June consumer spending, pending home sales rise
U.S. consumers spent more in June and there was positive news on the housing market, but a big drop in incomes pointed to a slow recovery from the worst recession in decades. See Full Article here.

Board endorses direction of reorganized GM
The board of General Motors Co endorsed the automaker's direction and the focus of management after the first meeting of directors since GM emerged from a U.S. government-financed bankruptcy last month. See Full Article here.

Senate will OK clunker extension this week: Reid
The U.S. Senate will approve a $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers auto sales incentive by week's end, Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday, giving new life to a successful program that has boosted industry sales to a 2009 high. See Full Article here.

General Electric pays $50 million penalty for accounting fraud
General Electric Co. has paid a $50 million penalty to settle government charges that its accounting procedures violated provisions of U.S. securities laws and increased its reported earnings to mislead investors in its financial statements, federal regulators said Tuesday. GE has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty and neither admitted nor denied the accusations, to settle the SEC's civil suit. See Full Article here.

Microsoft deal will pay Yahoo more after 5 years
Yahoo Inc will get slightly more revenue from Microsoft Corp during the second half of the companies' recently announced 10-year Internet search partnership. See Full Article here.

Cap and Trade emission allowances debated in Senate
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on the climate bill called Climate Change Legislation: Allowance and Revenue Distribution. The senate considered different methods to distribute the emission allowances under a cap and trade program, as well as options to distribute revenues from it.

Sony plans $199 U.S. e-reader, takes on Amazon
Sony Corp will begin selling this month the cheapest digital book reader for the United States, heating up the competition with Amazon.com Inc in the small but fast-growing market for electronic readers. See Full Article here.

Duke Energy 2Q profit declines 21 pct
Power company Duke Energy Co. said its profit declined 21 percent in the second quarter to $276 million or 21 cents per share from $351 million or 28 cents per share a year earlier as the economy affected commercial sales prices. See Full Article here.

U.S. power industry changes needed for climate bill goals
The United States must build 45 more nuclear power reactors, increase the amount of coal power plants with clean coal technologies and reduce consumption of electricity by 8 percent by 2030 in order to meet emissions goals outlined in the climate bill passed by Congress, the Electric Power Research Institute said in a report today.

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