Business

Shares in computer-maker Dell Inc. surged by 13 percent Monday on rumors the Round Rock based company could go private. Bloomberg News cites anonymous sources as saying Dell is in talks with at least two private equity firms.

John Doggett is a lecturer at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. He says the talks come as Dell is shifting its business strategy away from PCs.

Austin-based software company Bazaarvoice Inc. says it is confident it will win a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday.

The Justice Department sued the company over its acquisition of San Francisco-based PowerReviews Inc. last year. The DOJ claims Bazaarvoice “eliminated its most significant rival and effectively insulated itself from meaningful competition.”

In a statement, Bazaarvoice responded that there is “still robust competition for ratings and reviews all over the social commerce landscape.”

Contrary to what you may have heard, people in the country illegally can file a return. They use a special IRS-issued number called an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). But new IRS rules effective this month mean some changes for people using ITINs.

In 2010, the latest available data from the IRS, nearly 18 million people paid their taxes with ITINs.

Until yesterday, Dave Johnson was a part of computer company Dell’s strategy to turn the once-dominant company around. But Dell declared yesterday that Johnson is ditching the tech industry altogether to take a senior position with an investment company.

In 2009 Johnson jumped ship from IBM to Dell as senior vice president for corporate strategy. The company’s intention was to catapult from personal computers into the tech service market, alongside giants like IBM and Hewlett-Packard. 

Construction could begin on 8,800 to 9,600 new single-family homes in 2013, according to an annual forecast by Eldon Rude, the Austin analyst with the real estate tracking firm MetroStudy. Rude delivered his forecast this morning before a group of realtors and home builders. The growth would represent an increase of 10 to 20 percent. 

If you're searching for work in this new year, the Labor Department's final jobs report for 2012 suggests: The trend is your friend in 2013.

The jobs outlook is actually "pretty positive," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting firm.