NEW YORK - Warren Buffett has said on Tuesday that he had offered to reinsure $800 billion of muni debt guaranteed by bond insurers, but shares in MBIA Inc and Ambac Financial Group Inc slid as investors recognized that the billionaire investor’s plan was far from a panacea.
BOSTON/SEATTLE - Yahoo Inc’s second-largegest shareholder urged Microsoft Corp to lift its $42 billion bid for the Web pioneer and warned Yahoo it has few options other than to accept, raising pressure for them to seal a deal.
SAN FRANCISCO - Applied Materials Inc’s quarterly profit topped analysts estimates, helped by good flat-panel display demand, even as revenue declined 8 percent amid a slump in semiconductor equipment manufacturing.
TORONTO - Research In Motion’s BlackBerry could lose its iconic status in the eyes of corporate and retail subscribers alike if it doesn’t manage to stem service problems such the ones that led to two major outages in less than a year, analysts say.
WASHINGTON - Six top mortgage companies on Tuesday launched a program aimed at staving off foreclosure for seriously delinquent borrowers in the hopes that new, more affordable loan terms can be worked out.
CARACAS - Venezuela softened its tone on Tuesday over a threat by President Hugo Chavez to stop oil sales to America, with crude prices coming off a spike after a top official has said a supply cut would be undesirable.
NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc has said on Tuesday it plans to provide a $3.5 billion facility to support six of the seven structured investment vehicles it took onto its balance sheet last year to shore up their debt ratings and protect creditors.
NEW YORK - The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 rose on Tuesday after Warren Buffett offered to reinsure $800 billion in municipal debt risk from the top three bond insurers, soothing worries about further fallout from the credit crisis.