(Reuters) - Producer prices rose more than expected in May but the pace of increases eased from prior months as the climb in energy costs slowed, according a report on Tuesday. The Labor Department said producer prices climbed 0.2 percent, double what analyst forecasts in a Reuters poll but down from April's 0.8 percent increase. Compared to a year earlier, prices surged 7.3 percent, the largest rise since September 2008, just as the financial crisis took a turn for the worse and dragged prices lower globally.

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(Reuters) - Nokia notched up a rare victory against arch-rival Apple as the iPhone maker agreed to settle a long-running row over patents. Nokia said on Tuesday the deal would boost second-quarter earnings, having warned at the end of May that it would miss targets. Shares in the struggling cellphone maker rose 3 percent. Analysts welcomed the news and said

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(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers will discuss on Tuesday how private Greek bondholders should be involved in a second financing package for debt-laden Greece ahead of a self-imposed June 20 deadline for a deal. But no decisions are expected on Tuesday, euro zone sources close to the meeting said. "There are no decisions expected today, it is just about looking for common ground in view of the meeting on June 20," said one euro zone source involved in the preparation of the euro zone finance ministers' meeting, called the Eurogroup.

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(Reuters) - Mobile network gear maker Ericsson is to spend $1.15 billion in cash to buy U.S. group Telcordia to help it manage an explosion in data and services and fend off tough competition. Ericsson Chief Executive Hans Vestberg has said he expects 50 billion devices to be connected to the Internet by 2020, bringing a huge challenge for operators and systems providers.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose in early trading on Monday after six weeks of declines for the S&P 500 left indexes oversold and equities at more attractive levels. In a sign that valuations are more enticing, deals in the insurance, apparel and communications technology sectors were announced since the market closed Friday.

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(Reuters) - Three former securities traders were found guilty on Monday of fraud and conspiracy to commit insider trading on pending mergers, part of the U.S. government's broad probe of corporate secrets leaked to hedge funds. Brothers Zvi Goffer and Emanuel Goffer and a third trader, Michael Kimelman, their former partner at Incremental Capital LLC, chose to go to trial when dozens pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the face of FBI phone taps in evidence.

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(Reuters) - Former White House aide Larry Summers on Sunday urged expanded tax cuts on U.S. workers' wages, warning that America's economy was at risk of years of Japan-style stagnation without a further boost. In an opinion piece published by Reuters on Sunday, Summers -- a Harvard professor and former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton -- argued that it would be "premature" to withdraw fiscal support for the economy at the end of 2011.

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(Reuters) - China faces a "meaningful probability" of a hard economic landing and the euro zone is storing up problems for the future by not tackling the debt crisis head on, said Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global financial crisis. He said U.S. Treasury prices, which have risen sharply as investors sought a safe haven from the euro area debt crisis and worries about a slowdown in the global economy, were fairly valued although he was cautious about U.S. equities.

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(Reuters) - On an overcast day in May, a clutch of the world's most powerful investors gathered in a 19th-century mansion in Moscow to hear a proposition from Vladimir Putin: invest in Russia, and we will invest with you. For forty minutes at the government's Vozdvizhenka guest house, the prime minister addressed private equity and sovereign wealth funds representing a combined $2 trillion of wealth. He was pitching a plan to launch a $10 billion state-backed fund that Russia hopes can win over those foreign investors who still regard the country as a no-go zone.

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(Reuters) - VF Corp (VFC.N), owner of clothing brands such as The North Face and Wrangler jeans, said it would buy shoemaker Timberland Co (TBL.N) for $2 billion to boost its outdoor gear business. The deal values Timberland at $43 a share, a 43 percent premium to Friday's closing price of $29.99 on the New York Stock Exchange. The companies expect the deal, which both boards approved unanimously, to add to VF's earnings per share by 25 cents in 2011 and by 75 cents in 2012, including acquisition-related expenses.

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