Todays Headlines

February set deficit record; Google says China feud may be resolved soon - The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the government's budget deficit in February totaled $220.9 billion, the largest monthly figure yet and 14 percent higher than the previous record from February 2009. The deficit for the first five months of this budget year is $651.6 billion, 10.5 percent...
Finding solid footing as banks' overdrafts get overhauled - I've been noticing a lot of notice fatigue lately. By now, you may have become a bit overwhelmed with correspondence from your bank or credit union about mandated changes to your credit card account.
FHA considers down payment requirements - The Federal Housing Administration has concluded that its loan volume would have dipped by 40 percent in the next fiscal year and that 300,000 first-time home buyers would have been shut out of the housing market if it had raised its down payment requirements, as critics have pressured it to do, ...
Gay marriages expected to create wedding-related jobs in D.C. - Georgetown residents Christopher Cahill and Richard Marshall consider the $75,000 wedding that they're planning for June to be their own "personal stimulus package" for the District economy. And local businesses are already seeing the dollar signs.
Inspectors from Toyota and NHTSA descend upon San Diego to examine runaway Prius - Toyota's run of troubles and terrible timing continues.
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Wall Street could learn from book that finds money isn't everything - You would have thought that after the junk-bond scandals of the 1980s, the tech bubble of the 1990s and our recent market meltdown, Wall Street would have finally acknowledged the folly of trying to motivate employees through outsize performance bonuses.
Senate financial bill appears likely to keep Fed as regulator of big banks - Key members of the Senate banking committee are coalescing around legislation that would strip the Federal Reserve of much of its regulatory authority but would leave the central bank with oversight of the nation's largest banks, according to aides familiar with the ongoing negotiations.
Rise in Washington area unemployment seen as good sign for economy's recovery - Unemployment rates rose in the District, Maryland and Virginia in January, a shift that economists said could be a positive sign for the economy because it suggests that discouraged job-seekers are feeling more optimistic about their prospects and have resumed looking for work.
Senate passes $140 billion in tax breaks, aid to unemployed - The Senate approved a $140 billion package of tax breaks and aid to the unemployed Wednesday, the most substantial effort by the chamber to boost the nation's economy since it passed the stimulus bill last year.
House bans earmarks to for-profit companies - Facing an election-year backlash over runaway spending and ethics scandals, House Democrats moved Wednesday to ban earmarks for private companies, sparking a war between the parties over which would embrace the most dramatic steps to change the way business is done in Washington.
In St. Louis area, Obama pounds drum for health-care initiative - ST. CHARLES, MO. -- President Obama made an impassioned case Wednesday for his health-care proposal, delivering a folksy, partisan argument for reform as industry groups prepare a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to defeat it.
House Ways and Means Chairman Levin says job creation will be top priority - As he takes the reins of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Sander M. Levin is vowing to raise the profile of a once-powerful panel that, in recent years, has been overshadowed by the ethics troubles of its previous chairman, Rep. Charles B. Rangel.
Bank of America changes overdraft policy; SEC takes on market rumors -
Wall Street's role in Greek crisis should be no surprise - As I look at the uproar over Wall Street's role in the Greek crisis, one of the things I find most surprising is that anyone is surprised about Wall Street's conduct. You're upset that the Street helped Greece hide some of its debt and then began making bets that the debt wouldn't be paid? Welcome...