Orange County Sues Toyota For Acceleration Flaws[ Mar 12, 2010 15:22 ]

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas accused the automaker of knowingly selling hundreds of thousands of vehicles that had defects. The suit seeks civil penalties of $2,500 per violation under the Unfair Business Practices Act, along with the recovery of attorney fees and investigative costs.

Examining Lehman's Creative Accounting[ Mar 12, 2010 15:00 ]

A new report says Lehman Bros. used accounting tricks to cover up the fact it had been insolvent for weeks before it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. Lynn Turner, former chief accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission, discusses the creative accounting techniques the company used to manipulate its books.

Report Finds Lehman Used Accounting Tricks[ Mar 12, 2010 15:00 ]

A bankruptcy court examiner is raising new questions about the actions of Lehman Bros. executives in the weeks before the firm filed for bankruptcy. In a 2,000-page report, the examiner alleges that Lehman's top managers manipulated the firm's balance sheet in a bid to stave off bankruptcy.

Repo 105: Lehman's 'Accounting Gimmick' Explained[ Mar 12, 2010 11:55 ]

As the financial crisis grew in 2007 and 2008, the now-defunct banking giant knew it needed to reduce its reliance on borrowed money. But it was a bad time to sell stuff off and pay back debts. So Lehman Brothers made special use of something called the repo market.

Obama Considers Janet Yellen For No. 2 Fed Post[ Mar 12, 2010 08:58 ]

President Obama intends to nominate Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to take over as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, an administration official says. She served as a top economic adviser to President Clinton.

Retail Sales Take A Surprising Turn In February[ Mar 12, 2010 08:40 ]

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.3 percent last month — surpassing expectations that sales would decline by 0.2 percent — as consumers did not let major snowstorms stop them from storming the malls.

We Bought A Toxic Asset; You Can Watch It Die[ Mar 12, 2010 09:34 ]

Remember those complicated bonds full of home mortgages? The ones that almost brought down the economy? A team of reporters with NPR's Planet Money used $1,000 of their own cash to buy a tiny piece of one — and plan to track it until it dies.

Obama Postpones Trip To Indonesia[ Mar 12, 2010 09:30 ]

President Obama is delaying his trip to Asia next week to focus on his big push on health care. The White House tweeted the announcement. His family was going to go with him but they will not now. The White House wanted Congress to act on the health care bill by March 18, Obama's original departure date.

Christian Groups Find Way Around High Health Costs[ Mar 12, 2010 08:30 ]

The nonprofit Samaritan Ministries transfers money among its members to pay each household's health care costs. Benefits to members include lower monthly payments and faith-based policies, but there's no guarantee their bills will be covered. Several evangelical Christian groups are using similar approaches.

Most States Have No Laws Against Freelance 'Repos'[ Mar 12, 2010 04:00 ]

The auto repossession industry is big business. Two million cars were repossessed last year. A report from the National Consumer Law Center says most of those are done without the involvement of courts or police. These so-called self-help repos have caused at least six deaths in recent years.

Pink Floyd Wins Battle With EMI Over Online Sales[ Mar 12, 2010 04:00 ]

A British Court ruled record label EMI may not sell Pink Flloyd songs individually without the band's permission. The band insisted its contract prohibited those sales. EMI said the contract didn't apply to Internet sales.

Report Details What Led To Lehman's Collapse[ Mar 12, 2010 04:00 ]

A 2,200-page bank examiners' report released Thursday details what went wrong that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. It shows Lehman executives had been using accounting gimmicks to camouflage billions of dollars of debt.

Administration Turns Eye Toward Big Agribusiness[ Mar 12, 2010 04:00 ]

Top Obama administration officials launch a series of workshops Friday delving into agriculture antitrust issues. Some big agribusiness firms say the forums will showcase a well-functioning, free market, but some producers think the probe will expose a system increasingly hostile to traditional family farms.

No Ink, No Paper: What's The Value Of An E-Book?[ Mar 12, 2010 00:00 ]

The electronic publishing revolution is under way, and for consumers, it could mean paying less than ever for books. But some publishers fear lower prices could spell the end of the industry.

Dream Of A Tropical Resort Inspires Midwest Town[ Mar 12, 2010 00:00 ]

If you build it, they will swim — that's the vision of Elkhart, Ind., where nearly 1 in every 5 people was unemployed a year ago. Situated close to Chicago and Indianapolis, the town is a few hours' drive for 35 million people. So Elkhart is exploring the idea of building a type of tropical resort popular in cold climates in Europe, such as this one in England.