A lawsuit seeking class-action status for hundreds of Latin American investors claims that a London-based insurance broker falsely gave assurances about investments offered by financier R. Allen Stanford.

Cox Enterprises Inc. says it has agreed to sell more than a dozen North Carolina newspapers to a company headed by the son of late billionaire Jack Kent Cooke.

Prices for gold and other metals are rising in the wake of more upbeat earnings and news of emergency financing for troubled lender CIT Group.

The outlook is apparently brighter for a company that's one of the nation's biggest lenders to small and mid-size businesses.

The owner of a northeast Missouri trucking company and grain elevator who owes farmers millions of dollars is facing state and federal charges.

Toyota's top U.S. executive says the company will make a decision "as quickly as possible" on the fate of its California joint venture plant with General Motors.

The agency's own inspector general says the IRS does a poor job overseeing the paid tax preparers used by more than half the nation's taxpayers.

A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse that was subjected to a large immigration raid.

The U.S. dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies in European trading Monday afternoon. Gold rose.

Investors are extending a stock rally following more upbeat earnings and reports that commercial lender CIT Group reached a deal with bondholders to avoid bankruptcy.

TD Ameritrade has agreed to repurchase $456 million in auction-rate securities from investors as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general.

A private-sector forecast of U.S. economic activity rose more than expected in June, the third straight monthly increase.

More than 98% of Wyeth stockholders voted to approve the $68 billion acquisition. The deal will solidify Pfizer's position as the top-selling drug maker in the world.

Stocks are rising as investors are reassured by reports that commercial lender CIT Group has a deal with key bondholders that will help it avoid bankruptcy.

Qwest is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas to keep up with the offerings of cable companies.

The head of the Kansas National Guard will be traveling in Armenia this week to review the Guard's partnership with the eastern European nation.

JetAmerica, a fledgling discount airline that garnered attention with $9 promotional fares, has folded without ever getting off the ground.

Appalachian coal miners are boycotting Tennessee in a dispute over mountaintop mining.

Yahoo Inc. shares rose 4 percent Friday amid speculation it will team up with Microsoft Corp. in an online search advertising partnership aimed at mounting a more serious challenge to Google Inc.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plans to close its tire plant in the Philippines by Sept. 30 as it trims production capacity. About 500 jobs will be eliminated.

Federal regulators say changes should be made to the type of plane that ran off the end of a South Carolina runway last fall, killing four and injuring celebrity DJ AM and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

Labor leaders and Senate Democrats are nearing a deal on a union organizing bill that would allow employers to still demand secret ballot elections before having to recognize a union.

A person briefed on the decision says General Motors Corp. will build battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt electric car at a facility south of Detroit.

Bernard Madoff's auditor has pleaded not guilty to securities fraud.

Construction of new U.S. homes rose in June to the highest level in seven months, a sign builders are starting to regain confidence as they emerge from the housing bust.