Archive for July 18th, 2008

Read full story for latest details.

Read full story for latest details.

The House is likely next week to take up a Bush administration proposal to empower the Treasury to back up embattled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Imagine walking down the supermarket aisle with a cheap device you could hold up to a tomato. If the sensor detects a pesticide residue, you'd know the "organic" label is a lie. Similar tools could track the chemical content of water in a stream, telling you if there was lead contamination and when it got there, or keep constant watch on a bridge and tell if a structural steel beam was at risk of collapse.

Wall Street was erratic throughout the day Friday, with blue chips rallying late on more encouraging financial sector news, after volatile oil prices sent shares lower early in the day.

In the clearest sign yet that online ad sales growth cannot outrun a global economic slowdown, Google reported the first-ever sequential quarterly revenue decline in its U.K. business. The dip, as reported in the company's second-quarter earnings Thursday, cut into Google's overall international growth, bringing it down to 52% from 55% in the first quarter.

Taxpayers got some good news Friday: Freddie Mac wants to take your money just as little as you want to hand it over.

The federal takeover of IndyMac Bank last week left many Americans wondering whether their bank was safe. It put a spotlight on a relatively obscure list published quarterly by the FDIC called the "problem list."

Oil prices fell Friday, marking a more than $16-a-barrel four-day drop, as the market focused on a possible thawing between U.S. and Iranian tensions.

Citigroup booked a $2.5 billion quarterly loss Friday, but surprised investors as it took fewer painful marks against its books and stayed ahead of Wall Street's dreary earnings projections.