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When General Motors executives stopped in St. Louis last fall to meet with auto dealers, the economy was entering a free fall.
"We were right in the middle of the meltdown when we were out doing this. We just didn’t know it," said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president for sales. "I mean we […]

Barnes-Jewish Hospital is getting a new leader next month at a time when health care facilities are feeling the pinch of the troubled economy and facing the uncertainties of health care reform.
But Richard Liekweg, who will become president of Barnes-Jewish and Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital on Sept. 14, believes BJC HealthCare is on […]

President Obama is expected to nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as head of the Federal Reserve, a senior administration official told CNN Monday night.
The source asked not to be identified because the announcement had not yet been made.
Obama is expected to make the announcement on Tuesday morning at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where […]

In Pennsylvania, day care centers are closing. Food banks and libraries are cutting back. A school district is taking out a multi-million dollar loan.
Local governments and social service agencies are struggling to maintain services as lawmakers and the governor battle over how to close Pennsylvania’s $1 billion budget gap. Democrats don’t want to cut […]

Online social networking site Facebook is looking to expand its staff by as much as 50 percent this year, its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told Bloomberg news agency in an interview dated August 20.
Facebook’s website says it has more than 900 employees.
The company, which counts venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Accel Partners, Microsoft Corp and […]

or tried to turn in — to get their Cash for Clunkers deal.
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DETROIT’S DOWNFALL

Last weekend for Cash for Clunker deals
Cash for Clunkers ending
Cash for Clunkers heading to junk yard
GM bringing back 1,350 workers
Clunkers: Toyota passes GM as top seller

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Cash […]

Apple Inc. is investigating media reports that one or more of the company’s iPhones have exploded in Europe, a European Commission spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
The spokeswoman for the EU executive, which oversees the safety of consumer products sold in the 27-country bloc, said Apple had described the reported incidents as isolated.
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) […]

More than 1,000 emergency loans have been granted to struggling companies since the Small Business Administration launched the much-anticipated America’s Recovery Capital program in mid-June, according to a lending tally released this week. While the list confirms that the program is likely to hit its goal of making 10,000 loans by the time it […]

Germany and France enjoyed a shock return to economic growth in the second quarter of the year, data showed on Thursday, ending their recessions earlier than many policymakers and economists had expected.
German gross domestic product rose by 0.3% in the second quarter, bringing an end to the country’s deepest recession since World War Two […]

One of Washington’s true epic battles will play out over the next several weeks. It’s the fight over health-care reform, of course, and it will be big, brutal, and ugly.
The stakes are high — trillions of dollars, the reelection prospects of hundreds of legislators, and President Obama’s legacy. So let’s acknowledge right now […]