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In Monday's budget announcement, President Obama followed the path that he outlined in last week's State of the Union address, proposing a massive $100 billion for job creation. In the process, he renewed his administration's commitment to infrastructure improvement, adding a call for a $4 billion "infrastructure bank" that will be used for large-scale construction projects. But, even as the President stated that "we're going to put more Americans to work rebuilding our infrastructure, and building our infrastructure of the future," a key element was missing. The "smart grid," long a centerpiece of Obama's plans for infrastructure spending, was seemingly out of the conversation.

Continue reading Absence of Smart Grid in Budget Talks Isn't Smart

Absence of Smart Grid in Budget Talks Isn't Smart originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:45:00.

Filed Under: Energy, Technology, Economy

Irate eBay (EBAY) users are slamming the giant auctioneer's recent fee change, saying it will drive up costs for many of the site's sellers.

Last week, eBay declared that sellers will be able to list up to 100 items every month for free -- as long as those items have a starting bid of 99 cents or lower. But many sellers claim that the change will result ultimately in higher fees to the company as eBay tries to wring more profit out of each sale.

Continue reading EBay Users Angry Over Fee Change

EBay Users Angry Over Fee Change originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:30:00.

Filed Under: eBay

The Food and Drug Administration says it has nearly doubled the number of warnings to drugmakers for questionable promotion since President Obama took office. The agency sent 41 enforcement letters 2009, up from 21 in 2008, Thomas Abrams, head of the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communication (DDMAC), tells Reuters. In January alone, the FDA sent nine letters.

Continue reading For Big Pharma, Is Breaking the Law the Price of Doing Business?

For Big Pharma, Is Breaking the Law the Price of Doing Business? originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:10:00.

Filed Under: Company News, Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Astrazeneca

America's most quoted economist, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, has a hot new quote: "The Great Recession is over." Zandi made the pronouncement on CBS News over the weekend.

Although some analysts will agree, the economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) might offer a different assessment. The NBER defines the beginnings and ends of recessions, and when it called the beginning of the current recession -- which began in December 2007, a date that was finally determined in December of 2008 -- it said that employment was the most important factor in defining the timing of the current slowdown: "The committee determined that the decline in economic activity in 2008 met the standard for a recession . . . . The 1.2 million drop in payroll employment so far this year was the biggest factor in determining the start of the contraction. . ."

Continue reading Is the Great Recession Over? Depends Who You Ask

Is the Great Recession Over? Depends Who You Ask originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:00.

Filed Under: Economy

Whatever happened to those forecasts for $30 oil? The reality is tht crude will likely revisit the $100 per barrel (and beyond) in the year ahead, if the U.S./global economic recoveries continue to progress. That bodes well for integrated oil and natural gas giant BP (BP), which reports fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Feb 2. before the market opens. (The report is scheduled to be released 7 a.m. London time, 2 a.m. ET.)

Continue reading Earnings Preview: Refining Efficiency Could Be Key to BP's Results

Earnings Preview: Refining Efficiency Could Be Key to BP's Results originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:00.

Filed Under: Energy, Company News, Earnings, BP

A daily look at the legal news and the business of law:

Continue reading Latest Legal News: The New Face of the Second Amendment

Latest Legal News: The New Face of the Second Amendment originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:43:00.

On Sunday night, the Grammy Awards saw a shift in philosophy for the Grammy voting bloc. Unlike the two previous years, none of this year's Album Of The Year nominees had cumulative sales below the sales threshold of 1 million copies. The Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D., Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce, the Dave Matthews Band's Big Whisky And The GrooGrux King, Lady Gaga's The Fame, and the winner, Fearless by Taylor Swift (pictured), were all top-selling albums by big brand-name artists.

Continue reading Grammys Boost Sales of Albums That Don't Need the Help

Grammys Boost Sales of Albums That Don't Need the Help originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:52:00.

Filed Under: Media, Retail

Several years ago, Big Pharma started a huge restructuring wave in preparation for what's called "patent cliffs" -- when companies stand to lose patent protection on blockbuster drugs. Because their pipelines of upcoming new drugs were slack, the restructurings included massive layoffs. Then another slew of job cuts hit pharmaceuticals as the global recession set in. But even now, the bloodletting doesn't seem to be over.

Continue reading Big Pharma Is Still Cutting Jobs, at Least in the West

Big Pharma Is Still Cutting Jobs, at Least in the West originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:40:00.

Filed Under: Company News, Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Astrazeneca