Insurance

MetLife Said to Weigh Using $8 Billion of Stock to Fund AIG Alico Buyout MetLife Inc. may use stock to pay for more than half of the planned $15 billion purchase of an American International Group Inc. life insurance unit, said three people with knowledge of the matter.

Paulson Tells Buffett U.S. to Get `Every Penny' of Bailout Back from Banks Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, responding to a question from billionaire Warren Buffett, said the U.S. government will be repaid in full for the funds it put into the country’s lenders.

Insurers Jump In as Obama Opens the Door for Annuities in Retirement Funds Insurers and mutual-fund companies are starting to sell retirement accounts with built-in annuities in response to concerns Americans will outlive their savings.

Loews CEO Tisch Says U.S. Rang Hotel `Death Knell,' Hurt AIG With Pay Curb Jim Tisch, the leader of Loews Corp., said the U.S. did a “good job of killing” the hotel business by lambasting corporate travel and hurt American International Group Inc.’s ability to return bailout funds by curbing pay.

Suncorp First-Half Profit Rises By Up To 45% on Higher Insurance Earnings Suncorp-Metway Ltd., an Australian lender and insurer, said first-half profit rose as much as 45 percent as its insurance business benefitted from more favorable weather conditions and higher investment returns.

Hartford Declines After CFO Says Economic Slump Weighs on Insurance Sales Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., the insurer that took a $3.4 billion U.S. bailout, declined 4.8 percent in New York trading after saying the economic slump is weighing on policy sales.

Lincoln National Shares Surge as Insurer Swings to Profit, Beats Estimates Lincoln National Corp., the insurer that took a $950 million U.S. bailout, rose 4.3 percent after earnings beat analysts’ estimates.

Washington Closes Down, Flights Canceled in Northeast as Snowstorm Looms Thousands of flights were canceled, schools in New York closed and the U.S. Congress suspended work as a winter storm threatened to drop as much as 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) on parts of the East Coast today.

Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Obese Teenagers More Than Diet, Study Finds Weight-loss surgery was more effective at slimming severely obese teens and improving their health than two years of diet and exercise, a study found.

Toyota Extends Recall to 437,000 Hybrids Including Prius to Repair Brakes Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 437,000 Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids globally to fix a brake software glitch, complicating efforts by the world’s biggest carmaker to ease consumer concerns about its quality.

Actress, U.N. Ambassador Jolie Heads to Haiti After $1 Million Donation Actress and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie came to Port-au-Prince today to visit victims of last month’s earthquake after announcing a $1 million donation to relief efforts.