(Reuters) – U.S. rice futures rose to a fresh all-time high on Wednesday on worries about supply shortages which have triggered political unrest and export restrictions designed to protect dwindling domestic stocks. Chicago Board of Trade July rough rice futures hit a record high of $24.745 per hundredweight and stood 1.5% or 36 cents higher

(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point at a policy meeting next week but may then be ready to take a break, the Wall Street Journal's online edition reported on Thursday. The Fed is likely to lower the federal funds rate from the current 2.25% at

(Reuters) – Google Inc said on Wednesday it has introduced brand-image ads for mobile phones, in a bid to extend beyond the computer-based Web market into the emerging market for advertising on phones. In a statement on the Silicon Valley company's Web site, the company said it had designed mobile images to look like standard

JPMorgan Chase & Co is to sell $6 billion in non-cumulative perpetual preferred shares, according to a report in International Financing Review, a Thomson publication. Pricing has not yet been decided however, the shares are expected to pay a fixed 7.9% dividend for 10 years and a floating rate after the pricing decision date. Several

Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee was indicted on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust, but was cleared of a more serious bribery charge after a probe into South Korea's biggest business group. Investors, relieved the four-month investigation had ended, said it may help bring transparency to the murky management structure at Samsung, bringing

A handful of the world's top hedge fund managers took home 10-figure paychecks last year that set records for the highest-ever payouts on Wall Street. John Paulson, who ran a medium-sized hedge fund until last year, ranks as the loosely regulated hedge fund industry's highest-paid manager, earning an estimated $3.7 bln, data from Institutional Investor's Alpha

The pace of Chinese growth eased only modestly in the first quarter to 10.6 percent, showing the resilience of the world's fourth-largest economy despite fierce winter weather and a global credit crunch.  Annual gross domestic product growth dropped from 11.2 percent in the final quarter of 2007 but easily beat market expectations of 10 percent.