(Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc could launch a rival bid for NYSE Euronext to avoid being left on the sidelines, a source said, as traditional exchanges race to merge to see off upstart electronic rivals. This is one option Nasdaq, valued at $5.7 billion, is considering as a spate of deals shakes up an industry under intense cost pressure from new entrants such as BATS Global Markets, which last week snapped up rival Chi-X.

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(Reuters) - For Tim Cook, the small-town football fanatic turned steward of the world's largest technology company, it always comes back to the vision question. The search for an answer will frame succession planning discussions in Building 4 of 1 Infinite Loop -- the heart of Apple's California headquarters -- when Cook is expected to step in for his boss to lead the annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday.

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(Reuters) - No. 2 U.S. home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc gave a lackluster outlook for the current quarter despite strong fourth-quarter results, and its shares fell. The company, which recently laid off about 1,700 middle managers across the United States, expects first-quarter earnings of 34 cents to 38 cents a share, while analysts were expecting 38 cents a share.

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(Reuters) - WellPoint Inc (WLP.N) said on Wednesday that it had initiated a dividend, the third major U.S. health insurer to recently start offering a substantial payout to its shareholders. WellPoint, which also backed its 2011 forecast, declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share, or $1.00 on an annual basis, starting in the first quarter.

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(Reuters) - Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL.N) reported a quarterly profit as it offered fewer buyer incentives and benefited from a tax break. The company, whose shares rose more than 3 percent, was also able to finish selling certain less-profitable communities, which boosted its margins.

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(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's hurried sale of much of its U.S. operations to Barclays Plc at the height of the financial crisis was fair, and its bankruptcy estate is not entitled to recover an $11 billion "windfall," a federal judge ruled. The long-awaited ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck followed a trial in which Lehman argued that Barclays got a sweetheart deal in acquiring its U.S. investment banking and brokerage operations.

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(Reuters) - World trade volumes exceeded pre-crisis levels for the first time in December, and global trade expanded by a record 15.1 percent in the whole of 2010, the Dutch CPB economic institute said on Wednesday. The data were further evidence of a buoyant global economy, with the full-year expansion in trade more than compensating for a 13.0 percent contraction in 2009 in the wake of the financial crisis, it said in its monthly world trade monitor.

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(Reuters) - Applications for home mortgages rebounded last week, fueled by a jump in refinancing activity as interest rates pulled back, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 13.2 percent in the week ended February 18. It was the biggest weekly jump since early October 2010.

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(Reuters) - Washington Post Co (WPO.N) reported a lower quarterly profit on Wednesday because of falling advertising revenue at its flagship newspaper and lower enrollment at its for-profit colleges. The Post's fourth-quarter net income fell to $79 million, or $9.42 a share, from $81.7 million, or $8.71 a share, a year ago. As a result of the company's share repurchases, there were fewer diluted average shares outstanding in 2010. Revenue grew slightly to $1.19 billion on strong performance at its television broadcasting division. Newspaper publishing revenue fell 3 percent to $188.4 million.

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(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday as a revolt in Libya prompted investors to move away from riskier assets, providing a pause after the market's six-month rally. Global oil prices hit a 2-1/2 year high on concerns the unrest could disrupt supplies from the oil exporting region. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to quell a growing revolt and scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.

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