U.S. retailers saw sales rise 3.6 percent in holiday shopping, at the lower-end of expectations. Sales were helped by a late-season spending surge on some items, according to data released Tuesday. 
Holiday Central
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate headed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, said on Tuesday it planned to buy 60 percent of manufacturing and services group Marmon Holdings for $4.5 billion.
Merrill Lynch said it plans to sell most of its Chicago-based capital lending business to General Electric and will boost its capital by raising up to $6.2 billion in a private placement.
Equipment rental group United Rentals said it terminated its $4 billion takeover by Cerberus Capital Management and asked Cerberus to pay it a $100 million termination fee.
Saudi Arabia plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund that may exceed $900 billion, which would likely be the largest in the world, the Financial Times reported on its Web site without naming sources.
An agreement has been reached on the sale of Cheyne Finance, a structured investment vehicle now known as SIV Portfolio, to bidders including Goldman Sachs, the fund's receivers Deloitte & Touche said on Monday.
Wyeth said Monday it will sue Teva Pharmaceuticals USA for alleged patent infringement and said it received an approvable letter from U.S regulators for bazedoxifene, a drug that helps prevent post-menopausal osteoporosis.
Capgemini shares rose on Monday after a newspaper said Wipro, India's third-biggest software exporter, was expected to bid for the French computer consultancy firm.
Activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital raised its stake in Target to nearly 10 percent, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing said.
After a slow and stumbling start, official Washington is scrambling to try to prevent the unfolding mortgage crisis from pushing the country into recession during an election year. There is a strong feeling, though, that the government will need to do more to avert a financial disaster.
The hour's top business headlines, with CNBC's Mike Huckman
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp  will sell eight U.S. television stations to private equity firm Oak Hill Partners for about $1.1 billion.
The national average price for gasoline dropped about 3 cents over the last two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.
Nicolas Cage topped the North American box office for the second time this year on Sunday with "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," a sequel to the biggest movie of his career.