Reuters - American International Group and the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday they will sell just under $9 billion in AIG stock, suggesting the government's exit from its crisis-era investment will be more difficult than originally thought.

Sixty-one percent of corporate travel managers are expecting to increase their travel spending this year, finds a GetThere survey.

Tenet Healthcare has rejected the most recent, and final, purchase offer from Community Health Systems worth at least $4 billion.

Senate Democrats are looking to eliminate federal tax breaks for the five largest oil companies, which would save an estimated $21 billion over the next 10 years.

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Sara Eisen reports on hedge funds' interest in tax-exempt municipal bonds backed by the companies and the outlook for the U.S. municipal debt market. (Source: Bloomberg)

House Republicans pumped up the pressure Tuesday on the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease restrictions on companies seeking to raise money from investors.

But Democratic lawmakers urged the SEC not to abandon rules meant to protect potential shareholders from financial fraud.

SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro charted a middle course through the political crossfire, promising to reconsider long-standing regulations that Republicans call unduly burdensome but rejecting some of their arguments about the need for change.

The United States and China on Tuesday pledged to deepen their cooperation on economic and military matters, setting aside a year of tension over issues such as arms sales to Taiwan and the value of China’s currency with what officials referred to as a “milestone” agreement.

Ending two days of high-level talks in Washington, the two sides agreed that their top military leaders would meet regularly in what has been dubbed the “Strategic Security Dialogue.”

In addition, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan released what they described as a blueprint for managing the sometimes contentious economic relations between the two countries. The “framework of comprehensive economic cooperation” was based on what Geithner said was a “healthy recognition” by Chinese officials that they need to open more aspects of their economy to outside investment if they are to sustain the high rates of growth needed to continue improving living standards for their 1.4 billion people.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) declared Tuesday that raising taxes is “off the table” in negotiations on deficit reduction, prompting a White House complaint that such “maximalist positions” do not lead to compromise.

The White House also denounced Boehner’s demand a day earlier for more than $2 trillion in spending cuts in exchange for Republican agreement to raise the U.S. debt limit. Press secretary Jay Carney likened the demand to a hostage-taking, telling reporters, “It is folly to hold hostage the vote to raise the debt ceiling . . . to any other piece of legislation.” He said increasing the debt limit is intended to prevent the United States “from defaulting on its obligations.”

The European Fund and Asset Management Association has presented its new code of conduct for corporate governance.

National Health Investors' shareholders rejected the NHI board's say-on-pay vote frequency recommendation of every three years, with 56 percent of votes cast in favor of the annual option.