The court upheld the right of states to prohibit the sale of doctor-specific prescription drug data that is widely used in pharmaceutical marketing.

Dr Pepper plans to announce that it is promoting a video game player, Halo 3 player Tom Taylor, on bottles that it will distribute nationally.

To reduce the environmental costs of concrete, developers are replacing some portland cement with recycled materials such as coal ash and blast-furnace slag.

The Treasury Department?s inspector general will review a quiet change in tax policy that stands to give banks a windfall of billions of dollars, a top official said.

Maturing convertible debt may push some companies into suitors? arms, and falling demand will hit Hewlett-Packard?s profits sooner or later.

Dan Abrams is forming a consulting firm that he hopes will connect a global Rolodex of media experts with businesses that need strategic advice.

Aegon, the Dutch owner of the American insurer Transamerica, said it had signed up with the United States? financial rescue program but added it did not yet plan to ask for aid.

Although golf has long been perceived as recession proof, some involved in the sport are learning otherwise.

Those in the industry wonder not only about empty theaters, but also about the effect on the stream of creative work.

After a Senate inquiry found evidence of deceptive marketing, AARP has hired an outside investigator to look into sales of some of its popular health insurance products.

Medtronic, the medical device maker, said that legal expenses and declining foreign exchange rates weighed down its quarterly profit.

Producers have already shot segments for the series?s sixth season, but those new episodes are unlikely to be seen for several months, according to people involved in the case.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to give more than 90 million pounds of fresh food annually to the nation?s largest nonprofit organization addressing hunger, Feeding America.

Reuters - Asian stocks fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday and the yen rose, with risk-averse investors fretting about the deepening damage to corporate profits and consumer spending despite a late rally on Wall Street.

Reuters - Plane maker Boeing Co is reworking its entire production schedule, adding up to 10 weeks to original delivery dates for all 3,734 jetliners in its order backlog as it tries to recover from a machinists' strike, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Reuters - A forward-looking index of U.S. nonresidential construction activity fell to the lowest level in its 13-year history last month as spending slumped on healthcare and educational facilities, an architects' trade group said on Wednesday.

Financial officials faced new calls from Congress to aim more of the relief package at helping homeowners.

The head of Japan's leading brokerage, Nomura Holdings, suggests that the global liquidity crisis is over.

Japan's Mazda Motor spends 17.8bn yen to buy back almost 7% of its shares from troubled US carmaker Ford Motor.

Reuters - Most Asian stocks edged down on Wednesday and regional currencies slid, as a plea from U.S. automakers for a bailout from Washington highlighted how the financial crisis is hurting broad swathes of the global economy.

Reuters - Reeling from a relentless sales slide, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Wednesday it would stop all of its North American factories for two days next month, while rival Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) renewed its pessimism over the industry's near-term prospects.

Reuters - The head of Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T), Japan's largest brokerage, said he expects more global acquisitions and consolidation among Japanese regional banks as the financial crisis takes its toll on economies around the world.

The bosses of the three biggest US carmakers, Ford, GM and Chrysler, ask Congress for a $25bn bail-out.

Opec members have lost about $700bn (£467bn) because of falling oil prices, the cartel's president says in an interview.

Minutes from the latest meeting of the Bank of England's interest rate-setters suggest there could be more rate cuts to come.

Struggling chain Woolworths confirms that it is in talks about the possible sale of its retail business.

Reuters - Japan's No.3 bank sought to beef up its capital on Wednesday, markets fretted over the stricken U.S. car industry and Britain's central bank said it considered cutting rates even more dramatically than it did this month.

Reuters - Stock futures pointed to a lower Wall Street open on Wednesday, signaling a reversal of Tuesday's gains. Dow Jones futures were down 1.4 percent, S&P 500 futures were down 1.5 percent and Nasdaq futures were down 2.2 percent at 4:30 a.m. EST.

AP - Woolworths Group PLC's shares fell 13 percent Wednesday after the company confirmed it is considering selling its retail business.

Spain is likely to slip into recession in the fourth quarter and stay there into 2009, the Bank of Spain governor says.

Retailer Marks & Spencer is to hold its first one-day sale in four years in a bid to revive its pre-Christmas trading.

Reuters - BJ's Wholesale Club Inc posted a 24 percent rise in third quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by an increase in shoppers coming to its stores and stronger-than-expected results from its gasoline stations.

AP - Woolworths Group PLC's shares plunged 32 percent Wednesday after the company confirmed it is considering selling its retail business.

The Big Three automakers asked for help to stave off collapse, but it appeared they had not persuaded enough lawmakers to move quickly on a bailout.

The 1 percent decline last month was the largest in 61 years, as gasoline prices fell by a record amount.

Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars are being warehoused on crowded port property, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business.

Worries about a global downturn weighed on banking and commodity stocks in Europe and Asia.

The U.S. opened a branch of the Food and Drug Administration in the Chinese capital, the first of several overseas offices aimed at regulating the safety of imported food and medicine.

US consumer prices dropped by a record 1% in October as fuel costs kept falling for a third month in a row.

South Korean firm Daewoo says it has leased a vast tract of land in Madagascar, which will produce half of its corn supply by 2023.

Property sales rose slightly in October, for the second month in a row, estate agents say.

Lloyds TSB shareholders vote in favour of taking over HBOS as well as taking bail-out money from the government.

Reuters - Stocks were little changed after the open on Wednesday as gains in energy and commodity shares offset diminishing prospects for a U.S. auto industry government rescue in a slumping global economy.

Reuters - German solar energy company SolarWorld said on Wednesday it was prepared to acquire cash-strapped carmaker Opel's plants in Germany, but analysts dismissed the plan as unrealistic.

Reuters - Reeling from a relentless sales slide, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Wednesday it would stop all of its North American factories for two days next month, while rival Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) renewed its pessimism over the industry's near-term prospects.

Reuters - Fox-Pitt Kelton said it expects Citigroup Inc to take net write-downs of $3 billion during the fourth quarter, and widened its loss expectation on the company for the period to reflect higher credit costs and write-downs.

The heads of the Big Three automakers of Detroit are back on Capitol Hill for a second day of trying to persuade lawmakers to move quickly on an industry bailout.

Brought down by declining energy costs, consumer prices fell in October by 1 percent, the largest drop in the history of the survey.

Stocks were moderately lower in early trading as investors, nervous about the fate of the nation?s automakers, analyzed data on consumer prices and home construction.

BASF said that it would temporarily halt or slow production at 180 plants around the world as it adjusted to a ?massive decline in demand? brought on by the current economic turmoil.

The company said business was not declining as quickly as it was at other tech companies, sending its shares up nearly 15 percent.

The United States's biggest carmakers should be allowed to go bankrupt, a leading US politician says.

The world's largest chemicals firm, BASF, reduces its profit forecast and says it will cut production because of a huge fall in demand.

Retailer Marks & Spencer is to hold its first one-day sale in four years in a bid to revive its pre-Christmas trading.

Belgium-based brewer InBev closes its $52bn takeover of the US's Anheuser-Busch to create the world's largest brewer.

Reuters - U.S. stocks extended losses on Wednesday, sending the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) down more than 2 percent, as the prospect for a U.S. auto industry rescue turned bleak and financial shares tumbled on concerns about the deepening economic downturn.

Reuters - U.S. securities regulators on Wednesday delayed action on adopting stricter rules to rein in the credit rating agencies until December 3.

Reuters - General Motors dismissed a surprise overture for its cash-strapped German unit on Wednesday as calls mounted for European governments to come to the aid of automakers hit by the global financial crisis.

Consumer prices fell in October by 1 percent, the largest drop in the history of the survey, raising the specter of deflation.

The warehouse club operator said that its third-quarter profit rose 24 percent, helped by shoppers hunting for bargains, and it raised it?s full-year outlook.

Peru hitches its wagon to China's economic motor

Reuters - Stocks extended losses on Wednesday as financial shares tumbled and uncertainty surrounding the prospects for a rescue of the U.S. auto industry fueled concerns about the deepening economic slump.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday ruled out an acquisition of Yahoo Inc but said his company was very interested in resuming talks on a Web search partnership.

Reuters - Activist hedge fund manager William Ackman on Wednesday urged Target Corp to form a real estate investment trust that owns the land under its stores and spin off a 20 percent stake of that company into an initial public offering.

Reuters - The shares of big U.S. homebuilders and real estate companies alike slumped on Wednesday as housing starts fell to a record low and concerns spread the commercial real estate market is going the way of residential.

Reuters - Retail stores may be much less crowded this holiday season, as one research firm sees foot traffic sliding a record 9.9 percent as shoppers suffer from the weak economy and low consumer confidence.

Consumer prices fell in October by 1 percent, the largest drop in the history of the survey, raising the specter of deflation.

A federal jury convicted Alberto W. Vilar of all 12 counts in his securities fraud trial on Wednesday.

Two years after his stint at the helm of the central bank ended in scandal, Antonio Fazio goes on trial in Milan, accused of rigging markets to keep Italian banks in Italian hands.

US politicians are looking for a compromise plan to aid the country's crisis-ridden car industry.

The Italian government agrees to sell the bankrupt airline Alitalia to a business consortium, paving the way for a relaunch.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Wednesday as financial shares tumbled and uncertainty over a possible rescue for the auto industry fueled concerns about the deepening economic slump.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer ruled out an acquisition of Yahoo Inc on Wednesday but said his company was interested in resuming talks on a Web search partnership.

Reuters - Hedge fund manager William Ackman unveiled on Wednesday his latest plan to boost Target Corp's stock price by forming a trust that owns the land under its discount stores, and then spinning off 20 percent of that trust in an initial public offering.

AFP - Automakers worldwide warned of more perils from the global economic meltdown as the latest US data on Wednesday added to growing fears of huge job losses and a long, painful recession ahead.

Reuters - Best Buy Co shares fell more than 11 percent to a new year low on Wednesday, a day after Standard & Poor's cut its debt rating on the electronics retailer to the lowest investment grade.

Shares on Wall Street closed at their lowest levels in five years as hope dimmed in Washington for an emergency bailout of the auto industry.

After two days of testimony, the chief executives of G.M., Ford and Chrysler were unable to convince lawmakers to aid their industry by tapping the $700 billion financial rescue program.

It is the latest of several magazine publishers to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing a paper version rises.

Reuters - Stocks plunged to their lowest in five-and-a-half years on Wednesday as investors girded for a lengthy economic downturn and automotive executives predicted a far-reaching calamity without a government lifeline.

Reuters - Class A shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) fell more than 12 percent on Wednesday to below $84,000, a 3-year low.

AP - With Black Friday just around the corner, two new forecasts Wednesday pointed toward a tough holiday season for retailers and offered evidence that consumers simply may not be in a spending mood.

Shares on Wall Street closed at their lowest levels in five years as hope dimmed in Washington for an emergency bailout of the auto industry.

Tiny Summit Entertainment finds itself sitting atop one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of recent years.

It is the latest of several magazine publishers to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing a paper version rises.

?60 Minutes? on CBS has been the most-watched program in the nation the last two weeks ? including the full episode on Sunday devoted to Steve Kroft?s interview with Barack and Michelle Obama.

Steven A. Ballmer?s stance may force Yahoo?s next chief executive to find another way to revive the company?s profit.

Despite the worldwide downturn, the ties between small businesses in China and Southern California should continue to grow.

A new digital library, called Europeana, intends to showcase Europe?s history, literature, arts and science.

Pure Digital has added high defintion to its Flip Mino, which is already called the least-expensive, smallest and fastest camcorder on the market.

Wall Street plunges more than 5% on Wednesday to its lowest level in over five years on rising economic worries.

The International Monetary Fund approves a $2.1bn (£1.4bn) loan for Iceland, after its banking system collapsed in October.

Some carmakers struggle while others grow

Shareholders of the Royal Bank of Scotland will vote later on Thursday on whether to accept a £20bn government bail-out.

Reuters - Limited Brands , the retailer whose main chains are Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works, posted lower net profit on Wednesday and trimmed its full-year earnings outlook.

The Dow fell below 8,000 as concern spread that the economy might be facing a chronic and debilitating decline in prices.

Some of the nation?s biggest companies are pushing Congress to roll back rules requiring them to put more money into their pension funds.

As the stock market tumbled to its lowest level in nearly six years, Wall Street traders and many ordinary Americans were asking the same question: Where, oh where is the bottom?

Asian stock markets opened sharply lower on Thursday, reflecting an equally strong sell-off on Wall Street and in Europe overnight.

As deserted malls and department stores struggle to court cash-short consumers with steep discounts, an even more ferocious price war is being waged online.

As Walgreens formally opens at 1 Times Square on Thursday, executives are describing plans for the giant signs that will festoon the building on three sides.

A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted Alberto W. Vilar on 12 counts of fraud.

Two government programs intended to help hundreds of thousands of borrowers avoid foreclosure are having negligible effects, a top Bush administration official said.

The bond insurer said that it had reached an agreement with counterparties to terminate $3.5 billion of its exposures to risky mortgage-backed debt, which would improve its capital position.

Two years after his stint at the helm of the central bank ended in scandal, Antonio Fazio goes on trial in Milan, accused of rigging markets to keep Italian banks in Italian hands.

Steven A. Ballmer?s stance may force Yahoo?s next chief executive to find another way to revive the company?s profit.

A new digital library, called Europeana, intends to showcase Europe?s history, literature, arts and science.

Commercial Loans.

Two longtime Republican lawmakers were named to the new five-member review panel set up to monitor the Bush administration?s $700 billion financial rescue plan.

Pure Digital has added high definition to its Flip Mino, which is already called the least-expensive, smallest and fastest camcorder on the market.

The International Monetary Fund approves a $2.1bn (£1.4bn) loan for Iceland, after its banking system collapsed in October.

It will take the efforts of China and other emerging nations to lead the global economy out of what is likely to be a long and painful recession, according to a gathering of economic experts.

The chief executives of Detroit?s Big Three automakers departed Washington empty-handed after two days of pleading for a financial lifeline on Capitol Hill.

The health insurance industry said it would support a plan requiring insurers to accept all customers, but asked that Congress require all Americans to have coverage in return.

Some American officials are on edge following French President Nicolas Sarkozy?s aggressive statements about American capitalism, and his decision to hold his own financial summit meeting.

The U.S. opened a branch of the Food and Drug Administration in the Chinese capital, the first of several overseas offices aimed at regulating the safety of imported food and medicine.