Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Segments From This Episode

• Economists underwhelmed by Fed’s new plan

  by Bill Radke

  The Federal Reserve plans to spend up to $30 billion a month on U.S. Treasury bonds in an effort to motivate the banks to lend. But this doesn't provide a huge incentive in an economy of $14 trillion.

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• Regulators eye volatile trades in flash crash

  by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

  Federal officials are meeting today to ask whether exchange-traded funds are to blame in last May's flash crash.

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• Where the oil industry meets alternative energy

  by Marketplace Staff

  Nolan Hart got a lot of photos of drilling rig explosions and pumpjacks at sunset from working 25 years in the oil industry. Krissy Clark perused his site and explored how oil and gas-based energy is fueling renewable resources.

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• Federal judge to determine legality of deepwater drilling ban

  A federal judge in New Orleans will hear arguments over whether the six-month ban on oil drilling is legal. The moratorium has idled many of BP's Gulf drilling plans.

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• China’s flood death toll worsened by urbanization, say critics

  by Rob Schmitz

  Environmentalists say China's rapid urban development helped fuel the massive death toll caused by the recent disaster floods.

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• Indian spice traders guarded over foreign food giants in their market

  by Raymond Thibodeaux

  Indian spice merchants are concerned that U.S. and European companies are muscling in on their market.

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• Trade deficit widens in June

  by Bob Moon

  The trade deficit went up 19 percent in June, and the U.S. set a new record for imports of consumer goods.

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• Kagame lacked critical opposition in Rwandan poll

  by Peter Greste

  Rwanda's incumbent president Paul Kagame has worked hard to change his country's reputation, but his success in this week's general election has not been without controversy.

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• Human error may be to blame in Toyota acceleration accidents

  by Marketplace Staff

  Investigators say they have no evidence that Toyota's electronics are the culprit for those bouts of sudden acceleration.

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