US rescue of Fannie, Freddie poses taxpayer risks

By TOM RAUM

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush's "ownership society" was never supposed to come to this.

With the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, U.S. taxpayers now essentially own the bulk of the nation's mortgage market.

This ownership could even lead to a big increase in the national debt — to $15 trillion, up from just under $10 trillion now — if things don't work out as planned.

The government's forced rescue of the mortgage finance giants over the weekend could have many unintended consequences, even though those in both parties — including the presidential nominees, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama — have greeted it as a necessary evil toward easing the nation's housing and credit woes.

If all goes as planned, it should help make home loans cheaper and more readily available. It also may slow the rate of foreclosures and possibly halt house price depreciation. But that's a big maybe.

US rescue of Fannie, Freddie poses taxpayer risks....

NBC Universal and Google Form Strategic Advertising Partnership

NEW YORK & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sep 08, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As part of its continuing effort to offer innovative advertising solutions to its clients, NBC Universal (NBCU) will join forces with Google (GOOG)to form a strategic multi-year advertising, research and technology partnership. The two companies will work together to develop more effective advertising metrics, attract non-traditional advertising partners to NBCU and incorporate self-service buying opportunities through the Google TV Ads(TM) advertising platform.

The announcement was made today by Mike Pilot, President, NBC Universal Sales and Marketing and Tim Armstrong, Google's President of Advertising and Commerce, North America.

NBC Universal and Google Form Strategic Advertising Partnership....

99 Cents Only Stores Raises Top Price to 99.99 Cents

By Beth Jinks and Heather Burke

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- 99 Cents Only Stores will raise its top price for the first time in 26 years to 99.99 cents as rising fuel and commodity prices drive costs higher.

The 0.99 cent increase will take place at its 277 stores later this month, the City of Commerce, California-based retailer said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire.

The boost of less than 1 cent is ``in response to dramatically rising costs and inflation,'' Chief Executive Officer Eric Schiffer said in the statement. ``Just as Motel 6 was eventually forced to raise its price above $6, after 26 years we are forced to raise our price by just about one cent.''

Cash-strapped U.S. consumers, faced with rising unemployment, soaring food and fuel costs and falling home values, are bargain-hunting. The U.S. consumer price index jumped by the most in 17 years in the 12 months ended July.

99 Cents Only Stores Raises Top Price to 99.99 Cents....

Liberty Media to spin off satellite, TV assets

By MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Liberty Media Corp. on Wednesday said it would spin off a part of its business that includes DirecTV and the Starz television channels into a separately traded company.

Those businesses now fall under the umbrella of a unit called Liberty Entertainment (LMDIA:27.53, +0.41, +1.5%) , which trades as a so-called tracking stock. Liberty Entertainment shares were up 1% to $27.34.
Liberty Media trades under three tracking stocks: Liberty Entertainment, Liberty Capital (LCAPA:16.00, +0.07, +0.4%) and Liberty Interactive (LINTA:13.95, +0.32,+2.4%) .

Tracking stocks, which have fallen out of favor in recent years, allow investors to obtain a financial stake in different parts of a business and "track" its performance. Yet the parent company retains full ownership of all the assets. For this reason, the stocks often trade at a discount to actual equities.

Under the parent company's proposal, Liberty Entertainment will be transformed into a separately traded business. Shares of the tracking stock will converted into shares of the new subsidiary in a tax-free spinoff to investors.

Liberty Media to spin off satellite, TV assets....

GM, Ford Drag U.S. Car Sales to 10th Straight Decline

By Mike Ramsey and Alan Ohnsman

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the biggest U.S. automakers, dragged the domestic industry to its 10th straight monthly sales decline in August as consumers continued to snub trucks because of gasoline prices.

GM dropped 20 percent and Ford was down 27 percent. Each further pared production plans for the rest of the year. Deliveries at their main Japanese rivals, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., fell less than 10 percent.

A weak U.S. economy, falling home values and gasoline prices near $4 a gallon combined to drop industrywide sales 16 percent, and analysts said they saw little prospect for relief. Hardest hit have been the pickups and sport-utility vehicles that account for most of the volume at money-losing GM, Ford and Chrysler LLC.

``I don't think we've seen the worst,'' said John Casesa, managing partner of Casesa Shapiro Group in New York, in a Bloomberg television interview. ``This has been a long, dismal story, and macro conditions are as bad as they get for the auto industry.''

GM, Ford Drag U.S. Car Sales to 10th Straight Decline....

Oil plunges to near 5-month low

By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil futures on Tuesday tumbled to levels not seen since early April on a strengthening dollar and concerns that an economic slowdown has crippled demand for energy.

U.S. crude futures for October delivery dropped $5.75 a barrel to settle $109.71. It was the lowest oil has settled since April 8, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Oil prices hit their lows for the day early Tuesday. Prices tumbled nearly $10 from Friday's settlement of $115.46 a barrel, according to NYMEX, as traders bet that damage to Gulf oil infrastructure from Hurricane Gustav was less than had been anticipated.

However, damage reports from the government and companies operating in the Gulf have not been released. "We're still in assessment mode, but so far, things are looking good," said Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute.

Oil plunges to near 5-month low....

Google unveils browser, acknowledges debt to Apple

By Eric Auchard

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept 2 (Reuters) - Google Inc's (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) new browser software is designed to work "invisibly" and will run any application that runs on Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Safari Web browser, company officials said on Tuesday.

The company said the new Web browser, dubbed Google Chrome -- a long-anticipated move to compete with Microsoft Corp, Mozilla Firefox and other browsers -- is now available for download at www.google.com/chrome/.

The public trial of the Google browser will be available in 43 languages in 100 countries, Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management said at a news conference at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters.

"You actually spend more time in your browser than you do in your car," Brian Rakowski, group product manager for the browser project, said of the significance of offering a faster browser and forcing greater competition in the market.

Google unveils browser, acknowledges debt to Apple....