Reuters - Bear Stearns Cos' private-equity arm Bear Stearns Merchant Banking is expected to announce on Thursday it will spin off into an independent company with JPMorgan Chase & Co as its largest investor, the Wall Street Journal said.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc said on Wednesday that deal talks are ongoing with Microsoft Corp as the company resisted an attack by billionaire critic Carl Icahn, who called its recent actions "deceitful."

AP - Worker productivity increased at a faster pace in the first three months of this year than previously estimated, wage pressures moderated and an important measure of business activity showed the service sector skirted recession in May.

Reuters - J.M. Smucker Co will acquire Folgers, the largest U.S. coffee business, from Procter & Gamble Co for stock in a deal valued at $2.95 billion, the companies said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking to raise capital overseas and has approached at least one investor in South Korea, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - The Dow turned lower on Wednesday, on worry about the prospect of more credit losses after Moody's Investors Service said it will likely cut the credit ratings of the bond insurance arms of MBIA Inc and Ambac Financial Group .

Reuters - Yahoo Inc trumpeted a series of new advertising deals on Wednesday in a bid to alleviate shareholder pressure, even as the company continues "engaged" discussions over a deal with Microsoft Corp .

Reuters - United Airlines parent UAL Corp will slash its work force and domestic fleet, following similar cuts by rivals as the industry grapples with soaring fuel costs and a weakening economy, the company said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said on Monday it has begun selling real-time share data to the websites of Google Inc's Google Finance, cable television network CNBC and News Corp's Wall Street Journal (NWSa.N).

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has moved inflation up on his list of worries, suggesting more pointedly than ever that the time for cutting interest rates is over in view of soaring oil and commodity prices and a weakened dollar.

Reuters - Consumer spending on apparel and footwear slid during May as buyers scaled back on discretionary purchases amid a sluggish U.S. economic environment, according to a SpendingPulse report released on Wednesday.

Reuters - Novartis has bought U.S. based Protez Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to $400 million, giving it rights to an antibiotic which could be used to fight superbugs such as MRSA, the Swiss drugmaker said.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc on Tuesday set its annual shareholder meeting on for August 1 in the heart of Silicon Valley, as it braced for a showdown with billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who is mounting a proxy fight for control of Yahoo.