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Obama firm: Don't extend tax breaks for wealthiest
[AP] - President Barack Obama strongly defended his opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans on Wednesday and delivered a searing attack on Republicans and their House leader for advocating "the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place."
Stocks resume rally as European debt worries ease
[AP] - Stocks resumed their rally Wednesday after a successful auction of Portuguese government debt eased worries about Europe's financial system.
Airgas board unanimously rejects Air Products bid
[AP] - Airgas says its board of directors has unanimously rejected a sweetened $5.5 billion buyout offer from rival Air Products.
Fed survey: Slower growth spreads to more regions
[AP] - More regions of the country reported slower growth as the U.S. economy lost momentum in the late summer. A new survey by the Federal Reserve finds the weakness spreading. Of the 12 regions tracked by the Fed, economic activity was mixed or slowed in five -- New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta and Chicago.
BP report blames itself, others for oil spill
[AP] - In an internal report released Wednesday, BP blames itself, other companies' workers and a complex series of failures for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the drilling rig explosion that preceded it.
Panel examining recession's causes meets in Vegas
[AP] - Nevada had unrealistic growth expectations before the nation's financial meltdown battered the state's tourism industry and erased billions of dollars in real estate equity, an economist told a federal commission examining the causes of the Great Recession.
Google search accelerates with 'instant' results
[AP] - Google is accelerating its search engine by displaying the results as soon as users begin to type in their requests. The new "Instant Search' introduced Wednesday means people will start to see an ever-evolving set of results in the middle of the page with each character they type into the search box.
Oracle plans to give Hurd $950,000 annual salary
[AP] - Oracle Corp. plans to pay newly appointed co-President Mark Hurd a base salary of $950,000 annually and said the ousted Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO is eligible for a target bonus of $5 million in the current fiscal year.
Job openings rise for first time since April
[AP] - Job openings rose in July after two months of declines, a positive sign that companies could step up hiring in the coming months.
Canada's central bank raises key rate to 1 pct
[AP] - Canada's central bank raised a interest rate on Wednesday for the third consecutive time. The Bank of Canada increased its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 1 percent. In June, Canada became the first Group of Seven nation to raise interest rates since the global economic crisis.
Fed approves sale of Morgan Stanley stock shares
[AP] - The Federal Reserve has approved a request by a Chinese sovereign wealth fund to acquire up to 10 percent of the voting shares of New York investment giant Morgan Stanley.
Stocks end a brutal August with meager gains
[AP] - The stock market ended its worst August since 2001 with meager gains Tuesday after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed officials' increasing concern about the economy.
SEC says it lacked authority to charge Moody's
[AP] - The Securities and Exchange Commission has declined to seek fraud charges against Moody's Investors Services over its ratings of risky investments that led to the financial crisis.
Deere sells wind energy business for $900M
[AP] - Energy company Exelon Corp. said Tuesday it will pay $900 million for the wind energy assets of manufacturer Deere & Co., potentially signaling an active merger and acquisition period ahead for the power industry.
Earl could force US evacuations ahead of Labor Day
[AP] - A powerful Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe much of the East Coast just ahead of Labor Day, worrying countless vacationers who planned to spend the traditional last week of summer at the beach.
10 bailed-out banks spent $16.3M lobbying in 1H
[AP] - The 10 banks that received the most bailout aid during the financial crisis spent over $16 million on lobbying efforts in the first half of 2010, as the debate over financial regulatory reform reached its height.
Fed officials discussed further stimulus steps
[AP] - Federal Reserve officials signaled at their August meeting that they would consider going beyond a modest program to purchase government debt if necessary to boost the economy.
Large banks earn billions, small banks struggle
[AP] - U.S. banks are making money again, although a split picture of the industry has emerged since the financial crisis. The largest banks are thriving, mostly because they can borrow on the cheap and have rid themselves of bad debt.
Americans' economic confidence ticks up slightly
[AP] - Americans' confidence in the economy improved slightly in August from July, but they're still roughly as gloomy as a year ago.
PC industry's woes could mean bargains this fall (AP)
If you're looking for bargains on personal computers, bad news from the industry could be good for your pocketbook. Computer makers are scrambling for ways to goose faltering consumer demand after a weak start to the back-to-school shopping season.
