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• Sony's Stock Surges on Report Board May Discuss Spinoff
  Shares of Sony Corp. rose 9.3 percent Tuesday in the U.S after Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported the company's board may discuss spinning off its entertainment division.
• Cigarette Makers Boost Discounts as Smokers Turn Away
  Cigarette companies are boosting the money they spend on giveaways and similar promotions in the United States as they attempt to pitch to a declining pool of cigarette smokers.
• Shares of High-end Retailer Saks Soar on Buyout Talk
  Shares of Saks Inc. surged Tuesday as the luxury retail chain reported strong results for the latest quarter and later on a report that the luxury retail chain hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to help it explore alternatives including a possible sale. The shares climbed 11...
• Microsoft Unveils New Xbox One Game Console
  Microsoft thinks it has the one.T he company revealed the Xbox One, its next-generation entertainment console, during a presentation Tuesday at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
• ESPN Cutting Workforce, 'Smartly Managing Costs'
  ESPN says that it is cutting its workforce.
• Philip Morris to Pay $700 Million to Buy Out Carlos Slim in Mexico
  Tobacco company Philip Morris International Inc. said it would buy out its Mexican joint venture partner controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, for about $700 million.
• Regeneron, Sanofi Asthma Drug Seen as Potential Game Changer
  A new type of asthma drug meant to attack the underlying causes of the respiratory disease slashed episodes by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial, making it a potential game changer for patients with moderate to severe disease, researchers said.
• Embraer Books 'Milestone' SkyWest Deal for 40 E-Jets
  SkyWest Inc., the world's largest regional airline group, agreed to buy at least 40 new jets from Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA, in a deal that could climb to 200 aircraft and a total price tag of more than $8 billion.
• Sprint Raises Buyout Offer for Clearwire by 14% to $3.40 a Share
  Sprint Nextel said it raised its buyout offer for wireless service provider Clearwire by 14 percent to $3.40 per share, just hours before shareholders were set to vote on the company's original offer.
• AutoZone Profit Rises but Misses Street's View
  AutoZone's third-quarter net income rose 7 percent, as acquisition costs fell and sales improved.
• Best Buy Reports Loss on Restructuring Costs
  Best Buy Co. is reporting a loss in its fiscal first quarter as it sold its stake in Best Buy Europe and works on a turnaround plan that includes cutting costs and closing some stores. The electronics retailer says net loss for the three months ended May 4 after paying...
• Vodafone Keeps Verizon Payout to Make Up for European Slump
  Vodafone will reinvest a $3.2 billion dividend from its healthy U.S. arm to counter weakness in southern Europe that contributed to the largest ever quarterly fall in the group's main revenue measure.
• Sprint Receives SoftBank Waiver to Consider Dish Offer
  Sprint Nextel said its Japanese suitor SoftBank granted it a waiver allowing it to consider a $25.5 billion rival bid by Dish Network, as pressure mounts on SoftBank to sweeten its offer for the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier.
• Home Depot Profit Rises 18% Thanks to Housing Recovery
  Even though the weather was poor, Home Depot posted an 18 percent increase in its net income for the first quarter thanks to the ongoing housing recovery.
• Carnival Slashes Profit Forecast on Impact of Lower Fares
  Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, lowered its profit forecast for the second half of 2013, saying price cuts undertaken after a series of mishaps will hurt margins.
• Louis Vuitton Loses Ground as World's Most Valuable Luxury Brand
  Louis Vuitton is losing ground as the world's most valuable luxury brand as competitors including Gucci and Prada gain, a new research report shows.
• Bloomberg: Dish Offers $2 Billion for LightSquared's Spectrum
  U.S. satellite company Dish Network Corp. has offered to buy bankrupt broadband company LightSquared Inc.'s radio frequencies for $2 billion, Bloomberg said, quoting people familiar with the bid.
• Tuesday: Apple to Defend Tax Practices, Argue for Tax Reform
  Apple Inc. will argue for a comprehensive corporate tax reform that will levy a "reasonable tax" on foreign earnings and is not dependent on a company's revenue when it goes before a Senate panel on Tuesday to explain its offshore tax practices.
• Senate's McCain: Apple 'Among America’s Largest Tax Avoiders'
  Apple Inc. has created a web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes, including three foreign subsidiaries the company says have no home country for tax purposes, congressional investigators say.
• Supreme Court Rules for PPL Corp. in Overseas Tax Case
  The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for utility PPL Corp in its dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over credits the company claimed to offset overseas tax payments.
• GE Expects $6.5 Billion Dividend from Financial Unit
  General Electric Co. plans to extract $6.5 billion in dividends from its financial unit this year as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt ramps up shareholder rewards while shrinking the business.
• Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Fidelity Whistleblower Case
  In a case involving whistleblowers at Fidelity Investments, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether mutual fund employees are subject to the same whistleblower protections as workers at publicly traded companies.
• Websense Agrees to Private-Equity Buyout Worth $906 Million
  Websense Inc., a website-filtering company that is shifting into Internet security, will be acquired by private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners for about $906 million.
• Yahoo Buying Tumblr for $1.1 Billion, Vows 'Not to Screw It Up'
  Yahoo Inc. said it is acquiring blogging service Tumblr for $1.1 billion cash, a bold bet by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer to revitalize the struggling Internet pioneer by co-opting a Web property with strong visitor traffic but little revenue.
• Google's Wearable Glass Gadget: Cool or Creepy?
  Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its Glass wearable computer during last week's developer conference.

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