By Ronald Grover and Greg Roumeliotis LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday. Yahoo just this week announced a $1.1 …

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 declined for a third day on Friday, with the three major stock indexes posting their first negative week since mid-April on lingering concern that the central bank may scale back its stimulus measures to support the economy. Still, the indexes closed well off their lows in …

By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, opening another front in an eight-year battle over credit card fees paid by retailers, on Friday asked a federal judge to declare that the fees do not violate antitrust law. The lawsuit seeks to give the card companies legal ammunition against some retailers …

By Nick Brown (Reuters) - A plan by American Airlines' parent to exit bankruptcy and merge with US Airways Group is coming under fire from the U.S. Department of Justice over nearly $20 million in severance pay earmarked for outgoing boss Tom Horton. In court papers filed on Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, …

By Astrid Wendlandt and Phil Wahba PARIS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most men might balk at spending $600 on a pair of Dior sneakers but for U.S. shoppers like Ephraim, an upbeat 30-year-old, such indulgences are becoming increasingly commonplace. Ephraim is the kind of man who gives luxury goods makers high hopes that the U.S. …

By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Growth Properties Inc has paired with Brookfield Office Properties Inc to bid for an expensive New York building in what could mark the No. 2 U.S. mall owner's entry into a new segment of the retail real estate market, according to two sources familiar with the deal. Bids for …

By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in April, a hopeful sign that a sharp slowdown in factory output could soon run its course. New orders for durable goods, which range from toasters to aircraft, increased 3.3 percent last month, the Commerce Department …

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department says it is taking the unusual step of releasing publicly the feedback it has received about a controversial pipeline project after an "unprecedented" response to its draft environmental report. The department said it had received more than 1.2 million comments …

By Deepa Seetharaman and Norihiko Shirouzu DETROIT/BEIJING (Reuters) - Henrik Fisker is working with an investor group to salvage Fisker Automotive, the "green" car company he co-founded nearly six years ago that is now struggling to stave off bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said this week. The discussions follow …

By Andrew Callus LONDON (Reuters) - A group of accountancy professors is backing BP's fight to cap the U.S. oil spill compensation payouts it has to fund as the cash outflow threatens to add billions of dollars to its bill for the disaster. The news comes after the payouts administrator, Patrick Juneau, predicted that over …

By Georgina Prodhan and Michael Shields VIENNA (Reuters) - Raiffeisen Bank International Chief Executive Herbert Stepic resigned on Friday in what he called an effort to spare his bank from negative publicity over personal property deals that triggered scrutiny by the lender and regulators. Stepic, 66, again denied wrongdoing …

(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co said on Friday the surprise return of A.G. Lafley as chairman and chief executive was not an indication of any bigger problems at the world's largest consumer products maker. Lafley replaces Bob McDonald, effective immediately, at P&G, which is in the midst of a major restructuring. Shares …

By Richard Hubbard LONDON (Reuters) - World share markets looked vulnerable to further falls on Friday, with better economic news from Europe doing little to encourage investors who are worried that central bank stimulus may curtailed. MSCI's world equity index , which shed 1.4 percent for its second biggest daily loss …