Despite the recent ups and downs of the stock market that, economists say, could continue through the fall, there are some good news for consumers, Marcia Kramer reports. Lots of people talk about the value of their 401K retirement accounts going down, but that’s just the beginning of the market impact. The silver lining is that [...]

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, lost about $6.7 billion this week. The Mexican billionaire’s stock portfolio, measured in U.S. dollars, has dropped about 9.5 percent since July 29 and is valued at about $64.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 7.2 percent slide in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Slim, [...]

This story will be updated after Shabbos: The Standard & Poor’s rating agency served the Obama administration with notice Friday afternoon that it planned to downgrade the U.S. government’s AAA credit rating, an administration official told CNN. But S&P has yet to make its ruling public, and the source told CNN the agency is reconsidering after the [...]

Stocks plunged sharply Thursday, with the Dow down more than 500 points, in its worst one-day drop since December 2008. All three major averages tumbled into negative territory for the year as investors were rattled over an intensifying global economic slowdown and ahead of the widely-followed monthly unemployment report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than [...]

U.S. airlines led by United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) may pocket $1.3 billion in higher fares tied to the Federal Aviation Administration’s partial shutdown as Congress deadlocks on the agency’s funding. The FAA already has been unable to collect $28.6 million a day in aviation taxes since midnight on July 22. Missed receipts may climb by [...]

On the hunt for a smartphone at a cheap price? You might want to visit a local Best Buy. For today only, the electronics retailer is offering Google’s Nexus S smartphone for free. The catch? Consumers might sign up for a two-year contract with either AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile and activate the device at Best Buy. The Nexus [...]

Research In Motion Ltd. plans to release a bevy of new BlackBerry devices, a delayed effort to reinvigorate its flagging brand and claw back some of the market share it has hemorrhaged in North America. Early Wednesday, RIM rolled out five new smartphones, including its first all-touch screen phone. RIM executives said the phones will be [...]

Two years after introducing direct flights to Brazil, El Al today announced that it is cancelling its flights to Sao Paulo from November 10. El Al said that the route was being cancelled due to the high cost of jet fuel following global price rises in fuel. El Al said that passengers who had bought tickets [...]

Concern is spreading through Wall Street about investment risks much more complex and unpredictable than those that played out in the 1999-2000 dot-com bust. Some 75% of investment bankers, who make money helping companies go public, worry that the multibillion-dollar valuations of high-profile Internet companies aren’t justified, according to a recent survey by accounting firm BDO USA. Objects of [...]

Here’s something to keep in mind as you follow this evening’s congressional debate over the debt ceiling. According to the latest daily statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion at the end of the day yesterday. Apple’s last earnings report showed that the company had $76.2 billion in cash [...]