U.S. retail sales drop 1.5% in September after the government’s cash-for-clunkers subsidy ends, while sales excluding autos rise at a healthy pace, the Commerce Department reports.

  Abbott Laboratories reports a 37% spike in third-quarter profit, its performance fueled by strong sales of its rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira and nutritional products.

  After a bruising year in Hawaii’s fierce inter-island carrier market, Republic Airways is taking its jets and going home.

  Investors cheered the results, but it also included sobering news about a rise in non-performing loans.

  A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

  NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Better-than-expected results from Intel Corp. stirred hopes of an economic recovery and buoyed the technology sector, lifting shares of the world's biggest semiconductor company and other major chipmakers in premarket trade Wednesday.

  A consortium led by Italian energy giant Eni SpA has been awarded the license to develop one of Iraq’s largest oil fields, Zubair, with production expected to reach more than 1.1 million barrels of oil a day.

  U.K. luxury retailer Burberry reported stronger-than-forecast fiscal second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, helped by demand for leather and handbags, but wholesale revenue proved a drag on the group.

  Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML reports its first profit in three quarters as makers of memory chips order lithography systems after a long lull.

  A surprisingly strong profit and outlook from Intel and much stronger-than-forecast results from J.P. Morgan Chase sent U.S. stock futures rallying and put a 10,000 level on the Dow Jones Industrial Average within reach.