Facebook appears ready to go public with $10 billion IPO in early February, despite ire at leak.

Exxon Mobil sells Japanese subsidiary for $4 billion in move to cut refining.

News Corp. reportedly woos Bloomberg exec as Twitter-happy Murdoch sees weekend arrests at The Sun tabloid.

ABB buys Thomas & Betts for $4 billion.

Angry Birds boss doesn't fear piracy.

Apple aims to sell 40 million iPhones in China next year.

Altria sees tobacco users embrace discount brands.

Bank of America shakes up investment banking division.

Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon with fifth Nook device.

Beyonce sees university class focus on her.Continue reading...

Jobs, jobs, jobs — they remain a topic utmost on Americans' minds as the slowly dropping unemployment rate largely belies the reality of a U.S. labor market that is only slowly picking up momentum. Brand executives know this, and more of them have taken to wielding job creation as a branding device, like Subway.

But corporate strategy sometimes dictates a different turn even when eliminating jobs is the last thing a brand wants to do. Among the big brands announcing layoffs in recent days: Novartis, which is restructuring its U.S. business and cutting 1,960 positions; Goldman Sachs, which laid off 2,400 employees last year with more to come; Citigroup, which is shedding about 5,000 jobs globally; Kraft, which announced that it will cut 1,600 North American jobs as it prepares to split into two companies. All eyes are on Kodak, too, as the company prepares to restructure.

Kraft — which made headlines with one high-profile hire in the past year: golden-voiced homeless-to-Hollywood phenom Ted Williams, at top — is now shedding ballast in order to survive a difficult future, where its strategy is to split into a global snack company and a North American grocery operation later this year.Continue reading...

AMC considers reality shows to complement Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

BP and Shell plan to resume oil exploration in Libya.

Boeing hopes rise for union accord that would end labor struggle.

CBS is upbeat about TV business in 2012.

Citigroup announces cuts of additional 4,500 jobs.

Daimler loses value with investors relative to BMW as the two companies race to finish in U.S. luxury-car sales for 2011 and as Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand plans big boost in U.S. output.

Darden cuts forecast due to Olive Garden woes.Continue reading...

Amazon violates contract with Kindle, U.S. authors' guild says.

Anthony's Pizza & Pasta takes on national pizza chains in Colorado.

Apple adds Disney CEO Bob Iger to board as the company warms up to the business market.

Cadillac takes broad aim with new flagship XTS sedan.

Citigroup trims workforce.

Dow sponsorship deal creates headache for London 2012 organizers.

Facebook invokes the wrath of Salman Rushdie with real-name push.

Family Dollar arrives in California.Continue reading...

BP claims victory in Russian case.

Boeing rides Dreamliner on confidence into Dubai Air Show.

Burger King deems new menu items a success.

CBS includes Charlie Rose and Gayle King in revised The Early Show roster.

Citigroup to sell EMI units for $4 billion.

Facebook retreats on privacy dispute with U.S. government.

GE foresees strong growth in emerging markets.

GM raises alarms in Europe with restructuring pledge as its Buick division bets on a lush interior in new Verano compact.

Kohl's adds $30 million to holiday marketing budget.Continue reading...

Best Buy stores to close in the U.K. as Carphone Warehouse sells its stake for $1.3 billion. In the U.S., BB will join post-Thanksgiving "Black Midnight" frenzy.

IAG, owner of British Airways & Iberia, pursues Portugal's TAP airline after agreeing to buy bmi (British Midland International) from Lufthansa.

Barnes & Noble expects to prod Amazon's Kindle with new Nook Color.

All Nippon Airways probes glitch in Dreamliner landing as Airbus tries to exploit longer-than-expected training time for the new Boeing plane.

Apple hit by piracy claim by leading computer scientist as brand rewards top executives to try to retain them for the post-Jobs era and threatens Google with new Siri "personal-assistant" search technology.Continue reading...

Abbott Labs plans to split into two companies.

American Express equalizes health costs for gay employees.

Citigroup agrees to pay hefty fine to settle securities charges.

Daimler dismissed US. head of Mercedes-Benz over personal expenses.

Eni makes big natural-gas find off coast of Mozambique.

Fox's The X Factor gets off to a slow start.

Frito-Lay draws complaint about "immersive" marketing to kids.

Groupon discounts its IPO valuation.Continue reading...

With the Occupy Wall Street movement now one month old and continuing to rattle workers in the financial industry around the world, a few big financial brands are being rattled independent of placard-carrying protesters in their midst.

Goldman Sachs lost $428 million in its latest quarterly earnings report, its second quarterly loss ever.

Citigroup has agreed to pay $285 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors related to its mortgage businesses.

And Bank of America can't bank on being Number 1 anymore, as BofA cedes top spot to JPMorgan Chase this week.Continue reading...