Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. CLF -0.03% said it plans to increase its spending 12% to about $1 billion this year to boost its mining and transportation capacity around the world. The projected expenditures include roughly $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of funds aimed at improving growth and productivity. The coal and iron-ore producer’s earnings have been soaring in recent... 

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to keep shares of Olympus Corp. listed as it has concluded that the company’s accounting scandal did not have a significant effect on the stock market, the Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday. Olympus avoided automatic delisting from the TSE when it filed its earnings by a Dec. 14 deadline. But shares in the scandal-hit maker of cameras... 

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google Inc. GOOG -0.07% said Thursday that Diane Greene, a co-founder of VMware Inc. VMW +0.14% , has joined its board of directors, adding an executive with business-software experience to its ranks. Google disclosed in a regulatory filing that Greene, 56, will serve on the audit committee of the board, and will be granted an initial equity award of $1 million. Greene... 

Chevron Corp. CVX -2.15% said its expects its fourth-quarter profit to slide against the previous quarter, when higher margins and the sale of a major refinery bouyed results. In its interim update, Chevron said U.S. production in the first two months of the quarter reached about 660,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, down 5.4% from a year ago and 0.3% below the third quarter. International output... 

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Elpida Memory Inc. has asked about 10 of its client companies for $500 million in financial assistance to boost its cash on hand as it struggles with the yen’s strength and a fall in memory chip prices, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported in its Thursday morning edition. The report said the world’s third-largest maker of DRAM chip memory has asked information technology... 

SINGAPORE -(MarketWatch)- Singapore-listed Noble Group Ltd. on Friday said it will vote in favor of the planned merger between its 64%.5-owned Australian subsidiary Gloucester Coal Ltd. and the Australian unit of China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining YZC -3.89% . “Noble welcomes the proposed merger as it reflects the long-term strategy it has been working on together with the Gloucester board to... 

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Wynn Macau Ltd. said Friday it would pay a special dividend of HK$1.20 per share, marking the second time the Hong Kong-listed casino operator has declared such a payout. Those who hold shares through Dec. 7 will be eligible for the special dividend, which is expected to be paid on Dec. 19, the company said in a statement. Last November Wynn Macau declared a special... 

Rockwell Automation Inc. ROK -0.01% said its new plant in Brazil will double its manufacturing capacity in the country and provide faster time-to-market advantages for regional customers as the company looks to further its footprint in emerging markets. The maker of factory-automation equipment and software said it has begun construction of its new manufacturing plant in the city of Jundiai, near Sao... 

QLogic Corp.’s QLGC +4.49% board authorized $200 million in stock repurchases, the latest in a series of companies to unveil shareholder-friendly moves. A number of companies have been buying back shares to take advantage of stock market volatility or to show confidence in their long term prospects. The maker of chips that help connect servers and storage devices has a market value of about $1.48... 

Concho Resources Inc.’s CXO -2.49% third-quarter earnings soared on derivative gains, while the oil and natural-gas company’s core earnings rose on another revenue surge. The company’s revenue jumped in recent quarters thanks to higher output, as well as better prices. In October of last year, it bought substantially all of the oil and gas assets of privately held Marbob Energy Corp.,...