AP - Reports of sudden acceleration in the Toyota Prius have spiked across the country. But that doesn't mean there's an epidemic of bad gas pedals in the popular hybrid.

AP - Businesses trimmed inventories at the wholesale level again in January even though sales rose for a 10th consecutive month. The dip in inventories underscored that businesses remain cautious about restocking their depleted shelves.

AP - The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year's record for the full year.

AP - Scant buying lifted stocks for a second day Wednesday after the government reported a drop in companies' inventories.

AP - The Senate voted Wednesday to extend key pieces of last year's economic stimulus measure, including help for the jobless and money to help financially strapped states pay for health care for the poor.

AP - Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country.

AP - Government debt is growing, as is the deficit. The economy is struggling to get out of recession and there is talk of spending cuts or higher taxes. The unions are on edge. And the currency is plummeting.

AP - Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.

AFP - The European Central Bank will consider a proposed emergency fund for eurozone economies in distress, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

AP - Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

AP - American International Group Inc. said Monday that it will sell its American Life Insurance Co. division for $15.5 billion to MetLife Inc. The government-approved deal, AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks, will give the insurer more cash to repay the billions of bailout dollars it still owes the government.

Reuters - MetLife Inc pursued AIG's foreign life insurance business for two years before finally clinching a $15.5 billion purchase that will give it beachheads in 47 nations from Peru to Bangladesh.

AFP - US life insurance giant MetLife will acquire a unit of American International Group in a 15.5-billion-dollar deal that will help AIG pay back part of its government bailout, the firms said Monday.

AFP - US insurance giants American International Group and MetLife will on Monday announce a $15.5 billion deal for AIG's second-largest foreign life-insurance business, The Wall Street Journal reported.

AFP - Borrowings by Americans rose for the first time in a year in January, the Federal Reserve said Friday in a sign that the US economic recovery is on track.

Reuters - Stocks jumped and the Nasdaq hit an 18-month closing high on Friday as U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month and consumers showed signs of shedding their penny-pinching ways.