Dell has stopped trading on the NASDAQ exchange following the news that just came in that the company is being taken private. The investors are Dell’s founder Michael Dell along with the private equity firm Silverlake Partners and Microsoft.

In other news this morning, the U.S. government is suing Standard & Poor’s. The rating agency is accused of inflating its assessment of mortgage backed securities and contributing to the mortgage meltdown.
 
As of last Friday, the unemployment rate in the U.S. was 7.9 percent, and until that figure falls to 6.5 percent, the Federal Reserve says it’ll keep up its aggressive monetary easing. In some parts of the country, unemployment is below 6.5 percent. Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman to one of them — Boise, Idaho.

And finally, to Muzak, that background music we hear in malls and elevators. According to the New York Times, the company that owns the name Muzak, is re-branding it “Mood”. Don’t worry though, the music will not change.