Samsung reveals new flagship Galaxy smartphone

Pepsi brings back Michael Jackson in promotion

Target phasing out Amazon's Kindle

Visa profit rises 30 percent as card use rises

Private survey shows hiring slowed last month with just 119,000 positions added

'The Scream' fetches record $119.9 million

Ex-AOL exec calls Facebook new 'walled garden'

BlackBerry-maker RIM unveils prototype

Factory growth shows economy more resilient

B&N, Microsoft team up on Nook, college businesses

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Consumer spending slowed in March, income increased

Prison time for making, selling counterfeit music

FRESNO - Victor Puga Quiroz, 28, of Modesto, and Martin Munoz Peralta, 40, of San Jose, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement and traffic in counterfeit labels, illicit labels and counterfeit documentation and packaging. According to court documents, between January 2010 ...

Coca-Cola denies Monster drink acquisition rumors

NEW YORK (AP) - Monster Beverage Corp.'s shares soared on Monday following a report that Coca-Cola Co. was considering buying the energy drink maker, but the world's biggest soft drink maker later denied the discussions are under way.

E! Entertainment network plans refurbishing

Census: Homeownership hit 15-year low

WASHINGTON (AP) - The American dream of homeownership is at its lowest point in 15 years, the latest evidence of a housing market still far from recovering five years after the housing crash. New figures released Monday by the Census Bureau show the rate of U.S. homeownership fell in the first three months of this year to 65.4 percent. That's down from ...

A Social Security lesson for teachers

Wal-Mart starts holiday shopping season online

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is upping the ante on holiday shopping.

FDA approves Gazyva leukemia drug from Roche

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new drug from Roche to help treat patients with a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The agency cleared Gazyva to fight chronic lymphocytic leukemia in combination with chemotherapy in patients who haven't previously been treated for the disease. Gazyva works by killing cancer cells and encouraging the immune system to fight against them. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia develops slowly over ...

Compact crossover SUV sales booming

Google’s new Android smartphone operating system is the cat’s meow

3 bikini baristas arrested at Wash. coffee stand

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - Police say the service at a bikini espresso stand in Washington state was too hot. Officers arrested three baristas Wednesday at the Hillbilly Hotties coffee stand in Everett. Spokesman Aaron Snell tells KOMO that police received complaints the women were exposing body parts and behaving inappropriately. A 20-year-old and 21-year-old are facing charges of violating the city's adult cabaret law. A 33-year-old was arrested for investigation of lewd conduct. <p class="MsoNormal" ...

Buyers raising a stink

Hallmark’s ugly sweater ornament stirring backlash from customers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Greeting card giant Hallmark said Thursday that it shouldn't have changed the lyrics to "Deck the Halls" on a new holiday ornament that stirred a backlash from customers online. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company has been defending itself after it began selling a miniaturized version of a tacky holiday sweater that changes the lyrics to the holiday carol. The ornament removes the word "gay" and emblazons the sweater with the ...

Bay Area techs helping fix Obamacare website ills

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Obama administration has recruited engineers from several prominent technology companies to help fix the problems preventing people from signing up for government-mandated health insurance. Oracle and Red Hat are pitching in as well as Michael Dickerson, an engineer on leave from Google, according to a blog post Thursday by Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison told shareholders at the ...

Convicted mobster hoping for a hit with eatery

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. (AP) - When he was on trial for racketeering, Angelo Lutz denied the mob's existence, but now he's using his past in organized crime to promote his new restaurant, the Kitchen Consigliere.

Business Briefs

iPads face tough holiday season sales

Facebook 3Q results fly past Street’s expectations

Twitter accused of ruse to pump up price

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Two financial firms sued Twitter on Wednesday, saying it supported their own world tour to sell its shares last year, only to disallow the sales in a ruse aimed at boosting the company's valuation above $10 billion for an initial public offering.

Sears considering spinning off Lands' End

NEW YORK (AP) - It's like watching an old friend slowly fall apart.