Yahoo Inc is unlikely to get into a bidding war over AOL with Microsoft Corp because if Microsoft gets in the way, Yahoo could instead renew talks over News Corp's Web properties, a person with knowledge of the plans said on Thursday. Yahoo, seeking to shape an independent growth strategy after rebuffing Microsoft's bid to

U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 53% in June from a year ago, with Konami Corp's "Metal Gear Solid 4" helping to fuel a dramatic increase in the number of Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 units sold, market researcher NPD reported on Thursday. "Metal Gear Solid 4" claimed the top slot as June's

It turns out everyone just wants to be a rock star. Music genre games "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" are bona-fide smash hits, entering the rarefied air once reserved for only the elite first-person shooters, "Mario" games or sports titles. And success breeds imitation. Music games seemed to be everywhere at this week's E3 video

A spacecraft sent on a mission to inspect comets has filmed the Earth and its moon from 31 mln miles away, making an alien's-eye view of our world. The two brief sequences show the Moon passing in front of the Earth as it orbits. "Making a video of Earth from so far away helps the

By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – The rollercoaster that is world stock markets hit the dips again on Friday, falling on bank worries after Merrill Lynch posted a $4.9 billion loss, while the dollar gained and oil reversed a steep three-day slide. Markets were also pondering a Wall Street Journal

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – European shares slipped in early trade on Friday, as banks fell after disappointing results from Merrill Lynch overnight and heavyweight oils lost ground as crude traded well off from recent highs. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell 0.7 percent to 1,137.83 points, but was on track to eke out a gain of

Euro turn sends mixed signals The 100 basis point recovery of the euro against the dollar from the Thursday NY low of 1.5783 to 1.5888 on Friday morning has distorted the short term charts, sending mixed signals for traders looking for direction. On the one hand, the low of 1.5783 has satisfied our main weekly

The dollar surged against the yen on Thursday and erased earlier losses versus the euro as oil prices plunged and investors worried that high energy costs and financial market turmoil were slowing global growth. U.S. stocks also rallied as oil fell for a third straight day. That helped the dollar post its biggest daily gain

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it had raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on Russian Foreign Economic Industrial Bank (Vneshprombank) to 'B-' from 'CCC', and affirmed the 'C' short-term rating. The outlook is stable. At the same time, the Russia national scale rating was raised to 'ruBBB-' from 'ruB+'. "The upgrade reflects improvements

Asian stocks fell on Friday, hurt by resource-related shares stung by oil's 10 percent decline this week and by weaker-than-expected results from Merrill Lynch, which deflated hopes for a recovery in the financial sector. European stock markets were predicted to open mixed, according to financial bookmakers, with Britain's FTSE 100 seen down as much as