A Glencore-Xstrata merger would create a true rival to global mining heavyweights like Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, as well as put pressure on midsize players to either team up or grow through acquisitions.

The auto maker is expected to report 2011 net income of more than $8 billion and has set its sights on a once-unthinkable goal: make more than $10 billion a year.

New York Fashion Week, which begins Thursday, is looking like one of the busiest and most upbeat the city has seen in recent years.

Federal and state officials aim to wrap up this week a multibillion-dollar agreement with five major banks to settle probes of alleged foreclosure abuses.

Bumi investors sought the removal of Co-Chairman Nat Rothschild, with an eye toward reducing debt and expanding Indonesian coal-mining operations.

Private-equity firm TPG said it has secured about 4 billion yuan (US$634 million) so far as it continues to raise capital for China investments.

The French government and two state-controlled entities are in the home stretch to create a new municipal lender from the remains of Franco-Belgian bank Dexia.

Japan Tobacco, the world's third-largest tobacco company by sales, raised its full-year net profit outlook due a steady recovery of its domestic business.

Farmers and analysts are expressing fresh skepticism about Agriculture Department data on the corn market in the wake of the latest figures, which stunned traders and sent prices on another wild ride.

Mitsubishi Motors said it will end vehicle output in the Netherlands, making it the first Japanese auto maker to pull out of production in Western Europe since the outbreak of the financial crisis.

China has banned airlines from participating in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, the latest move in a series of protests by Chinese officials in recent weeks over the controversial European policy.

NTT, Japan's biggest telecommunications service company, said its net profit for the fiscal third quarter fell 56% due to a write-down in tax assets.

State-run entities that expanded over the past decade to provide affordable homeowners insurance in hurricane-threatened Florida are in danger of becoming so big they threaten to wreak havoc on the local economy.

A financial turnaround at Las Vegas Sands Corp. is beginning to pay off for chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, who during the financial crisis put $1 billion of his own money into the struggling casino operator.

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola likely will show solid profit growth when they share their 2011 results this week, but this year could be tougher.

Qantas Airways said that it risks losing its coveted investment-grade credit rating if it has to continue relying on borrowings to fund its fleet renewal program.

A deal with a German meteorology institute to sponsor a weather system backfired on BMW's Mini brand, after the "Cooper" cold front brought arctic temperatures, icy winds and dozens of deaths to much of Europe.

Law firms are finding they increasingly are landing on the wrong end of lawsuits, getting sued by clients or facing claims of employment discrimination and firm mismanagement.

Action film "Chronicle," about three teenagers who gain superpowers, grossed $22 million at the weekend box office, putting it in the top position.

Disney and John Lasseter hope to boost the U.S. box-office punch of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese company behind 'Spirited Away' and other award-winning movies, with "The Secret World of Arrietty," based on "The Borrowers."