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LM Ericsson AB has signed a deal to buy U.S.-based software development firm Telcordia for $1.15 billion, the Swedish wireless equipment company said Tuesday.

Ericsson said it will buy 100 percent of the shares in Telcordia from private equity firms Providence Equity Partners LLC and Warburg Pincus and expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter 2011.

Telcordia, based in Piscataway, New Jersey, develops mobile, broadband and enterprise communications software and services. It reported revenues of $739 million during the fiscal year, ending January 31 and employs 2,600 people who will now be transferred to Ericsson.

The Swedish company said Telcordia has a leading market position within the operations and business support system field _ producing computer systems that are used by telecommunications operators to handle the growth in mobile and fixed broadband traffic easy payday loans.

“The importance of operations and business support systems will continue to grow as more and more devices are connected, services become mobile and new business models for mobile broadband are introduced,” Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

Shares in Ericsson rose by 1.8 percent to 88.80 Swedish kronor ($13.99) in Stockholm.

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Global stocks recovered Tuesday after another big sell-off on Wall Street, as investors awaited a key speech from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke following a run of weak economic news.

Fears over the global economy have grown due to a raft of underwhelming economic indicators around the world, particularly out of the U.S., which culminated in last week’s much weaker than expected U.S. payrolls report for May.

As a result, there is speculation that the Fed may retain its super-loose monetary policy for much longer than initially thought.

The Fed’s current $600 billion monetary stimulus is due to expire this month and the prevailing view in the markets until recently was that the central bank would drop the program and possibly start raising interest rates by the end of this year.

However, the recent soft batch of economic data has led some in the markets to speculate that the Fed may consider more monetary stimulus and keep interest rates at the record low of near zero percent well into next year.

Bernanke’s speech later at the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta, Georgia could have a huge impact on markets.

“Bernanke’s speech provides the Fed chairman with an opportunity to update his views on the state of the economy,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital. “In light of the soft data on house prices, industrial production and the labour market there is no doubt that the Fed’s projection of 3.1-3.3 percent GDP growth for this year is demanding.”

In the run-up to the speech, which is due to be delivered around 1945 GMT, stocks were relatively solid. European shares were further buoyed by news that retail sales in the 17 countries that use the euro rose by 0.9 percent in April, three times the rate anticipated.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 0.6 percent to 7,130 while the CAC-40 in France was 0.6 percent higher at 3,887. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.3 percent at 5,878 .

Wall Street was also poised to recoup some recent losses, which have pushed the main indexes to their lowest levels since late March free business cards. Dow futures were up 0.4 percent at 12,132 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 0.5 percent to 1,291.

The other big theme in the markets, aside from the state of the global economy, remains Europe’s debt crisis.

Last Friday’s effective decision by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to give Greece the next euro12 billion batch of bailout funds and signals it may get a second bailout have helped ease worries that the country will default on its mountain of debts.

The relief is particularly notable in the performance of the euro, which was trading near one-month highs of $1.4674. Earlier, it struck its highest level since May 5 at $1.4682.

Asian shares, meanwhile, turned in a mixed performance.

Though Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.7 percent at 9,442.95, South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.7 percent to 2,099.71,

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.4 percent to 22,868.67 while mainland Chinese shares gained as investors kept on snapping up bargains following recent sell-offs. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 2,744.30, while the Shenzhen Composite Index of China’s smaller, second exchange gained 0.7 percent to 1,132.69.

Oil prices meanwhile continued to trade in a fairly narrow range around the $100 a barrel mark ahead of a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel. Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 11 cents to $99.12 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts are looking for clues on what OPEC will do about oil production when the cartel meets Wednesday in Vienna. OPEC ministers could decide to try to lower oil prices by increasing production. Some OPEC officials have said that they believe oil prices are too high and threaten global economic recovery.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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There are some pretty basic rules about personal finance, and my money mistake involves violating them all. This was no accident mind you. I did it willfully and with no small sense of pleasure. (Keep this article away from young children.)

I was posted to New York at the age of 28 as a business journalist, and intended to live within the somewhat modest means of a newspaper correspondent. And I stuck to my guns, for at least six months. Then I abandoned my guns, hopped over the wall into no man’s land, went AWOL. And in retrospect I’m glad I did, because the investment in my career and the experiences were worth more than the thousands of dollars I figure it cost me.

I blame my fall on the city: Her high rent, irresistible restaurants, the plays, the fashion, the travel beckoning, the fascinating people from all over the world. But for all of that, I might never have strayed.

It’s not hard to keep track of whether you can afford something or not — that’s what bank statements are for. But, I reasoned, this is New York. I will only live here once, and to live and work here and not absorb all its delights would be criminal. The real gamble was that my future, post-New-York self would reap a reward in the form of a higher salary and a better job and that would presumably help me pay down all the debt.

First I gave up the uptown studio apartment that fit my budget and moved to more convenient SoHo on the lower West Side. Then I bought the clothes that kept me in fashion in cutting-edge New York. I shopped smart, sales in out of the way stores.

My new friends liked to dine out (most people I knew in New York used their oven as additional storage space) and pretty soon we were traveling too. Italy, Spain, Italy, the Hamptons, Italy. We travelled together, and an Italian villa back then was a steal — I was practically saving money by going.

Within a few years, I was rich in experience, a billionaire in sights and sounds, a queen of couture. And tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. The lowest moment, financially speaking, was when I cashed in my RRSP — paid a huge chunk of tax on it, lost the compounding potential, and used the money to pay off a credit card. Or most of it.

Now financial experts would say that’s not the worst move — after all, no investment return will net you the 19 to 29 per cent you pay on credit card debt.

It seems to me I broke every one of the three cardinal rules of personal finance.

Live within your means. As Dickens said: If you spend even a penny less than you earn, happiness follows, a penny more, misery. I certainly did that — minus the misery.

Start saving early. The miracle of compound interest means the sooner you start the less you will need to save later. Throw in the tax benefits of a registered retirement savings plan and you get a real kick to your savings.

I started saving in an RRSP pretty much as soon as I had income after university. I managed, by my mid-twenties, to be maxing out my annual amount. Then I cashed it all out, losing $40,000 and a lot more potential. But there’s more.

Avoid credit card debt. Paying only the monthly minimum on a big balance is the surest route to penury. Though you will find yourself newly popular with credit card companies who will generously raise your spending limit. Knowing this, I dutifully avoided credit debt until I got to New York. Until then I had used it for the inevitable short-term bridging periods incurred by a combination of extreme poverty and an inconvenient need for food.

So there you have it. Money mistakes one through three. But as for the outcome — well, Dickens would not approve. It ended pretty much the way my 28-year-old self thought it would. I got a higher profile, a high paying job in New York and, when that helped me land a better, even higher paying job back in Canada, I paid off my credit card debt in six months.

Was it a mistake? On a straight math basis yes. It was foolish. But would I do the same thing over again? In a New York minute.

Manitoba native Amanda Lang is CBC’s senior business correspondent for TheNational, and is co-host of the Lang & O’Leary Exchange. She has worked for CNN, the Financial Post and the Globe & Mail.

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South Korea’s inflation rate eased in May for a second straight month, though remained above a level the central bank finds worrisome.

The consumer price index rose 4.1 percent from a year earlier, the government’s Statistics Korea said Wednesday.

The rate has been above 4 percent for five straight months, which is outside the Bank of Korea’s so-called tolerance range for consumer price inflation.

April’s rate was 4.2 percent, which marked a sharp reduction from 4.7 percent in March. The latter was the highest level reached since October 2008 low rates payday advance.

The central bank has raised its key interest rate four times since July last year in a bid to stem rising prices, though paused in April and May.

The bank surprised analysts last month by leaving its benchmark borrowing cost unchanged at 3 percent. Economists had expected an increase to 3.25 percent.

The Bank of Korea’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee next meets on June 10.

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The International Monetary Fund said it aims to complete the selection of a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn by June 30.

Countries will be able to nominate candidates for the managing director’s position between May 23 and June 10, the Washington-based IMF said in a statement today. The board will meet with all candidates if there are fewer than four and with a short list if there are more.

The procedure “allows the selection of the next managing director to take place in an open, merit-based, and transparent manner,” said Shakour Shaalan, the senior member of the 24- person board.

The IMF said the board’s objective is to select the managing director by consensus.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde emerged as the leading contender to replace Strauss-Kahn, who was indicted yesterday on charges including attempted rape, as European officials moved to maintain control over the institution.

Officials in emerging markets including Thailand, Russia and South Africa said the next IMF managing director should come from a developing nation even as they failed to unite behind one candidate the way Europe coalesced around Lagarde.

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Stock futures are pointed higher as traders await economic reports that could signal the relative strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 39 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,571. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are up 4, or 0.3 percent, at 1,343. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 6 points, or 0.3 percent, at 2,368.

The Labor Department reports ahead of the market opening on the number of new unemployment claims last week. Economists expect a decline to 420,000 from 434,000.

Reports are also due on existing home sales and leading economic indicators.

Sears Holding Corp. reports that softer sales at its Kmart and Sears stores caused a first-quarter loss of $1.58 per share, worse than analysts expected. The results signal persistent weakness in the U.S. consumer recovery.

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Spain’s underlying inflation rate accelerated in April at the fastest pace in more than two years, adding to evidence of pressure on prices as the European Central Bank signals it will continue to raise interest rates.

Core consumer prices, which exclude energy and fresh food, gained 2.1 percent from a year earlier, after a 1.7 percent increase the previous month, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said today. That was the highest rate since December 2008. Headline inflation, based on European Union calculations, was 3.5 percent, matching an initial estimate on April 29.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said on May 9 the world’s central bankers are united in fighting inflation after the Frankfurt-based bank raised interest rates in April for the first time in almost three years us fast cash. Euro-area inflation is already in breach of the ECB’s 2 percent ceiling, accelerating to 2.8 percent in April, and Spanish inflation is outpacing the regional average even as the indebted economy struggles to emerge from a three-year slump.

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Tyson Foods said Monday that its second-quarter earnings were unchanged from a year ago because higher feed costs offset improving demand and higher meat prices.

The company raised prices for chicken, beef and pork, indicating that higher global grain costs are finally working their way to the grocery store meat counter.

CEO Donnie Smith warned investors that the meat industry is still facing at least months of volatility. Higher gasoline prices could crimp consumer demand. At the same time, Tyson’s profits could be squeezed by higher input costs. The company expects feed costs alone to be about $500 million higher during the second half of the fiscal year than they were in 2010.

“We have a wall of costs heading toward us,” Smith told analysts during a conference call.

Its shares tumbled 95 cents, or 5 percent, to $17.94 in morning trading.

The company reported net income was $156 million, or 42 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31. That’s unchanged from $156 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier.

The earnings were slightly below the average forecast from analysts surveyed by FactSet of 43 cents per share.

Tyson Foods Inc.’s revenue climbed 16 percent to $8 billion. Analysts expected $7.52 billion. The company said it sold more chicken and pork, but operating income fell 12 percent to $303 million as grain prices rose.

The company said beef prices shot up nearly 20 percent while pork prices jumped 18 percent and chicken prices rose 3.7 percent compared with last year payday loan lenders. Prices for prepared foods rose 11 percent. Overall, prices rose 12 percent across the company’s product lines.

It takes months for higher grain prices to work their way to the grocery store because raw ingredients account for just a fraction of the total cost of food. But meat companies tend to pass on the higher prices first, in part because their products are sold fresh.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts overall meat prices will rise between 6 and 7 percent this year.

Raising prices is key to Tyson’s profitability, because the price of corn is trading near all-time highs. Feed costs are the biggest expense for raising chickens and livestock, and meat companies have been hard pressed to pass on those costs to struggling consumers.

But it appears the market is finally able to support higher prices, with sales volumes rising for chicken and pork, while beef sales fell less than 1 percent amid the price hikes.

Tyson said prepared foods sales fell 4.6 percent during the quarter, indicating that demand is still relatively weak for Tyson’s more expensive, and profitable, products like pre-cooked chicken nuggets. But the lower volumes were offset by an 11.1 percent price hike.

Smith said Tyson expects to match last year’s record net income of $780 million as demand stays strong through the rest of the year.

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United Nations investigators on Friday headed to a soccer field in the besieged neighborhood of Yopougon in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital after new reports surfaced that it was being used as a mass grave.

Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast, said by telephone that the Red Cross had received reports from residents that the field was filled with as many as 40 bodies.

“We are told that there is a vast field that is used to play soccer. It is now an open-air cemetery,” he said.

The soccer field is located in Yopougon, an area of the business capital that had voted in large numbers for strongman Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to accept his loss in last November’s presidential election. He was removed militarily in April after unleashing his security forces on the population. Hundreds of people were killed in the months before he was deposed.

His militias are believed to have taken cover in Yopougon, and the neighborhood was the scene of pitched battles until Thursday. The army now backing the country’s democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara were able to secure the area.

Toure said it’s not clear if the dead were killed by Gbagbo’s forces, or if they are Gbagbo supporters slain in reprisal killings by forces loyal to Ouattara.

Ouattara was prevented from assuming office during the nearly five-month-long standoff with Gbagbo and had lived under 24-hour guard in a resort hotel. He is scheduled to be sworn in at a ceremony in the presidential palace later Friday.

Gbagbo is under house arrest in Korhogo, a town in the interior. His French lawyers traveled to Ivory Coast this week and are due to accompany him to an interview with the police Friday. He is facing possible charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the army in the postelection period.

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The data breach that hit Sony’s PlayStation Network resulted from a “very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber-attack designed to steal personal and credit card information for illegal purposes,” a Sony executive said.

In a letter to members of the House Commerce Committee released Wednesday, Kazuo Hirai, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, defended the company’s handling of the breach.

Sony first disclosed the attack last week and said it may have compromised credit card data, email addresses and other personal information from 77 million user accounts. On Monday, Sony said data from an additional 24.6 million online gaming accounts also may have been stolen.

The company has shut down the affected systems while it investigates the attacks and beefs up security. Hirai said Sony is working “around the clock to get the systems back up and to make sure all our customers are informed of the data breach and our responses to it.”

Addressing criticism that the company waited too long to inform customers, Hirai said Sony waited until it had a solid understanding and confirmation of the extent of the attack and its implications.

“Throughout the process, Sony Network Entertainment America was very concerned that announcing partial or tentative information to consumers could cause confusion and lead them to take unnecessary actions if the information was not fully corroborated by forensic evidence,” he wrote.

Although Sony began investigating unusual activity on the PlayStation network on April 19, it did not notify consumers of the breach until April 26.

Hirai’s letter said the company knows who is responsible for the attack and is working with outside security and forensics consultants and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The letter also noted that the breach came on the heels of large-scale, coordinated denial-of-service attacks launched by a loose international group of hackers called Anonymous against several Sony operations in retaliation for a complaint filed by the company against a hacker in U no fax payday loan.S. District Court in San Francisco.

On Sunday Sony discovered that intruders had planted a file named “Anonymous” on one server that had been breached, Hirai said. Late last year, Anonymous distributed hacking software to be used against companies that stopped doing business with the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks after it released thousands of classified government documents.

Hirai’s letter added that Sony may not have immediately detected the PlayStation breach in part because its security teams were busy trying to defend against the denial-of-service attacks.

“Whether those who participated in the denial-of-service attacks were conspirators or whether they were simply duped into providing cover for a very clever thief, we may never know,” Hirai wrote.

Hirai was one of three Sony executives who bowed in apology for the data breaches for several seconds at the company’s Tokyo headquarters on Sunday.

His letter was in response to an inquiry by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., who chairs the House Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, and Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, the subcommittee’s top Democrat.

Sony officials were invited to testify at a subcommittee hearing on data breaches held Wednesday, but did not appear.

One witness, David Vladeck, director of Federal Trade Commission’s bureau of consumer protection, during his testimony called for legislation that would require companies to implement reasonable data security policies and procedures, and notify consumers in the event of a breach.

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