Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday on optimism the International Monetary Fund would be able to raise additional funds to help combat Europe's debt crisis and after Goldman Sachs' earnings beat estimates.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's fourth-quarter profit fell 56 percent as trading and investment banking revenue plunged, but the bank managed to beat analysts' expectations through cost cutting and lower taxes, sending its shares higher.

 Reuters - The International Monetary Fund is estimating it needs to raise up to $600 billion in new resources to lend to countries struggling with the fallout from the growing euro zone debt crisis, IMF sources said on Wednesday.

 Reuters - Industrial output rose in December as manufacturing rebounded at its strongest pace in a year, further evidence the economy ended 2011 on a firmer footing.

 Reuters - Authorities arrested four people and will announce charges against several more on Wednesday as part of the government's sweeping probe into insider trading at hedge funds, an FBI spokesman said.

 Reuters - Top executives at Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gne.DE) and NYSE Euronext sent a letter to European Commissioners emphasizing the "European" nature of a combined company, in a bid to salvage their deal after antitrust regulators threatened to block it.

Reuters - Applications for home mortgages surged more than 20 percent last week, fueled by a wave of refinancing demand as interest rates dropped, an industry group said on Wednesday.

AP - Goldman Sachs' net income fell 58 percent in the last three months of last year because of lower investment banking fees in a quarter marked by choppy financial markets.

AP - Berlin's twice-yearly Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has opened its doors, with an Austrian designer giving her collection a low-key look at a time when Europe faces economic gloom.