Two private equity firms raised their offer for Clear Channel by more than $1.5 billion, to about $27.6 billion.

Officials were concerned that marketers were improperly obtaining private information on potential borrowers.

J. Christopher Flowers, the architect of the $25 billion deal to take Sallie Mae private, has had a history of daring financial challenges.

The Internet phone service provider said its recent legal woes over patents could lead to bankruptcy.

A $2.05 billion mixed-use project designed by Frank O. Gehry may provide the city with a vibrant focal point.

G.M.?s chief executive hailed India?s growing car market and said the company would increase purchasing and production in the country.

A surprise increase in Britain?s inflation rate spurred expectations the Bank of England would raise interest rates at least once more this year.

The Lightstone Group agreed to purchase Extended Stay Hotels from a private equity giant, the Blackstone Group.

The continued introduction of Coke Zero helped bolster sales in many countries, allaying investors? concerns that the soft drink business was stagnant.

Earnings appeared to reassure investors that the company?s profit margins were finally starting to improve.

The company?s strategic shift toward higher-margin software and services is making gradual progress.

A big charge for a recent acquisition offset record sales driven by last year?s purchase of a stable of top consumer health products.

Higher revenue from its Web businesses helped offset a 1.8 percent decline in ad revenue at The Wall Street Journal in the United States.

Problems with subprime mortgages weighed on earnings at regional banks that reported their first-quarter results.

Hyundai Motor America today chose as its new creative advertising agency a shop with automotive experience for brands like Porsche, Saturn and Isuzu. Hyundai spends about $600 million a year on ads in major media.

A former vice president of Hollinger International asked a law firm for advice on whether the company needed to publicly disclose payments.

Reuters - The buyout groups bidding for U.S. radio operator Clear Channel Communications Inc. are considering raising their offer up to $39 a share, or $19.5 billion, as pressure increases ahead of a shareholder vote scheduled for Thursday, a source familiar with the situation said.

Sony's game unit is to cut its European workforce, but says this is unrelated to sales of the Playstation 3.

Brazil vows to increase its production of ethanol, defying calls from the Venezuelan president to cut output.

EMI suspends dividend payments and says annual revenues from its EMI Music division are set to drop 15%.

Dutch brewers, including Heineken and Grolsch, are fined 273.7m euros by EU regulators for price fixing.

The UK pound climbs well past the $2-mark, surging to a 26-year high against the troubled US currency.

Unemployment rose in the three months to February, the first rise since September 2006, official figures show.

The Bank of England voted 7-2 in favour of keeping UK interest rates unchanged at 5.25% in April.

Strong demand for Herceptin and other cancer treatments boosts sales at Swiss drugmaker Roche.

Unemployment rose in the three months to February, the first rise since September 2006, official figures show.

The way web audiences are measured could be ripe for an overhaul, according to two separate reports.

Reuters - JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday reported an increase in quarterly earnings, helped by gains in investment banking and private equity.

Reuters - Motorola Inc. , the world's second-biggest mobile phone maker, on Wednesday posted a quarterly loss and lower revenue due to weak handset pricing and a limited portfolio of advanced phones.

Reuters - Bank of New York Co. , which is buying Mellon Financial Corp. , said on Wednesday that first-quarter profit rose 3 percent, helped by growth in its main business of securities servicing.

Reuters - U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Co. was the only company to bid by a Wednesday deadline for a $2.5 billion contract to supply South Korea with 20 jet fighters by 2012, South Korea's defense procurement agency said.

Reuters - CIT Group Inc., , a consumer and commercial finance company, said on Wednesday quarterly earnings rose, helped by an increase in new business volume.

A network failure is jamming emails being sent and received by Blackberry users in the Western Hemisphere.

Shares in sportswear firm Adidas continue to rise on speculation that a private equity firm may be about to buy a stake in the firm.

Phone firm Motorola confirms it made a $181m loss in the past quarter as demand for its new phones remained weak.

Fans will be able to sponsor the UK's four home national teams under Nationwide plans to shake-up football sponsorship.

EMI's is bolstered as its cost-cutting initiative starts to have an effect, improving the music publisher's outlook.

Reuters - Bank of New York Co. , which is buying Mellon Financial Corp. , said on Wednesday that first-quarter profit rose 3 percent, helped by higher fees from holding securities and processing trades for institutional investors.

Reuters - U.S. stocks headed for a lower open on Wednesday, with investors concerned about technology spending after disappointing results from Yahoo Inc. and IBM.

Technical problems cut off e-mail service to millions of BlackBerry users for more than 10 hours overnight.

Blackberry maker RIM says it has restored its service to 'most' North American users after a network failure.

Zimbabwe's President Mugabe blames economic woes on 'unbridled greed' in an independence day speech.

Reuters - AMR Corp. , parent of No. 1 U.S. carrier American Airlines, reported a quarterly profit on Wednesday, reversing a year-ago loss, as it flew fuller planes and charged higher fares.

Reuters - Shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. dropped 6 percent on Wednesday after it warned in a regulatory filing of a risk of bankruptcy due to legal woes stemming from a court's finding that it infringed on Verizon Communications Inc.'s patents.

Reuters - U.S. technology stocks fell on Wednesday after disappointing results from Yahoo Inc. and IBM raised concerns about the outlook for tech spending.

Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc. , the largest U.S. savings and loan, on Wednesday said it will refinance up to $2 billion of "subprime" home loans at discounted rates to help borrowers who might otherwise struggle to keep up with payments.

Technical problems cut off e-mail service to millions of BlackBerry users for more than 10 hours overnight.

Despite profits more than doubling, results from Netflix, the pioneer of renting DVDs by post, disappoint Wall Street.

Tesco is to open its first own-brand stores in Japan to gain access to the world's second-largest retail market.

Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, says profits more than doubled in the first three months of this year.

Reuters - JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday said first-quarter earnings rose 55 percent, beating forecasts, as gains in investment banking and private equity outweighed weak growth in retail banking.

Reuters - U.S. radio station operator Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s board has agreed to an increased offer of $39 a share from a private equity group trying to buy it, after weeks of opposition to an earlier $37.60 a share deal.

Reuters - Tech stocks were lower on Wednesday following disappointing results from tech bellwethers Yahoo Inc. and IBM , while the Dow Jones industrial average was flat after rising to less than 1 point from an all-time high.

Reuters - Chrysler Group Chief Executive Tom LaSorda on Wednesday said talks regarding a sale of the automaker were continuing and that "all options" remained open regarding the division's future with German parent Daimler.

Reuters - Retailer J.C. Penney Co. Inc. on Wednesday raised its quarterly profit outlook and said it expects new stores and other improvements to drive a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent in earnings per share over the next few years.

Lawrence H. Summers has been stressing economic themes that resonate in India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore but have yet to take hold in the United States.

Technical problems at Research in Motion, the maker of the hand-held devices, cut off use of the e-mail program for millions of American customers.

Reuters - The Dow Jones industrial average set a lifetime high on Wednesday as stronger-than-expected profits from JPMorgan Chase & Co. overshadowed disappointing results from tech bellwethers.

Reuters - The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Education Committee on Wednesday urged the Bush administration to quickly adopt emergency reforms to eliminate bribes and cronyism in the embattled student loan industry.

Marcus W. Brauchli was selected to succeed Paul E. Steiger in one of the most powerful positions in business journalism.

The Sansa Connect offers access to two million songs through Yahoo. Yes, there?s a catch.

The Dow Jones hits a fresh all-time closing high, buoyed by strong results from bank JP Morgan Chase.

Online auction website eBay sees its latest profits surge 52% thanks to high spending global shoppers.

The UK pound climbs well past the $2 mark, surging to a 26-year high against the troubled US currency.

Tesco is to open its first own-brand stores in Japan to gain access to the world's second-largest retail market.

Reuters - Online auction leader eBay Inc. reported on Wednesday quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations and said its outlook for the rest of the year would be at the high end of analysts' predictions.

Reuters - Kraft Foods Inc. on Wednesday posted a lower quarterly profit as the largest U.S. food company spent more money on marketing to try to jump-start sales in its last quarter as a unit of Altria Group Inc.

Reuters - Mexican central bank governor Guillermo Ortiz on Wednesday urged the government and food companies to renew price caps for tortillas that have acted as a buffer against inflation.

EBay posted better-than-expected profit in the first quarter as several of its newer businesses compensated for disappointing results in its mainstay auction service.

The company will spend $1.43 billion to build two plants that will make parts for Chrysler and Mercedes vehicles.

Reuters - U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at overhauling the patent system by weeding out bad patents and reining in excessive litigation while preserving the rights of inventors.

The Sansa Connect offers access to two million songs through Yahoo. Yes, there?s a catch.

The results led some analysts to question whether the wireless phone maker would be able to return to profitability this year.

Reuters - Online auction leader eBay Inc. reported on Wednesday quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations and said its outlook for the rest of the year would be at the high end of analysts' predictions.

Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co. maintained its lead over Dell Inc. in the global personal-computer market in the first quarter, market researcher IDC said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Two buyout firms raised their bid for Clear Channel Communications Inc. to $19.5 billion on Wednesday in an eleventh-hour push to get shareholder approval, although it was unclear whether the new price would persuade enough investors to support the deal.

AP - Right now, while the pain of filing your income taxes for 2006 is still fresh, grab that Form 1040 and take a good hard look at it to find ways of making things easier on yourself next year.

The 10-hour BlackBerry blackout revealed just how dependent so many people are on their electronic lifelines.

A few urban areas of the former Communist bloc are transforming into outsourcing centers for corporations in the U.S. and Europe.

The automaker will offer its flagship Maxima sedan with a cleaner-burning diesel engine in the United States by 2010.

Shareholders would have the right to a nonbinding vote on the pay packages of senior executives of public companies under a new bill.