looking for bargains after stocks were dumped Friday after the disappointing U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

While Nicolas Sarkozy has finally met his Waterloo -- and not before time according to a testy French electorate -- analysts are unconvinced Hollande can persuade the rest of Europe, let alone a resolute Germany, to abandon the austerity juggernaut.

Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's government to boost investment and shake up state-run industries in a flurry of decrees issued after he returned to the presidency on Monday with a call for a new economy.

3i Group plc (London: III) the largest listed UK private equity company, is in talks with Spain's Ferrovial to sell its Enterprise maintenance and cleaning company, the Financial Times reported.

Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., the Singaporean sovereign-investment vehicle and RRJ Capital, a private equity fund run by former Temasek executive Richard Ong, will jointly invest about $468 million in Houston's Cheniere Energy Incorporated (Nyseamex: LNG), as Singapore pursues its goal of becoming an Asian hub for liquid natural gas (LNG).

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone's telecom start-up LightSquared MOSAV.UL, while Falcone continues to negotiate with creditors to avoid a debt default, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The U.S. Treasury Department will sell $5 billion in shares of American International Group Incorporated (NYSE: AIG) as it continues to divest its balance sheets of the bailed-out insurance company, which has agreed to purchase $2 billion of its own shares as part of the stock offering, the company announced Monday.

Germany's Economics and Technology Ministry reported Monday factory orders rose in March, spurred primarily by businesses looking away from the euro zone and to the United States and emerging markets. Orders rose 2.2 percent from February, spurred by a 4.8 percent growth in export orders from outside the currency zone.

U.S. Marshalls have finally caught Nelson Gran Hallahan and his wife Janet, a duo who ran a Ponzi scheme that earned them the nickname the 'Mini Madoff' couple. The couple had been on the run for the past 12 years.

A central government plan to create a high end tourist industry on the tropical Hainan island has delivered a much-anticipated surge in economic growth, but it has also widened the wealth gap between rich and poor that Beijing was trying to close.

Indonesia's economic growth slowed down in the first quarter compared to the last quarter as exports and investment remained weak due to soft global demand.

Warren Buffett and his 88-year-old associate Charlie Munger are sitting out the Facebook IPO.