Business - Page 18

Reuters - Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (VIAb.N) sued Google Inc. and its Internet video-sharing site YouTube for more than $1 billion on Tuesday in the biggest challenge yet to the Web search leader's strategy to dominate the online video market.

FT.com - Stocks fell sharply and goverment bonds rallied on Tuesday as further bad news from the beleaguered US mortgage sector fuelled concerns over growth prospects for the broader economy. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Monday that foreclosures rose to a five-year high and turmoil in the subprime market may hurt earnings, and its shares fell.

Reuters - New Century Financial Corp. , the largest independent U.S. subprime mortgage lender, said on Monday its lenders plan to halt financing, pushing the company closer to bankruptcy amid dwindling cash and $8.4 billion in obligations that could come due immediately.

Reuters - Texas Instruments Inc. kept the midpoints of its quarterly profit and revenue forecast unchanged on Monday, disappointing investors who had hoped for an improvement in the chipmaker's outlook.

Investor's Business Daily - The monthly federal deficit hit $120 bil in Feb., but was down 26% for the first 5 months of fiscal 2007, the Treasury Dept. said. Receipts totaled $120.3 bil in Feb., while spending was $240.3 bil. More Info...  

Investor's Business Daily - African-American and Latino borrowers are paying more than whites for home loans in six areas of the country, a report released at a Federal Reserve community advisory meeting suggested. In Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Charlotte N.C., and Rochester, N.Y., African-American and Latino borrowers were almost four times more likely to get a higher-cost home loan. The report focuses on both prime and subprime lending by major financial services. Banks should eliminate discriminatory lending, the report said. More Info...  

Reuters - A New Jersey jury on Monday ordered Merck & Co. to pay $47.5 million in damages after finding that the drugmaker's withdrawn arthritis drug, Vioxx, was responsible for a plaintiff's heart attack and that the company was reckless in promoting the drug.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the world's largest retailer, is moving its top lobbyist in Washington to its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he will become vice president of corporate affairs.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co. is selling British luxury car maker Aston Martin to a group fronted by former Benetton and BAR motor racing boss David Richards in a deal worth 479 million pounds ($925 million).

AFP - European stock markets rose on Monday, lit up by merger and acquisition news after a bright performance in Tokyo and Hong Kong, dealers said.

Reuters - KDDI Corp. (9433.T), Japan's second-biggest phone company, said on Monday it plans to offer fibre-optic broadband services via cables owned by East Japan Railway Co. (9020.T) to challenge dominant operator Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (9432.T). More Info...  

AP - Wall Street appears to have regained some stability after its nosedive two weeks ago, but investors aren't ruling out more turbulence if upcoming data shows consumers are spending less in the face of rising costs.

Reuters - Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell wants to take newspaper publisher and broadcaster Tribune Co. private in a transaction valued at about $13 billion, according to financial newspaper Barron's. More Info...  

Reuters - Orbis Investment Management Ltd. said that Citigroup's $10.8 billion bid for Nikko Cordial Corp. (8603.T) is too low, joining a chorus of shareholders that separately control about 25 percent of the troubled Japanese brokerage's shares.

Business

Reuters - Halliburton Co., the U.S. oilfield service giant, said on Sunday its chief executive plans to open a corporate headquarters in the United Arab Emirates in an effort to expand business in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Reuters - Troubles in the subprime mortgage sector could put Wall Street on edge this week just as investors look for key economic data, including the Consumer Price Index, to shore up the market's nascent recovery after its recent plunge. More Info...  

Reuters - European Union consumer chief Meglena Kuneva has hit out at Apple Inc.'s bundling of its popular iPod music players and its iTunes online music store, according to German weekly magazine Focus.

AFP - If there is an overall theme for this year's gathering of 3,000 lawmakers in the heart of Beijing it must be the challenge of making the economy work to the benefit of all 1.3 billion Chinese.

AFP - The head of Samsung Group linked his company to the South Korean economy and warned Saturday that a wake-up call was needed for both to avoid serious problems within four to six years.