AP State Business News

The trustee overseeing MF Global's liquidation said Friday that the shortfall between the funds under his control and the amount customers of the failed brokerage are expected to claim is at least $1.6 billion.

International Paper Inc. will be allowed to go ahead with its $3.7 billion acquisition of smaller rival Temple-Inland Inc. after reaching a settlement with the Justice Department's antitrust division.

U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 34 percent in January from a year earlier to $751 million due to the lack of new game titles, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Intel Corp. is paying $6.5 million as part of a deal to terminate an antitrust lawsuit filed against the chip-maker by the New York attorney general's office.

LinkedIn provided further evidence of online networking's popularity and moneymaking potential with a fourth-quarter performance that got a glowing review on Wall Street.

A news report says Apple plans to unveil a new iPad early next month.

Oracle Corp. is escalating its rivalry with German business-software maker SAP AG with a $1.9 billion purchase of Taleo Corp., a company that helps businesses hire and manage their employees.

Diamond Foods Inc. is replacing its CEO and chief financial officer after an internal investigation found that the company improperly accounted for payments to walnut growers and it needs to restate two years of financial results.

A consumer watchdog group is suing the Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to prevent Google from making sweeping changes to its privacy policies next month.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Wednesday that net income grew by nearly two-thirds in the final quarter of 2011, despite expenses related to ongoing phone hacking investigations of its U.K. newspaper unit.

Visa Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 16 percent, as card use rose both in the U.S. and overseas.

Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, on Wednesday said that its net income jumped 44 percent in the latest quarter as it continues to put last year's slump behind it.

A panel of cancer experts voted against a new use for Amgen's Xgeva in prostate cancer on Wednesday, saying the drug's ability to slow the spread of the disease did not translate into meaningful benefits for patients.

Technology licensing company Rambus Inc. said Wednesday it has signed a licensing agreement with chip maker Nvidia Corp. to settle a long-running patent dispute.

Jive Software Inc., which makes Facebook-style social networks for businesses, reported a wider fourth-quarter net loss on Tuesday, weighed by higher expenses even as its revenue grew sharply.

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that its net income rose 12 percent in the final quarter of 2011, as a slimmer movie slate and upbeat theme park results helped the company top earnings forecasts even while revenue gains were less than expected.

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. said Tuesday that net income improved in the most recent quarter, as the company cut expenses and saw advertising revenue fall at a lower rate.

Business software maker Oracle Corp. has turned down $272 million in court-ordered damages from SAP AG in hopes of leaving a much bigger dent in its rival's pocketbook and reputation during a second trial over allegations of corporate theft.

Fisker Automotive, an electric car maker that received a half-billion-dollar loan from the federal government, said Monday that it has laid off workers in Delaware and California.

Phone company Verizon Communications Inc. will challenge Netflix and start a video streaming service this year with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks.

A new Internet streaming venture built around Redbox's DVD-rental kiosks adds to a crowded field of online video-viewing services dominated by Netflix.

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. is down 11 this week to 1,997.

Apple Inc. has temporarily blocked Motorola Mobility's attempt to have it withdraw several iPhone and iPad models from its Internet store in Germany, the latest twist in an extended legal duel over patents between the companies.

Sorry, Los Angeles. The only NFL expansion happening anytime soon is to next season's schedule of Thursday night games.

Hewlett-Packard Co. ushered in Meg Whitman as its CEO with a $16.5 million compensation package that hinges on the one-time politician's ability to lift the stumbling technology company's stock price during the next two years.

For an emerging generation of Japanese innovators, the dream isn't a job for life at a big company. They have new ambitions, and they're determined to go places. Especially Silicon Valley.

Facebook has filed paperwork for an initial public offering of stock. Its public debut will be the most anticipated tech IPO since Google went public in August 2004.

Facebook's long-awaited IPO filing lifted the stocks of many Internet companies, including recent laggards Zynga and Groupon. But analysts said the halo effect may fade, because some companies basking in Facebook's glow just aren't as financially sound as the world's largest social network.

Napa Valley wine producers will go a long way to protect their good name, all the way to Thailand if necessary.

GOING PUBLIC: Facebook files paperwork for its much-anticipated initial public offering of stock. It hopes to raise $5 billion, the most ever for an Internet IPO.

Microsoft Corp. said it laid off some of its marketing staff on Wednesday as part of an effort to restructure its operations.

Hearst Corp. announced leadership changes at its flagship newspaper in Texas, the Houston Chronicle, including the appointment of a new chairman and a new publisher.

Toyota Motor Sales USA said Wednesday its U.S. sales rose 7.5 percent, boosted by improved dealer inventories and strong demand for its new Camry sedan.

Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday that its U.S. sales rose nearly 15 percent in January, driven by the Sonata midsize sedan and Elantra compact.

Toyota says its January U.S. sales rose 7.5 percent, boosted by replenished dealer inventories and continued strong demand for the new version of its Camry.

Puerto Rico plans to build a hotel and a planetarium as part of a $50 million project to attract more visitors to the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, officials said Tuesday.

Vevo, the online music video service launched by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment in late 2009, pulled in $150 million in revenue last year, chief executive Rio Caraeff revealed on Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it will acquire a controlling stake in UTV, India's largest media and entertainment company.

Outgoing Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. says the proposed purchase of British recording company EMI by recording rivals Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV is "dangerous" and must be stopped by regulators.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur-turned-venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and his partners have raised another $1.5 billion to invest in technology startups as they prepare to profit from a previous bet on Internet social network Facebook.

Legendary rocker Neil Young took his campaign for higher-fidelity digital sound to the stage of a technology conference Tuesday, saying a giant of the industry was on his side: the late Steve Jobs.

Radio broadcasting giant Clear Channel is breaking into the TV production business.

In its quest to spread its stores around the world, Apple is reaching over the Atlantic to snatch the CEO of a British electronics chain to head its retail operations.

Strong holiday demand for toys including Barbie and Monster High dolls helped push Mattel Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit up a better-than-expected 14 percent.

The board of directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has approved a proposed merger with the Screen Actors Guild, a day after SAG's board made the same move.