(Reuters) - BofA Merrill Lynch lowered its 2010 growth forecast for global semiconductor industry and downgraded ten chipmakers, including Intel Corp <INTC.O>, turning more cautious on the group on expectations of a modest overshoot in global supply chain inventories.

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is using its $1.25 billion settlement check from rival Intel Corp. and a new $500 million bond offering to pay off $1 billion in debt.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Ombudsman rebuked European Union regulators on Wednesday for procedural errors in their antitrust probe of Intel but the censure will not affect a 1.06 billion euro ($1.58 billion) fine against the U.S. chipmaker.

The European Ombudsman rebuked European Union regulators on Wednesday for procedural errors in their antitrust probe of Intel but the censure will not affect a 1.06 billion euro ($1.58 billion) fine against the U.S. chipmaker.

Intel Corp Chief Executive Paul Otellini said on Tuesday the semiconductor industry may experience possible "pinch points" in the PC production chain as manufacturers ramp up to meet higher demand next year.

"Practical English Grammar by Correspondence" -- a 1973 tome published by the Soviet Union -- sits atop a pile of books on the librarian's desk in Macedonia's Grigor Prlichev elementary school.

The equity investing unit of computer chip maker Intel Corp. said Tuesday it has made seven new investments totaling $25 million to help foster new technologies.

Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others charged a month ago in the biggest U.S. hedge fund insider trading case will be in talks with prosecutors for at least another month over the allegations against them, court documents said on Monday.

Intel said it has approved a 12.75 percent increase in its quarterly dividend beginning in the first quarter of 2010.

Intel has agreed to pay Advanced Micro Devices $1.25 billion to settle a longstanding dispute between the two companies.

The seeming disconnect between the value of the dollar and the value of stocks is, in fact, not much of a disconnect at all, the New York Times reports.

SMIC, China's largest contract chipmaker, said its long-serving CEO has been replaced by another industry veteran, in a move that could pave the way for consolidation in China's
struggling chip sector.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has for years used large rebates and co-marketing arrangements to talk Dell and other manufacturers into sticking with its products rather than increasing their business with A.M.D., according to a lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general's office. The New York Times reports.

New York's attorney general has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel, claiming the company used "illegal threats and collusion" to dominate the marketplace for computer microprocessors.

The first tip from inside Intel reached Raj Rajaratnam more than a decade ago — from the same source who has now turned against him in the biggest insider-trading case in a generation, says the New York Times.