• Government may soon back troubled mortgage giants 9/6/2008, 1:08 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is expected to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as soon as this weekend in a monumental move designed to protect the mortgage market from the failure of the two companies, which together hold or guarantee half of the nation's mortgage debt, a person briefed on the matter said Friday night.

• Government may soon back troubled mortgage giants 9/6/2008, 7:08 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is expected to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as soon as this weekend in a monumental move designed to protect the mortgage market from the failure of the two companies, which together hold or guarantee half of the nation's mortgage debt, a person briefed on the matter said Friday night.

• Contract talks fail; machinists strike Boeing Co. 9/6/2008, 7:02 a.m. EDT
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing Co. machinists walked out on strike Saturday after contract talks arbitrated by a federal mediator failed to produce an agreement.

• Report: Nomura considering stake in Lehman 9/6/2008, 4:34 a.m. EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage group, is considering buying a stake in U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.

• Silver State Bank in Nevada is shut 9/6/2008, 1:29 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in commercial real estate and land development.

• Talk of financial crisis sparks unease in S. Korea 9/6/2008, 1:26 a.m. EDT
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Headlines warn of a "September crisis." The currency falls to a four-year low and the stock market tumbles. Rumors swirl that foreign investors will pull out their money.

• Google reigns as world's most powerful 10-year-old 9/6/2008, 1:23 a.m. EDT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google Inc. on Sept. 7, 1998, they had little more than their ingenuity, four computers and an investor's $100,000 bet on their belief that an Internet search engine could change the world.

• As unemployment spikes, companies weigh options 9/5/2008, 11:38 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. companies have cut more than 550,000 jobs so far in 2008 as they try to preserve their profits in a slumping economy, but analysts say such downsizing must be done carefully for corporations to have any long-term benefits.

• Boeing, machinists talks fail; Union to strike 9/5/2008, 7:45 p.m. EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Despite a 48-hour contract extension, negotiations between Boeing Co. and Machinists union officials failed Friday and the union said a strike was set to begin at 12:01 a.m. PDT Saturday.

• Report: Gov't may soon back Fannie, Freddie 9/5/2008, 7:18 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shares of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled in after-hours trading Friday following a report by The Wall Street Journal that the government may soon step in to provide a financial boost to the two companies.

• APNewsAlert 9/5/2008, 6:46 p.m. EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Talks with federal mediator fail to reach Boeing contract deal; Machinists to strike

• Soybeans tumble as dollar gains ground on euro 9/5/2008, 6:33 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Soybean prices tumbled Friday after the dollar continued its rally against the euro, giving investors more reasons to sell commodities that were bought as a hedge against inflation. Corn and wheat also fell sharply.

• Treasury prices decline as investors take profits 9/5/2008, 6:26 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Treasury prices fell Friday as investors cashed in profits from the strong gains the bonds made earlier in the week.

• GE may face civil action on securities violations 9/5/2008, 6:10 p.m. EDT
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — General Electric Co. said Friday it has been informed that the Securities and Exchange Commission may recommend fines and other action for possible violations of securities law related to accounting changes the company made.

• Prosecutors: Loss in AIG scheme exceeds $1B 9/5/2008, 6:07 p.m. EDT
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Connecticut say a scheme to manipulate the financial statements of the world's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc., resulted in a loss of more than $1 billion to investors.

• Summary Box: Unemployment hits 5-year high 9/5/2008, 6:07 p.m. EDT
(AP) — THE LATEST: The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent August and employers slashed jobs for the eighth month in a row.

• Unemployment climbs to 5-year high of 6.1 percent 9/5/2008, 6:04 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's unemployment rate bolted above the psychologically important 6 percent level last month for the first time in five years — and it's likely to go even higher in the months ahead, possibly throwing the economy into a tailspin as Americans pick a new president.

• Stocks mostly rise as investors snap up financials 9/5/2008, 6:00 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street wrestled with intensifying economic worries Friday, extending sharp losses after a disheartening jobs report and then grudgingly engaging in some mild bargain hunting that gave the market some modest gains. The major indexes ended the week with big declines, a sign that investors, who not long ago expected the economy to improve, are now growing increasingly discouraged.

• Nokia, UST, Lehman, Safeway, SanDisk big movers 9/5/2008, 5:53 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

• GE says SEC probing possible securities violations 9/5/2008, 5:43 p.m. EDT
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — General Electric Co. says the Securities and Exchange Commission staff has notified the company it may recommend fines and other action for possible violations of securities laws.

• InfoGroup no longer faces delisting from Nasdaq 9/5/2008, 5:41 p.m. EDT
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Database provider InfoGroup Inc. said Friday it no longer faces the threat of being delisted, but the Nasdaq plans to reprimand the firm publicly.

• Aruba Networks declines after analyst downgrade 9/5/2008, 5:23 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Aruba Networks Inc. shares fell Friday after an analyst downgraded the stock to "Equal Weight," saying that despite strong sales, ongoing capital investments are limiting the company's ability to increase its earnings.

• NY Times to combine some sections in metro area 9/5/2008, 5:12 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times plans to reduce the number of standalone sections of the New York metropolitan editions of the newspaper, a move designed to save money by cutting labor costs.

• FDA posts list of potential problem drugs 9/5/2008, 4:59 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems in an effort to better inform doctors and patients.

• Altria calls reports on UST 'pure speculation' 9/5/2008, 4:47 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, said Friday that a report of its impending acquisition of UST was "pure speculation." Analysts said the deal makes perfect sense.

• Oil prices drop as jobs data add to demand worries 9/5/2008, 4:40 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices sank to a five-month low Friday as a jump in the U.S. unemployment rate signaled to traders that Americans might keep paring back their energy use to save money.

• FDA posts list of potential problem drugs 9/5/2008, 4:40 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems, in an effort to better inform doctors and patients.

• Report: Samsung working to acquire SanDisk 9/5/2008, 4:39 p.m. EDT
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. is pursuing an acquisition of U.S. computer memory card maker SanDisk Corp., a South Korean online business newspaper reported Friday.

• Nokia warns 3Q market share will fall; shares dive 9/5/2008, 4:36 p.m. EDT
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Shares in Nokia Corp. tumbled Friday after the leading cell phone maker said its third-quarter global market share will decline from second-quarter levels because of aggressive price cuts by its rivals.

• Agriculture futures end trading lower on CBOT 9/5/2008, 4:29 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Agriculture futures traded lower Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

• Tech firms fare better than most in jobs slump 9/5/2008, 4:21 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology appears to be one of the least hard-hit sectors in an economy beset by unemployment at a five-year high.

• Details about Altria, UST 9/5/2008, 3:48 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WHAT THE COMPANIES SAY: Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, called a New York Times report that it would buy rival UST Inc. for more than $10 billion "pure speculation." UST declined to comment.

• Bank of America ready to settle securities probes 9/5/2008, 3:48 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bank of America Corp. said Friday it is ready to settle federal and state investigations into sales of risky auction-rate securities, joining eight other big investment banks that have agreed to buy back a total of more than $50 billion of the securities.

• Is the financial crisis over? Not so fast 9/5/2008, 3:22 p.m. EDT
CERNOBBIO, Italy (AP) — Oil prices are down, the dollar is up, and U.S. growth and exports have perked up a little. So is the global financial crisis winding down anytime soon? Top economists and business leaders meeting Friday at an Italian lakeside resort found plenty to discuss but little to agree on.

• Home loan troubles break records again 9/5/2008, 3:01 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The source of trouble in the mortgage market has shifted from subprime loans made to borrowers with bad credit to homeowners who had solid credit but took out exotic loans with ballooning monthly payments.

• Microsoft deploying in-store customer-service reps 9/5/2008, 2:46 p.m. EDT
(AP) — NEW YORK — As part of its new $300 million marketing campaign and image makeover, Microsoft Corp. plans to deploy its own customer-service representatives at retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City to help people with their PC purchases.

• US oil and gas rig count down by 18 9/5/2008, 2:06 p.m. EDT
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 18 this week to 2,013.

• Continental to charge $15 for 1st checked bag 9/5/2008, 1:36 p.m. EDT
DALLAS (AP) — Continental Airlines Inc. said Friday it is charging some coach customers $15 for a first checked bag, matching a similar fee imposed by most other major U.S. carriers.

• Informa shares fall after it rejects takeover bid 9/5/2008, 1:17 p.m. EDT
LONDON (AP) — Shares at Informa PLC, the London-based publisher of Lloyd's List maritime newspaper, fell almost 7 percent on Friday after the company rejected a reduced $3.4 billion takeover bid from a private equity consortium.

• Review panel criticizes Great Lakes health study 9/5/2008, 12:48 p.m. EDT
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Substandard science has hurt a federal agency's seven-year effort to document possible links between industrial pollution and health problems in the Great Lakes region, an independent review panel said Friday.

• Dollar mostly higher, gold rises in Europe 9/5/2008, 12:41 p.m. EDT
LONDON (AP) — The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Friday. Gold rose.

• Google reigns as world's most powerful 10-year-old 9/5/2008, 12:07 p.m. EDT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google Inc. on Sept. 7, 1998, they had little more than their ingenuity, four computers and an investor's $100,000 bet on their belief that an Internet search engine could change the world.

• Summary box: Google still feeling lucky at 10 9/5/2008, 11:34 a.m. EDT
(AP) — HUMBLE START: Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated Google on Sept. 7, 1998, after unsuccessfully trying to sell their search engine for a couple of million dollars. They set up shop in their Stanford dorm rooms with just four computers before moving their headquarters to a garage owned by Brin's future sister-in-law.

• National Semi earnings down on tax rate 9/5/2008, 9:51 a.m. EDT
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (AP) — National Semiconductor Corp., which makes chips that regulate power and perform other functions in gadgets, reported Friday its first-quarter profit fell 7 percent from a year ago due to a higher tax rate.

• German industrial production fell in July 9/5/2008, 9:43 a.m. EDT
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German industrial production fell 1.8 percent in July compartede with June, with the three main categories of output showing declines, the ministry of the economy said Friday.

• Honda bringing back Insight nameplate for hybrid 9/5/2008, 9:42 a.m. EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Honda is bringing back the defunct Insight nameplate for a hybrid-only vehicle planned for the Japanese, European and North American markets early next year, as the automaker strives to play catch-up with rival Toyota in hybrids.

• Russia's MTS to sell Apple iPhone 9/5/2008, 9:32 a.m. EDT
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's number one cell operator MTS said Friday it has signed a deal with Apple Inc. to sell the iPhone in Russia.

• World markets sink after Wall Street plunge 9/5/2008, 9:20 a.m. EDT
LONDON (AP) — World stock markets fell sharply Friday in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street amid mounting concerns about a slumping U.S. economy and its impact on global growth.

• APNewsAlert 9/5/2008, 8:31 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Government says jobless rate jumps to 6.1 percent in August; payrolls drop by 84,000.

• US stocks look to extend losses ahead of job data 9/5/2008, 7:58 a.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street looked to extend its losses on Friday, with investors worried that the government's August jobs report will indicate that the economy is in recession.