Week of July 16th, 2012

One parent wonders why many adults disapprove of where her son is putting his hard-earned lemonade stand money towards.

More than 30 credit reporting companies have access to and track your financial information. Who tracks them? Up ’til now… nobody. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on the scene and we’ll hear from its director Richard Cordray. Making an Olympic team takes more than talent and athleticism; it’s also an investment. The financial sacrifice of going for the Gold. Plus, the dollar bill grows wings and takes flight.

When the Olympics start next week in London, there will be, of course, winners and losers among the athletes. There will also be, outside Olympic Park in the East End of London, no small competition among businesses.

Commentator and culture journalist Alyssa Rosenberg on the shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that occurred last night at a screening of the popular Batman movie.

Reviewing the week's headlines on Wall Street. This week: Ben Bernanke's latest statements on what the Federal Reserve can do for the country, and the latest EU summit.

The Olympics is usually thought of as an economic win for the host town, but in the East End of London, there’ll be some losers as well. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney are prominently featuring blue-collar workers in their campaign ads — why is the rest of the working world left out? Watches, having been made basically useless thanks to cell phones, are now making a fashionable comeback. Reporter Shereen Marisol Meraji takes a look at the economic impact of Ramadan, which begins today.  And commentator and culture journalist Alyssa Rosenberg reflects on the shooting that took place at a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo.  

Even as more people use their smartphones as to check the time, watch sales are rising at a healthy clip — especially on the luxury end

Sifting through years of stuff is one of the most difficult parts of moving. A new start-up will empty your house of all its clutter for a minor fee.

For some companies, 30 days of fasting and reflection return profits.

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Two years after the Dodd-Frank Law was enacted, many in the banking sector are still grumbling about the change in regulation. How does that compare to when the rules change in another American pastime: Baseball? Schlumberger and Baker Hughes help big oil drill. But their business is softening as some drillers pull back due to the economic slowdown.

Heineken has offered $6 billion to buy Asia Pacific Breweries, which makes Tiger beer. Their giant bid was meant to elbow out a play by a billionaire from Thailand and get a stronger hold on the Southeast Asian market.

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As one of the world's biggest agricultural exporter, the drought in the U.S. could impact food prices worldwide. In recent years, high food prices have initiated destabilization of the Middle East as well as Haiti.

Jon Stewart, Spongebob and Jersey Shore are back on for DirectTV subscribers. Viacom had blacked out Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and 16 other channels during a contract dispute. So who lost, and who won?

Several big American companies — General Electric, Schlumberger, Microsoft — reported weak earnings and quarterly losses today. The question is, are we due for another round of major layoffs?

A program called Year Up provides classroom training and internships to high school graduates or those with a GED who otherwise have a hard time breaking into the world of high-tech.

Fears are growing in London that the Olympics may not start smoothly. The union representing border agents at Heathrow airport is planning to go on strike a day before the ceremonies begin.

You've of course heard of Old Spice. Well, here comes "Old Book."

After the close on Wall Street yesterday, Microsoft announced its first quarterly loss ever. And Google announced a $2.8 billion profit for the quarter. Two very different situations — but they might just share a theme.

Employee riots at India's largest car-maker — Maruti — have burned down part of the factory, shut down the plant and killed a human resources manager.

The news that didn't quite make the headlines. This week: Robots learn how to swim, a mom hacks into her kids' school system computers to change grades and a glitch on United Airlines' website offered a $33 plane ticket to Hong Kong.

Many European economies are begging for Germany to share its wealth with them. Where did the German culture of frugality come from?

This week, Google held a conference — not about the latest features in Google+, or better ways to use your Android phone, but about ways to stop really bad guys. Think drug cartels, organ harvesters, and arms dealers; bad, bad guys. It hopes its technology can make our crime fighters more efficient. Plus, researchers have developed an electronic glove that can teach you to play the piano.

Two years after the Dodd-Frank Law was enacted, many in the banking sector are still grumbling about the change in regulation. How does that compare to when the rules change in another American pastime: Baseball?

Two years after the Dodd-Frank Law was enacted, many in the banking sector are still grumbling about the change in regulation. How does that compare to when the rules change in another American pastime: Baseball? Schlumberger and Baker Hughes help big oil drill. But their business is softening as some drillers pull back due to the economic slowdown.

Schlumberger and Baker Hughes help big oil drill. But their business is softening as some drillers pull back due to the economic slowdown.

In the 2012 presidential election race, both parties focus on images of factories and hard hats.

Small businesses find it harder to get credit, so they create fewer jobs.

Google uses tech to go after bad guys and a researcher develops an electronic glove that helps people with spinal cord injuries.

A faster-cooking kitchen range is the incentive for one family to switch to natural gas. But if you hope to save money, that's just the start.

The judge says Samsung did not copy Apple's iPad design for its Galaxy Tab. In return, Apple's punishment will be pretty public.

Severe droughts across the nation are affecting nearly every level of production. Kai Ryssdal talks to Ken Lenox, a fifth-generation cattle rancher from Missouri,  about the effects of the drought on his land, and reporter Eve Troeh explains what happens when water becomes a hot commodity. Flying these days can be painful, but some airports are hoping to help things along with self-serve machines for everything from check-in to boarding. The new book, “Significant Objects,” explores how tchotchkes can be made valuable just through simple storytelling. And Funny or Die’s local news team KFOD brings a special report on the rising price of movie tickets.

Movie tickets have risen since 1902. We turn to the local Funny Or Die news team, KFOD, for answers.

It was just a small hop from self check-out at the grocery store to self check-in at the airport. Now you can even self-tag your bags and self-board the plane. What's next?

Cattle ranchers in the Midwest face some tough decisions as their pastures bake with little to no rain.

Tradition chains like Safeway are stuck in the middle between "experience" stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, and discount grocers like Walmart.

Gallup's Frank Newport digs into the latest polling data on the cure for our economic ailments.

Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn's new book, "Significant Objects," is an experiment in good storytelling and a good sales pitch.

Farmers in dry areas who rely on irrigation start off better in a drought than farmers who count on rain. But when water tables fall, irrigation starts to shut down.

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So there seems to be a trend developing over in the social media world: From Alec Baldwin to John Mayer, more and more big name celebrities are dropping out of the Twitter-verse.

Emmy nominations are out this morning and they're full of shows from cable — AMC's Mad Men got the most. Have the broadcast networks been replaced by cable and how do online only shows fit in?

Until this year, Nokia was the world's biggest maker of cell phones. Today the company announced a $1.5 billion quarterly loss and slashed the price of its new headline handset, the Lumia 900.

A new study in the journal Lancet says lack of exercise now causes as many deaths as smoking. And according to the latest figures, obesity costs Americans about $200 billion a year in medical expenses. So perhaps it makes sense that for the first time, Americans polled by Gallup see obesity as a bigger problem than smoking or alcohol consumption.

At the UN today, the Security Council is expected to vote today on economic sanctions against Syria, in an effort to help end the 16 month conflict between the government of Bashar Al-Assad and rebel forces. But will more economic sanctions work?

Soybean prices have reached a record high, and corn prices are near records in the midst of a rough drought across the Midwest. It could impact all of us soon in the form of higher prices for everything from cereal to chicken.

China held a forum with African leaders today, offering $20 billion in loans to countries throughout the continent over the next three years. The pledge almost doubles China's previous aid to Africa, strengthening a relationship that has attracted a lot of criticism from the West.

Our politicians can't seem to work it out; how do ordinary Americans think we should fix the economy?

According to the Financial Times newspaper, four big European banks have joined Barclays in the not-so-prestigious club of financial institutions being investigated for rigging a benchmark lending rate called LIBOR.

It appears more of the world’s largest banks are getting roped into allegations of fraud. Four big European banks have joined Barclays in the not-so-prestigious club of financial institutions being investigated for rigging a benchmark lending rate called LIBOR. Of course, this banking scandal comes on the heels of the monster JP Morgan trade-gone-bad, which has cost the bank billions of dollars. What can be done to keep these problems from happening? And more than a dozen top-tier universities are signing on to a plan that will make college more affordable — by offering some of their courses online for free.

AT&T has announced a new plan called Mobile Share, which lets you connect up to 10 devices on the same account. So if your family has five smartphones and a couple tablets, they could all be on one plan. Phone calls and text messages are unlimited, the data for your emails and videos and Facebook updates, that’s capped — and that’s where AT&T will get you. Plus, according to recent studies, Facebook is losing popularity.

But these still won't compete with the brick-and-mortar institutions.

AT&T offers customers a simple and flexible world where they don’t get to use as much data as they might like.

Capital One must pay $210 million after settling charges from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it misled credit card customers.

As banks face scrutiny over questionable practices, Chris Farrell explains why breaking up some of our biggest banks would solve a lot of problems.

The new Batman film is an action flick spiced with an undercurrent of economic inequality. Bruce Wayne, after all, is a one-percenter.

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says that middle-aged people are the ones struggling the most with student loans. The new numbers on housing look positive, but should we take the news with a grain of salt? The state of Washington is now allowing Facebook users to register to vote on the popular social networking site. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau will be begin regulating credit rating agencies. Reporter Eve Troeh takes a look at the new summer vacation in light of the recent economy. And writer Dave Eggers talks about his new book, “A Hologram for the King,” which mirrors the rise and fall of American manufacturing with the struggles of an aging businessman.

New government oversight could give consumers more power.

In his new novel, "A Hologram for the King," Dave Eggers muses on manufacturing and the global economy though the eyes of a struggling American businessman in Saudi Arabia.

The State of Washington's elections office is working with Microsoft to allow voters to register via social networking giant Facebook.

But there's much further to go to return to a normal pace of home-building.

Surprisingly — or not so surprising — 40- to 49-year-olds have the most delinquent student loan debt.

The Southern California city considers bankruptcy, after the departure or collapse of successive industries left it unable to pay for fire, police and other services.

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It's the heart of summer, and beaches are crowded. But school schedules, worries about work and even the weather are eating away at summer vacations.

Today, a woman in Australia born without arms or legs reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the distributor of Thalidomide, as a previously undiagnosed victim of the drug's side effects. The case may prompt similar legal action for uncompensated victims around the world.

Groundbreaking on new homes jumped up last month at the fastest pace in three years. Housing starts were up 6.9 percent from May and 24 percent from a year ago.

Bank of America just reported its quarterly earnings and they're better than expected: $2.5 billion in profit. What does that mean for the U.S. economy on the whole?

Some of China's biggest companies are warning that profits for the first half of this year could be cut in half. It's the latest evidence of an economic slowdown in China and gives you a sense of how big that slowdown might be.

Two years ago this Saturday, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Many say the bailout pulled the economy back from the brink. But the ad-hoc nature of the bailout made clear we needed better ways of responding to — and ideally preventing — financial crises.

There's a new report out today that provides one explanation for why companies aren't hiring the people they want to hire: A visa program to bring in the best and brightest from around the world is capped, and doesn't account for the economic geography of America.