LinkedIn, the world's biggest professional social network, will probably pursue an initial public offering some time but not in the near future, co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman told Reuters.

By Georgina Prodhan

Rupert Murdoch has spent months complaining that Google is ruining the newspaper business, and now he wants to do something about it.

The three major credit ratings agencies gave mortgage-backed securities unjustifiably high ratings in return for lucrative fees, losing at least $457 million for five Ohio public employee pension and retirement funds, the state's attorney general alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday.

European Union regulators on Thursday said they have charged U.S. credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's with monopoly abuse, alleging that the company unfairly demands payment for securities information numbers in databases.

The European Commission has accused credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's of unfair pricing when charging licensing fees for issuing International Securities Identification Numbers, or ID codes for securities.

Crude inventories and gasoline inventories fell last week, missing analysts' expectations, the government said Wednesday.

Josh Tyrangiel, the deputy managing editor of Time magazine, will become editor of BusinessWeek when Bloomberg LP takes over the magazine next month.

Natural gas stockpile levels rose more than expected last week, the government said Thursday.

McGraw-Hill is committed to its Standard & Poor's unit, and welcomes tougher regulation aimed at further transparency and accountability in the credit ratings industry, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Credit-rating agencies would be more tightly regulated under legislation approved on Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee.

Stocks struggled Tuesday as energy stocks rose along with oil prices. But consumer-discretionary stocks dragged on the market after a disappointing consumer-confidence report.

The move by Bloomberg LP to buy out the red-ink-stained wretches and assets of BusinessWeek reveals some painful truths about the ailing print media industry its future. If it has one.

Stocks pulled back Tuesday after a report showed consumer confidence declined in October.

Stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday after encouraging reports on housing and earnings and  as the dollar retreated.