Wall Street marks best month in a year in July (Reuters)

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 28, 2010. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - U.S. stocks closed little changed on Friday, but Wall Street wrapped up its best month in a year after the earnings season rounded the final turn with a group of strong results that offset the impact of poor economic data.



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Jobs data, earnings latest test for stocks (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. stocks are unlikely to break above a key technical level next week unless monthly jobs data and consumer company results paint a more promising picture of the recovery.
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Cuomo widens insurer probe with 6 more subpoenas (Reuters)

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo attends a news conference in New York in this June 30, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Mike SegarReuters - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed six more insurers as the state widens a probe into whether life insurance companies have defrauded families of deceased members of the military.



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BP may sell German gas stations for $2.6 billion: report (Reuters)

Reuters - BP Plc is seeking to sell its German petrol station chain Aral for around 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported on Saturday, citing investment bankers familiar with BP's plans.
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Imports slow Q2 growth as business spending surges (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.
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Citigroup paying $75M to settle civil charges (AP)

A man pictured at a branch of Citibank at the US banking giant Citigroup's world headquarters on Park Avenue, New York, in 2008. Citigroup on Friday said it made a 2.7 billion dollar profit in the second quarter of this year, down nearly 40 percent from the same period last year.(AFP/File/Emmanuel Dunand)AP - Banking titan Citigroup Inc. is paying $75 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about its potential losses from subprime mortgages as the housing bust hit in 2007.



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Obama hails news economy growing, wants more (Reuters)

U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to depart Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, for a day trip to Detroit, July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Larry DowningReuters - President Barack Obama said on Friday he welcomed news that the U.S. economy grew by 2.4 percent in the second quarter, but said more work was needed to increase that growth rate and generate jobs.



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ICICI Bank profit up 17 percent on better loans (AP)

AP - ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, said quarterly profit rose 17 percent as it cut costs and eliminated bad loans amid revived credit demand in India's growing economy.
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Greece turns to military to restore fuel supplies (AP)

Protesting truck drivers hold a Greek flag as they protest in central Athens on Friday, July 30, 2010. Defying an emergency government order, Greek truck drivers vowed Friday to press ahead with a protest that has halted fuel supplies across the country and is hurting tourism at peak season.The protesters rejected a compromise offer by the government to offset the financial impact of liberalizing their closed-shop profession.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)AP - Greece said Friday it will use military trucks, navy vessels and commandeered fuel tankers to restore gasoline supplies cut by a strike that has hurt the country's industry and vital tourism trade at the height of vacation season.



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Reverse Mortgages Aren't Catching On (U.S. News & World Report)

U.S. News & World Report - The reverse mortgage industry, hammered for high fees and high pressure sales tactics, has steadily improved its procedures and its image. Loan fees and interest rates have been lowered, consumer disclosure has improved, and the federal government's insured reverse mortgage program has provided stability and credibility to the industry. A-list lenders have expanded their presence in the market; Wells Fargo and Bank America are the nation's top two reverse mortgage lenders.
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IMF lowers Spain growth forecast, warns of 'fragile' rebound (AFP)

People hold Union flags during a demonstration to protest the government austerity cuts in Madrid in June 2010. The IMF on Friday lowered its 2011 growth forecast for the Spanish economy to 0.6 percent from the 0.9 percent it foresaw in April and warned the recovery AFP - The IMF on Friday lowered its 2011 growth forecast for the Spanish economy to 0.6 percent from the 0.9 percent it foresaw in April and warned the recovery "is likely to be weak and fragile."



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Out-of-stock Kindle may mean new version coming (Reuters)

Reuters - Amazon.com said its best-selling Kindle device was currently out of stock, leading one Internet analyst to surmise the online retailer was poised to launch a new version.
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Michigan voters search for economic savior (AP)

President Barack Obama addresses employees at the Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, Friday, July 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)AP - Michigan voters frustrated over lost jobs, home foreclosures and budget deficits will vote in Tuesday's primary election for leaders they hope can move the state out of its economic morass.



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Feds warned company in Mich. spill about pipeline (AP)

Crews clean up oil, from a ruptured pipeline, owned by Enbridge Inc, near booms where Talmadge Creek meets the Kalamazoo River in Marshall Township, Mich., July 30, 2010. The Canadian company that owns the pipeline that leaked the oil estimates the spill at 820,000 gallons. The EPA puts the total at more than 1 million gallons. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP - U.S. regulators earlier this year demanded improvements to the pipeline network that includes a segment that ruptured in southern Michigan, spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River, according to a document released Saturday.



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Movie tax cuts 'help struggling California economy' (AFP)

A year-old program granting movie studios tax breaks for filming in California has saved jobs and should yield two billion dollars in direct spending, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- seen here in June -- said.(AFP/Getty Images/Michael Buckner)AFP - A year-old program granting movie studios tax breaks for filming in California has saved jobs and should yield two billion dollars in direct spending, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said.



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Obama: Detroit auto bailout was unpopular, but it worked (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Christian Science Monitor - President Obama used a visit to Michigan Friday to argue the case that despite its unpopularity, his 2009 bailout of the Detroit auto industry has worked.
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The Rebirth of Prague's Vltava River (BusinessWeek)

BusinessWeek - When Petr Vojak was deciding where to settle down with his family last year, his aim was clear. He wanted somewhere peaceful yet central. Eventually, they decided on a new flat in a northern district along the Vltava river, which flows through Prague.
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