There was a big boost in commodities markets when stocks took a beating earlier this week, but now commodities are starting to cool off. Those Fed rate cuts shored up the dollar, making commodities produced in the U.S. more expensive for foreign buyers. Alisa Roth reports.
In the wake of the Bear Stearns fire sale, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, says the government should monitor and regulate risk in the financial sector -- an idea that makes Wall Street cringe. Jeremy Hobson reports.
Some Wall Street investors actually profited from the dramatic fall of Bear Stearns, gambling the investment bank's stock would plummet in value. Now there's an investigation into possible insider trading among some options traders. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
The Chinese crackdown on Tibet has been a major news story leading up to Beijing's 2008 Olympics. Now corporate sponsors who have contributed hundreds of millions are worried about the implications of the political unrest. Kai Ryssdal talks to Scott Tong in Shanghai, China.
Bonds called sukuks, designed to conform to Islamic rules forbidding interest on loans, have been popular investments the past few years. But now a leading scholar has cast doubt on whether the bonds are truly Islamic, prompting fears of a subprime-like meltdown. Stephen Beard reports.
PepsiCo and its largest bottler have bought a majority stake in Russia's leading juice producer, Lebedyansky. Lebedyansky squeezed $800 million from the Russian juice market last year, and PepsiCo believes there's much more where that came from. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
The U.S. currently imports two-thirds of its oil needs -- even President Bush believes the nation is "addicted to oil." But commentator Jerry Taylor says that since importing oil is cheaper than producing it domestically, energy independence isn't a good idea, or even practical.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is working on a "cap-and-trade" plan to cut the state's greenhouse gases, compelling companies to buy and sell credits regulating potentially harmful emissions. But some environmentalists are skeptical of a market-based approach. Sarah Gardner reports.
