Eastman Kodak Co. is preparing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection filing in the coming weeks should efforts to sell a trove of digital patents fall through, people familiar with the matter said. The struggling photography icon, which employs about 19,000 people, is in discussions with potential lenders for around $1 billion in so-called debtor-in possession financing that would keep it afloat during bankruptcy proceedings, the people said. A filing could occur as soon as this month or early February, one of the people said. A Kodak spokesman said the company "does not...

U.S. stocks on Tuesday celebrated the start of a new trading year after a gauge of U.S. manufacturing hit a six-month high, adding to cheer that began with solid data from overseas. “It’s a new year, and you can make the case people came in with a level of enthusiasm, or optimism, that might be guiding investment decisions. Most importantly is the lack of any headlines related to the European situation that is allowing people to focus on the economic data, at least for today,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist...

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 jolted eastern and northeastern Japan on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damages and no tsunami warning was issued. The earthquake measured 4 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion, according to Japan Meteorological Agency, which uses a different measuring system than the U.S. Geological Survey. A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power <9501.T> said there were no reports of any abnormalities at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plan following the...