The New York Times plans to reduce the number of standalone sections of the New York metropolitan editions of the newspaper, a move designed to save money by cutting labor costs. No job cuts are expected as part of the changes announced Friday, though[...]

Shares of SanDisk, in Milpitas, shot up more than 30 percent Friday following news reports that it might be acquired by Samsung Electronics in South Korea. Neither company would comment. SanDisk issued a statement saying it "periodically has conversations[...]

Oil prices are down, the dollar is up, and U.S. growth and exports have perked up a little. So is the global financial crisis winding down anytime soon? Top economists and business leaders meeting Friday at an Italian lakeside resort found plenty to discuss[...]

National Semiconductor Corp., which makes chips that regulate power and perform other functions in gadgets, reported Friday its first-quarter profit fell 7 percent from a year ago due to a higher tax rate. The company earned $79.6 million on sales of $466[...]

Honda is bringing back the defunct Insight nameplate for a hybrid-only vehicle planned for the Japanese, European and North American markets early next year, as the automaker strives to play catch-up with rival Toyota in hybrids. Toyota Motor Corp. has been[...]

The Jacksons were crowned icons at the BMI Urban Awards, but the King of Pop was absentee. Janet Jackson presented her music-making brothers _ Michael, Tito, Jackie, Marlon, Jermaine and Randy _ with the lifetime achievement BMI Icon award following a musical[...]

Representatives from Boeing Co. and the machinists union met with a federal mediator Thursday as the clock ticked on an unusual two-day contract extension after union production workers soundly rejected a contract offer and voted to strike. Members of the[...]

Biotechnology companies are often born from the groundbreaking work of seasoned scientists. In the next-generation field of synthetic biology, venture capitalists may someday line up to fund ideas that originated with a student project during a short summer[...]

Mortgage rates fall slightly for 3rd week Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a third straight week, dropping to the lowest level since mid-July. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.35 percent[...]

New vehicle prices are falling at the fastest rate ever recorded, a team of analysts said Thursday, squeezing automakers' profit margins at a time of slumping sales but setting the stage for a sales rebound once the economy improves. JPMorgan Chase & Co.[...]

SeaChange International Inc. said it expects to be profitable in the second half of its fiscal 2009 year and predicts revenue for the year will be about 10 percent above fiscal 2008 levels. SeaChange International late Thursday reported earnings of $1.5[...]

Environmentalists are challenging the Richmond City Council's decision to approve Chevron Corp.'s plans to upgrade its Bay Area oil refinery. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, three environmental groups claim the city's environmental review concealed that the[...]

Ciena Corp.'s market value crumbled by 24 percent Thursday after the telecommunications and network equipment maker forecast a lackluster finish to its fiscal year. The Linthicum, Md.-based company's shares had plunged $4.22 to $13.21 in afternoon trading.[...]

A federal judge tentatively rejected two motions on Thursday to dismiss charges against a woman in a MySpace hoax that allegedly led to a 13-year-old girl's suicide. U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said during a hearing that he intends to take more time to[...]

Comcast Corp. is appealing an FCC ruling that the company is improperly blocking customers' Web traffic, triggering a legal battle that could determine the extent of the government's authority to regulate the Internet. In a precedent-setting move, a divided[...]

Sacramento is planning for 15,000 homes north of its downtown, most of them on the site of a former railyard. The homes, condominiums and townhouses will be built in anticipation of future housing needs. Area planners project that continued high gas prices[...]

Ice in fuel lines probably caused a British Airways jet to lose power and make a jarring emergency landing in London in January, investigators said Thursday. Nineteen people suffered minor injuries when the British Airways Boeing 777 made a crash landing just[...]

Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. rose Wednesday as investors weighed reports that the embattled investment bank might find a fresh source of capital. The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's largest mass-circulation daily newspaper, reported that state-owned[...]

Nigerian villagers suing Chevron Corp. in San Francisco over a deadly military attack on demonstrators 10 years ago have won a one-month postponement of their trial because the State Department is refusing to allow most of the plaintiffs to enter the United[...]

Investors claim CVS offer undervalues Longs holdings An investment group that works with union-sponsored pension funds said it suspects that real estate assets owned by Longs Drug Stores Corp. were undervalued in CVS Caremark Corp.'s $2.9 billion offer for[...]

Drug giant Pfizer Inc. has agreed to co-develop the experimental drug Dimebon, a potential treatment for Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases, in a deal that will bring at least $225 million to a small San Francisco biomedical company. Under financial terms[...]

As Wachovia Corp. struggles under a souring portfolio of loans inherited from an Oakland company, the nation's fourth-largest bank is proving among the least willing to modify mortgages in ways that would help local borrowers hold on to their properties,[...]

TiVo Inc. said Wednesday it will launch a new high-definition digital video recorder under an extended agreement with DirecTV Group Inc., reigniting a once-cooling relationship. The new development deal extends the companies' agreement by five years to Feb.[...]

Macy's stores across the country are renovating their Tommy Hilfiger shops and expanding how much of the designer's sportswear they carry. But fans of the brand soon won't be seeing those items at other department stores. Starting next week, Tommy Hilfiger[...]

Organic personal care products are sprouting up at more mass retail outlets. Here are some examples: _ Target expanded its beauty aisles this year to include nine natural and organic product lines, including Juice Organics, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Burt's[...]