Business

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. online holiday spending has risen 3 percent this holiday season, but shopping online slowed over the weekend after the special deals and discounts offered by retailers on Cyber Monday ended, analytics firm comScore Inc said on Tuesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - General Electric Co. says profits at its lending arm will start improving by 2011, but first it will have to slog through another year of big losses on loans gone bad in areas like commercial real estate. Full Story »

DALLAS - Texas Instruments Inc. raised its fourth-quarter profit and sales outlook on Tuesday, citing an improving market for chips used in cell phones and other electronic gadgets like hard disk drives and video game consoles. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets fell on Tuesday as the strength of US recovery was downplayed and after Tokyo's benchmark shares index closes lower for the first time in seven sessions. Full Story »

GREENVILLE, S.C. - General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt said Tuesday he hopes the Copenhagen conference on climate change leads the United States to develop a green energy policy to grow the economy. Full Story »

MCLEAN, Va. - Engineering company SAIC Inc. said Tuesday its third-quarter profit rose on higher revenue and cost cuts, but warned that next year's earnings per share will fall at the low end of the company's target range. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - The leading share index slid backwards on Tuesday losing 0.49 percent to stand at 5,284.61 points. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co sees additional losses on credit cards and home loans next year although there are some signs the rate of losses is settling and it may not need to build credit reserves much further, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK - More than 600,000 businesses across the country are getting an early Christmas present. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Dubai World's investment arm, Istithmar, lost ownership of the W Union Square New York hotel in a foreclosure auction Tuesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Oil prices dipped below $73 a barrel Tuesday on a stronger dollar and a slew of economic data that did not indicate a quick rebound in demand from big energy users or from consumers. Full Story »

• Slideshow: Oil Industry

WASHINGTON - Only one in three homeowners who have signed up for the Obama administration's mortgage relief plan have sent back the necessary paperwork, highlighting continuing problems for the government's effort to stem the foreclosure crisis. Full Story »

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A federal grand jury on Tuesday accused five people of preying on homeowners faced with foreclosure by providing them with fraudulent new mortgages and pocketing the proceeds. Full Story »