Business - Page 9

Reuters - Electronic Arts Inc. has reached an agreement with The9 Ltd. to buy a 19 percent stake in the Chinese online game operator for about $200 million, a local newspaper said on Saturday.

Reuters - The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. union federation, is targeting Verizon Communications Inc. in a campaign against high executive pay, and will vote against the company's compensation committee at the company's May 3 annual meeting.

Reuters - Vonage won a temporary reprieve from an appeals court on Friday, hours after a lower court barred it from adding new customers while it appeals a finding it infringed Verizon Communications Inc. patents for making phone calls over the Internet. More Info...  

Reuters - Time Warner Inc.'s AOL division will introduce a paid search service on Monday backed by Google Inc.'s technology to help advertisers better target AOL users.

AP - If you were looking for a job as a teacher last month, you were in luck. Same goes for health workers, retail clerks and building contractors. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - U.S. employers added a stronger-than-expected 180,000 new jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to a five-month low, implying the economy remains durable despite a slowdown in housing.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee said on Friday it will hold a hearing in mid-April on ways to curb the rise in home mortgage foreclosures.

Reuters - Real estate mogul Sam Zell will control a minority of Tribune Co.'s board if shareholders approve his bid for the company, but would have the power to veto major transactions, according to a regulatory filing.

AP - Consumers increased their borrowing in February at the slowest pace in four months. More Info...  

AP - Ralph Devoe's hunt for a new computer monitor didn't include a stop at Circuit City, even though one of its stores was only a few doors down from the Best Buy where he went shopping this week. More Info...  

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , which has been trying to rekindle growth in its U.S. operations, on Friday said it created two new positions within its Wal-Mart Stores U.S. segment. More Info...  

Reuters - Halliburton Co. , the No. 2 U.S. oilfield services company, has split off KBR Inc. , an engineering and construction company that had been a unit for 44 years, the companies said on Thursday. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, almost 10 years after his failed first attempt to buy Chrysler, reentered the fray on Thursday and offered to pay $4.5 billion to buy the struggling automaker from DaimlerChrysler, which paid almost $40 billion for it in 1998.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it awarded new Chief Executive Alan Mulally compensation of $39.1 million for four months of work in 2006, a year when the second-largest U.S. automaker posted a $12.7 billion loss.

AP - Total money market mutual fund assets rose by $18.24 billion to $2.451 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday. More Info...  

Reuters - WCI Communities Inc. said on Thursday its board determined a $22-per-share buyout offer from billionaire Carl Icahn is not best for the company or its shareholders and recommended stockholders not tender shares. More Info...  

Reuters - Some of the payments at the center of Conrad Black's criminal fraud trial were reported to U.S. government regulators in a timely fashion and not hidden as prosecutors have suggested, jurors were told on Thursday.

AFP - The United States will overcome a housing slowdown and avert recession, while the rest of the global economy is in sound health, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks ended higher in light trading on Thursday, as a decline in oil prices and a proposed takeover of automaker Chrysler overcame caution before jobs data that held back share prices earlier.

Reuters - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has dropped out of the group bidding for J. Sainsbury , it confirmed on Thursday, as the British retailer declined to comment on reports it had received a buyout offer. More Info...