1. Sun fended off Apple, Microsoft IP lawsuit threats

Steve Jobs personally threatened to sue Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz says. Sun warded off that and a Microsoft threat with its own patent portfolio.

2. FTSE shares inch lower (AFP)

AFP - The FTSE 100 stock exchange slipped fractionally on Tuesday after a bout of cautious trading due to uncertainty over Europe's economic outlook and poor earnings reports, analysts said.

3. Cisco unveils system for super-fast Internet (AFP)

AFP - Cisco Systems on Tuesday unveiled super-fast Internet hardware that promises to boost US competitiveness and bolster economic recovery by moving mountains of data at astounding speeds.

4. China February exports jump 45.7 percent (AP)

AP - China's exports rose in February in a new sign of growing global demand that could help persuade officials to let the Chinese currency rise.

5. GM Daewoo vows to return to black this year (AFP)

AFP - GM Daewoo, the South Korean unit of struggling US auto giant General Motors, said Wednesday it intends to return to profit this year and currently needs no further financial support from creditors.

6. Senate to pass jobless aid, business tax breaks (AP)

AP - Legislation blending help for the jobless with popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is slated to pass the Senate Wednesday over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.

7. Highlights of Senate jobless aid bill (AP)

AP - Highlights of Senate legislation extending unemployment insurance and expired tax breaks:

8. UK's Brown warns of new economic woes (AP)

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warns that the U.K. may suffer another economic downturn, including a possible dip back into recession.

9. Nationalized UK bank Northern Rock back in profit (AP)

AP - Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock said Wednesday that it returned to profit in the second half of 2009 as interest income rose and losses on loans fell.

10. Bristol-Myers CEO's 2009 compensation down 22 pct (AP)

AP - The chief executive of drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., James Cornelius, received a 2009 compensation package valued by The Associated Press at $17 million, down 22 percent from 2008, due to the much lower value of his stock awards.

11. Infosys says outsourcing deal pipeline improving (Reuters)

Reuters - Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software services exporter, is seeing a rise in outsourcing deal flows due to a recovery in the global economy, a top official said on Wednesday.

12. E.On 2009 net income up sharply to $11.4 billion (AP)

AP - Germany energy company E.On AG said Wednesday that 2009 net income rose sharply to euro8.4 billion ($11.4 billion) partly as a result of the disposal of assets.

13. OECD: gov'ts must cut deficits, boost regulation (AP)

AP - Rich countries must strengthen financial market regulation and bring down their oversized government deficits, two of the biggest new challenges to have arisen from the global economic crisis, the OECD said Wednesday.

14. BA, American, Iberia to cede airport slots (AP)

AP - British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have offered to give away takeoff and landing slots at London and New York airports to soothe European Union antitrust worries, EU regulators said Wednesday.

15. US to expose trade barriers in new report (AFP)

AFP - The United States said it would expose "troublesome" foreign trade barriers in a strategy to prise open markets for doubling American exports to ease an unemployment crisis at home.

16. Greek strike to shut down services Thursday (AP)

AP - Greek unions say nationwide strikes will shut down all public services, closing schools, customs and tax offices, halting public transport and grounding flights for 24 hours.

17. OPEC raises 2010 oil demand forecast (AP)

AP - OPEC has raised its projections for oil demand growth this year by 100,000 barrels per day, but stresses that gains could be eroded if the U.S. government scales back on stimulus efforts before the country's economy fully recovers.

18. Portugal sells $1.34 billion worth of bonds (AP)

AP - The head of Portugal's debt agency says a euro990 million ($1.34 billion) bond auction was oversubscribed, suggesting the government's austerity plan has eased market concerns about the country's high debts.

19. Stock futures narrowly mixed ahead of opening (AP)

AP - Investors are continuing to search for direction Wednesday, after two days of relatively flat trading. Stock futures are narrowly mixed.

20. U.S. SEC's chief economist to leave agency March 31 (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's chief economist, James Overdahl, will be leaving at the end of the month, he said on Tuesday.

21. Economists trim 2011 U.S. growth forecast (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. economists raised their forecast for economic growth in 2010 in March, the third straight monthly rise, while trimming their growth forecast for 2011, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

22. Real Estate's Link to the Small Business Credit Crunch (BusinessWeek)

BusinessWeek - It's no secret that small businesses in the U.S. face difficulties accessing credit. According to a survey of a random sample of 751 small businesses conducted by Gallup at the end of 2009 for the National Federation of Independent Bus

23. Oil prices claw back ground (AFP)

AFP - World oil prices firmed on Wednesday before the eagerly-awaited weekly snapshot on US energy inventories in leading consumer the United States.

24. Turkey, IMF end loan talks (AP)

AP - Turkey says it and the International Monetary Fund have mutually agreed to call off talks for a loan.

25. Axel Springer 2009 net income falls 45 percent (AP)

AP - German publisher Axel Springer AG said Wednesday that net income fell 45 percent in 2009 to euro314 million ($427 million), with a drop in demand for newspapers and magazines mitigated only partially by new Internet revenues.

26. Terra favoring CF over Yara in buyer battle (AP)

AP - Fertilizer company Terra Industries said Wednesday its board favors a bid to be acquired by CF Industries instead of a previous agreement with Norway's Yara.

27. Daimler trucks sees market turnaround in 2010 (AP)

AP - German car and truckmaker Daimler AG says it expects a turnaround in the global truck market and an improvement in the truck division's 2010 earnings before interest and taxes.

28. Nasdaq 5,000: Ten years after the dot-com peak

Exactly 10 years ago, during the height of the dot-com mania, the Nasdaq reached its all-time high of 5,408.62 on March 10, 2000. It has never recovered.

29. Acer's PC market numbers add up

Across all of 2009, Dell managed to stay ahead of Acer by a hair's-breadth, but the year-end trend wasn't going Dell's way.

30. Windows Live support via e-mail ends

Starting Wednesday, users with problems will have to go to online forums to get answers to issues with Microsoft's consumer Web services.

31. SEC sues ex-NY loan trader over alleged kickbacks (Reuters)

Reuters - A former stock loan trader at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp in New York received well over $100,000 of cash kickbacks by steering orders to other brokerage firms, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit filed

32. Strong China trade data point to rise in yuan (Reuters)

Reuters - Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected in February, underlining the momentum behind the world's third-largest economy and reinforcing the case for a rise in the yuan.

33. Wholesale inventories fall while sales increase (AP)

AP - Businesses trimmed inventories at the wholesale level again in January even though sales rose for a 10th consecutive month. The dip in inventories underscored that businesses remain cautious about restocking their depleted shelves.

34. Turkish PM rules out IMF stand-by deal (AFP)

35. Presstek posts larger 4Q loss but trims costs (AP)

AP - Digital printing products maker Presstek Inc. posted a larger fourth-quarter loss Wednesday as revenues sank, though it said its overall financial position has grown stronger.

36. Crude oil stockpiles climb by 1.4 million barrels (AP)

AP - Crude inventories rose less than expected last week, while gasoline supplies dropped, the government said Wednesday.

37. Microsoft looks to 'Elevate' California

The software maker is bringing its free technology job training program to the Golden State, the company and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are announcing on Wednesday.

38. Kroger, Ruby Tuesday, UAL are big movers (AP)

AP - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

39. Home loan demand nudges higher in latest week (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

40. House votes for faster tax breaks for Chile gifts (AP)

AP - The House has passed a bill that would allow taxpayers to write off charitable donations to Chile earthquake relief efforts when they file their 2009 taxes this spring.

41. Unemployment rises in 30 states in January (AP)

AP - Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country.

42. Euro rebounds, gains on dollar (AFP)

AFP - The euro staged a modest turnaround against the dollar Wednesday in featureless trading as dealers looked for signals on prospects for the world economy and a proposed European monetary fund.

43. A.M. Castle 4th-quarter loss narrows (AP)

AP - Specialty metal and plastic products company A.M. Castle & Co. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter loss shrank, helped by lower material costs and the effect of one-time charges.

44. WTO chief holds talks with US officials, lawmakers (AFP)

AFP - WTO chief Pascal Lamy was in Washington Wednesday for talks with US officials and lawmakers amid an uphill effort to wrap up the long-running Doha Round of global trade talks by this year.

45. CA-CANADA Summary (Reuters)

Reuters - The Canadian dollar hit its highest level in almost five months against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, helped by firm oil prices, the prospect of rising Canadian rates and speculation it will return to parity with the greenback. The currency

46. Mozilla to overhaul its open-source license

The Firefox backer wants to modernize and simplify the Mozilla Public License and sets an ambitious November deadline.

47. Highest, lowest state jobless rates at a glance (AP)

AP - The Labor Department on Wednesday said that unemployment rates rose in 30 states in January, as jobs remain scarce across the country.

48. Budget deficit sets record in February (AP)

AP - The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year's record for the full year.

49. Quinn seeks income tax hike for schools (AP)

AP - Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.

50. Michigan court delays Toyota executive testimony (Reuters)

Reuters - A Michigan appeals court on Wednesday granted a stay requested by Toyota Motor Corp that delays testimony by two top U.S. company executives in a case about a crash that killed a woman driving a Camry in 2008.