By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a third day on Friday, putting indexes on track for their first negative week since mid-April, on lingering concern the U.S. central bank may scale back its support to the economy. Trading has been choppy in the second half of the week as market participants assess …

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 Poornima Gupta and Padraic Halpin SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism …

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he directed Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a review of Department of Justice guidelines for investigations that involve journalists and report back by early July. Obama has come under criticism for his administration's pursuit of journalists …

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 Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Thursday but finished sharply off their session lows as a rally in Hewlett-Packard's shares offset worries about weak Chinese manufacturing data and the prospects of the Federal Reserve reducing its monetary stimulus. Trading was choppy as many traders were adjusting …

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 …

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 Michelle Sierra NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc have initiated talks with banks and asset managers to line up commitments for as much as $7 billion in bridge loans to back their leveraged recapitalization proposal for Dell Inc, banking sources told Thomson Reuters …

By Siddharth Cavale (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Sears Holdings cast bigger doubts on the progress of its turnaround after reporting a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by cooler spring weather. Shares of the company, which also said it was considering selling its service contracts business, fell 12 percent to $51.41 …

By Noel Randewich (Reuters) - Salesforce.com Inc's quarterly earnings and outlook disappointed investors as costs rise following a spree of acquisitions, sending its shares lower. Under Marc Benioff, Salesforce's CEO and founder, the company's fast revenue growth has made it a favorite with investors eager to own part of …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are in the early stages of an antitrust probe into whether Google Inc, the top player in web display advertising, breaks antitrust law in how it handles some ad sales, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The source said that it was unlikely that the Federal Trade Commission had sent …

(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 …