AFP - The US Securities and Exchange Commission rolled out a series of proposals Wednesday aimed at overhauling the credit rating industry which has been criticized for worsening the global credit crunch.

Reuters - UBS has wrapped up a 16 billion franc ($15.4 billion) rights issue, the Swiss bank's second effort to resuscitate finances ravaged by the global markets crisis.

Reuters - Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc has had preliminary talks with Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SAB de CV about a possible tie-up that could thwart an unsolicited takeover bid by InBev NV , the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Reuters - Pfizer may bid for Ranbaxy Laboratories , countering a $4.6 billion (2.4 billion pound) offer by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T) for the Indian generic drug maker, the Business Standard newspaper said.

Reuters - Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday it is getting out of the retail gas business in the United States as sky-high crude oil prices squeeze margins.

Reuters - Microsoft's plan to establish a strong footing in online advertising suffered a big blow on Thursday as merger talks with Yahoo finally, formally failed and Yahoo said it would let Google sell search ads on its site.

Reuters - Thornburg Mortgage Inc , a specialist in jumbo home loans that nearly went bankrupt in March, posted a $3.31 billion first-quarter loss on Thursday as the value of mortgages and other securities it owns plummeted.

Reuters - InBev began courting Anheuser-Busch owners and staff on Thursday and its stock rose strongly after it made a $46.3 billion bid to add Budweiser to its own Stella Artois and Beck's beers and create the world's largest brewer.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc and Google Inc will make a joint announcement on Thursday afternoon, the technology blog TechCrunch reported, citing an unidentified source close to one of the companies.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Thursday after government data showed a sharp increase in retail sales last month, calming worries about the profit outlook, while news of a $46 billion takeover bid for brewer Anheuser-Busch boosted optimism about share valuations.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said on Thursday it demoted its chief financial officer and chief operating officer, days after the investment bank said it expected to post a $2.8 billion quarterly loss.

Reuters - Cash from government stimulus checks helped push U.S. retail sales up at twice the rate expected in May but the strength could be fleeting as households contend with soaring prices and the worst housing slump in decades.