U.S. stocks bolstered by manufacturing, mergers
Last Update: 3/1/2010 10:58:00 AM
The U.S. stock market trades higher on its first trading session of March, buoyed by a weekend crop of mergers and acquisitions, plus strength in manufacturing data and improvements in consumer spending.
$INDU, �CAT, �TRV, �PUK, �AIG, �PRU, �COMP, �$SPX, �$DXY, �SNDK, �MIL, �RISK

Chilean stocks fall in earthquake's aftermath
Last Update: 3/1/2010 9:17:00 AM
Chilean stocks drop following a deadly earthquake. The country's currency, however, is higher as prices for copper climb.
LFL, �SQM, �BCH, �16899W19, �ECH

Britain's Prudential to buy AIA for $35.5 billion
Last Update: 3/1/2010 10:14:00 AM
Britain’s Prudential is buying American International Group’s Asia operations for $35.5 billion in cash and shares in a deal that will make it the leading insurer in Southeast Asia and let the U.S. insurer pay back a sizeable chunk of government assistance.
AIG, �UK:PRU, �PUK, �UK:RSL

Facing a tighter budget, the Air Force gets choosy
Last Update: 3/1/2010 9:54:00 AM
Deep within the proposed U.S. defense budget a war is raging: Boeing's tangling with Lockheed Martin over a limited pot of Pentagon money designated for the Air Force's heavy airlift fleet.
LMT, �BA, �GE

ISM index shows softer expansion in factory sector
Last Update: 3/1/2010 5:44:00 AM
The expansion at U.S. manufacturing firms softened in February but remained very broad based, according to the Institute of Supply Management's survey.