Segments From This Episode

• Market taking toll on builders

  by Marketplace Staff

  The effects of the subprime crash and ensuing credit crunch have officially rippled over to home builders. Construction of new homes dropped 6.1 percent in July, falling to its lowest level in more than a decade. Amy Scott reports.

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• Construction jobs hang on

  by Dan Grech

  The housing bubble has burst and new home construction has slowed dramatically, but a new study shows that Hispanic construction workers have managed to keep finding work. Though maybe not as much. Dan Grech explains.

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• Soothing words from the Fed

  by Bob Moon

  Wall Street investors are still anxious to hear which direction the Fed might turn next in its attempts to calm the financial markets, but Bernanke's doing everything he can to keep the "real economy" purring. Bob Moon reports.

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• Teens reaching for souped-up cold ones?

  by Stacey Vanek Smith

  

  Caffeinated beer may sound like a college student's dream, but some worry the drinks are being marketed to underage consumers as beverage companies grab for their share of the multi-billion dollar energy drink market. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

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• Amer-E*trade?

  by Ashley Milne-Tyte

  The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that online brokers TD Ameritrade and E*Trade are considering a merger. A deal would create the largest online broker, valued at about $20 billion, and it could be good for customers, Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

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• When boomers sell, sell, sell!

  by Marketplace Staff

  In the long run, stock prices have always risen over time. But the timeline of that "always" isn't all that long, which has commentator David Frum wondering, what happens if the baby boomers all start selling at once?

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• Japan, India come together

  by Steve Henn

  Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting India with 200 Japanese executives in tow. The motivation behind the high-profile visit: Both countries are looking for economic allies as they warily eye China's rise. Steve Henn explains.

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• China tinkers with smog repair

  by Marketplace Staff

  The IOC has warned Beijing that it needs to do something about its pollution problem or risk losing some events during the 2008 Olympics. So the Chinese government forced some 1.3 million cars off the roads in a four-day experiment to clean up the air.

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