By Joseph Woelfel, TheStreet 

 

LinkedIn (LNKD) posted its first quarterly loss since its May initial public offering despite revenue more than doubling during the period. The business social network also said it will raise up to $500 million in another stock sale.

 

Starbucks (SBUX) beat Wall Street profit expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter by 1 cent on better-than-expected​ revenue. But the coffee chain gave a fiscal 2012 outlook below analysts' expectations, as it expects rising commodity costs.

 

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) increased its third-quarter profit but cut its earnings and sales forecasts for 2011 on uncertainty in Europe.

 

American International Group (AIG) posted its biggest quarterly loss since 2009, hurt by declining markets and an impairment charge on its plane-leasing subsidiary. AIG also announced a plan to buy back $1 billion in common shares.

 

CBS (CBS) said third-quarter earnings topped analysts' expectations, but revenue, despite rising 2% to $3.37 billion, came in below forecasts. CBS said sales benefited from new online streaming partnerships.

 

Earnings reports are expected from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) and KKR (KKR).

 

In other company news, Groupon has priced its highly anticipated initial public offering, selling 35 million shares at $20 each to raise $700 million. The deal website's stock will start trading today under the symbol GRPN.

 

Google (GOOG) said it is altering its search algorithm to include more time-sensitive, relevant content. The change, which comes as Google's usefulness as a real-time search site is challenged by Facebook and Twitter, will affect about 35% of all searches. Google previously incorporated real-time search into its results through a partnership with Twitter, but the feature was disabled in July when the two failed to renew their contract.

 

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) is negotiating with federal prosecutors to resolve a civil suit over currency trades that could pave the way to settlements of $2 billion in lawsuits, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

 

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