Industries

Google China Pullout Would Be Permanent, `Burn Bridges,' Ex-Executive Says Google Inc. would probably be unable to return to China should it withdraw from the market instead of abiding by the country’s censorship laws, a former executive at the company said.

Icahn Offers to Buy All Lions Gate Shares After Movie Studio Rejected Bid Carl Icahn began a $574 million hostile offer to buy Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. after the film studio rejected his efforts to increase his stake to as much as 30 percent.

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Crude Oil Has Biggest Drop in Six Weeks as Dollar Strengthens Versus Euro Crude oil fell the most in six weeks as the dollar strengthened against the euro, curbing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.

Gasoil Backwardation Extended by European Oil-Refining Slowdown, Exports European gasoil prices are trading in backwardation, whereby prompt prices are higher than the next delivery month, for the longest stretch in 16 months, as exports from Europe and falling refinery output reduce supply.

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Citigroup Reverses Plan to Exit Mortgage Business, Will Boost Purchases Citigroup Inc., the bank 27 percent owned by the U.S. government, will ramp up purchases of mortgages underwritten by other firms and keep more loans on its balance sheet after reversing a plan to scale back home lending.

Lloyds Banking Group Expects to Make a Profit in 2010 on `Strong' Trading Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender, said it expects to return to profit this year because of lower bad loans than forecast. The shares soared.

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Democrats Are 6 Votes Short as They Move Toward Showdown Over Health Care U.S. House Democrats, who cleared a big hurdle in their effort to overhaul the health-care system by producing compromise legislation, are picking up fresh support for a showdown vote this weekend.

Obama Attacks Insurers, Lobbies for Support as House Moves to Health Vote President Barack Obama appealed for last-minute support as he and House leaders lobbied for about a half-dozen more votes to push a $940 billion overhaul of the U.S. health-care system through to passage.

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Bernanke Asked by Congress About Friedman's Goldman Sachs Stock Purchase A House committee requested that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke turn over documents related to Stephen Friedman’s purchase of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares while he was on the boards of both the Wall Street firm and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Chubb CEO Finnegan Says `Troubling' Bailouts Punish Best-Managed Companies Chubb Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Finnegan, who shunned investments in subprime loans, said government bailouts punish the best-run companies and impede the functioning of markets.

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California `Full Speed Ahead' on Build America Sales After Florida Delay California, the largest U.S. issuer of municipal debt, is pursuing its next sale of Build America Bonds, even as Florida suspended its offerings on concern that the Internal Revenue Service may block interest-cost subsidies.

Yale Cuts Hedge Funds to Invest More in Real Estate Assets, Private Equity Yale University, whose endowment is the top performer in the U.S., is cutting its target allocations in hedge funds to allow for bigger stakes in private equity and real estate, the asset classes that hurt the fund last year.

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Google China Pullout Would Be Permanent, `Burn Bridges,' Ex-Executive Says Google Inc. would probably be unable to return to China should it withdraw from the market instead of abiding by the country’s censorship laws, a former executive at the company said.

Palm Slumps as Much as 28% as Sales Forecast Trails Analysts' Estimates Palm Inc., creator of the Pre smartphone, fell the most in more than 15 months in Nasdaq trading after forecasting sales this quarter that were less than half of analysts’ estimates.

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British Airways Strike to Go Ahead March 20 as Talks Collapse, Union Says British Airways Plc’s 12,000 cabin crew will strike from midnight after last-ditch talks aimed at resolving a dispute over pay and staffing levels collapsed.

`Disingenuous' UPS Seeks to Change Strike-Limit Law It Backed, FedEx Says FedEx Corp. chief Fred Smith said United Parcel Service Inc. is being “disingenuous” in trying to remove FedEx workers from a strike-limiting labor law that the companies considered backing jointly almost a decade ago.

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