IBT Staff Reporter

Millions of Americans have already seen their credit card limits shrink, and millions more face the same fate as lenders prepare for tougher U.S. consumer protection rules.

Low interest rates and tax breaks are giving the U.S. housing sector a jolt but, like the

Think of New Zealand, and the first thing that comes to mind is the magnificent scenery that this country is known for.

Apple hit back on Friday over the affair of the exploding iPhones in France by dismissing the whole story as nonsense and suggesting that the owners were either negligent or liars, the Times reported on Friday.

Procter & Gamble Co raised the salary of Bob McDonald by 40 percent to $1.4 million when he took over as chief executive last month, while his predecessor, A.G. Lafley, took home slightly more in his last year as CEO, the company reported on Friday.

NEW YORK - Guaranty Financial Group Inc (GFGF.PK) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, less than a week after regulators seized its banking unit and sold most of its assets to the Spanish bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA.MC).

WASHINGTON - A U.S. court on Friday struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the subscription television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) that could spark a wave of consolidation in the industry.

WASHINGTON - U.S. drug reviewers questioned findings from biotech company Allos Therapeutics Inc (ALTH.O) on the effectiveness of its proposed drug for an aggressive type of lymphoma, documents released on Friday showed.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. court struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the pay television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) that could spark a wave of industry mergers.

NEW YORK - The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United Stases rose four this week to 699, the sixth straight weekly gain after sinking in mid-July to the lowest level in more than seven years, according to a report on Friday by Baker Hughes in Houston.

CHICAGO - Ample supplies of U.S. soft red winter wheat and lackluster demand for the grain will promote big first-day deliveries against the September Chicago Board of wheat contract on Monday, traders and analysts said.

DETROIT - U.S. government incentives likely pushed U.S. auto sales to a 20-month high in August, leaving analysts and the industry guessing how hard a landing to expect with the Cash for Clunkers program now exhausted.

LOS ANGELES - Don't call it a comeback. I've been here for years, Whitney Houston sings on what is, in fact, her latest comeback album.

LOS ANGELES - Wildfires near Los Angeles are close enough for Southern California Edison workers to keep a watchful eye on high-voltage powerlines, but through Friday morning only about 1,000 customers were without power, a spokesman for the utility said.

The U.S. climate bill would cost Valero, the country's largest oil refiner, more annually than it has ever made in a year, forcing it to warn consumers at filling stations that fuel prices will rise, the company's top government affairs official said.

NEW YORK - A U.S. government agency has sued United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N), the world's largest package delivery company, for allegedly violating federal law by limiting workers' ability to take medical leave.

U.S. Steel is restarting the blast furnace at its Hamilton, Ontario, mill after a nine-month shutdown, a company said on Friday, saying that demand for the metal was picking up.

NEW YORK - U.S. copper futures surged to prices unseen in 11-months after robust U.S. consumer spending data suggested demand for the metal might increase, then closed off that peak at still-lofty levels as many players squared their books at month's end, analysts said.

WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators will examine a controversial practice that allows trading firms to shave valuable microseconds off trading times, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. court struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the pay television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) that could spark a wave of industry mergers.

NEW YORK/MEXICO CITY - A U.S. federal judge is expected to decide on Monday whether Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) or India's Sterlite Industries (STRL.BO) will control Asarco LLC, bringing the U.S. copper miner a step closer to leaving bankruptcy after four years.

A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out a regulation that has limited cable companies to serving up to 30 percent of the country's subscription television market, a big victory for operators like Comcast Corp and Cablevision Corp.

The owners of the New York Mets will be forced to sell the pro baseball team due to huge losses suffered in the Bernard Madoff swindle, the author of a book about the disgraced money manager said on Friday.

Oil prices slipped below $72 on Friday as losses on Wall Street and gains in the U.S. dollar dragged on commodities markets.

A weekly measure of future U.S. economic growth slipped in the latest week, though its yearly growth rate surged to a 38-year high that suggests chances of a double-dip recession are slim.

Tiffany & Co posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on cost cuts and slightly recovering demand for jewelry, and raised its full-year outlook, sending its shares up 8.7 percent.

Jaycee Lee Dugard,29, reunited with her mother, sister and another relative on Thursday after her family had struggled 18 years without knowing if they would see her alive again.

Phillip Garrido, the man who kidnapped Jaycee Lee Dugard, had a blog called 'Voices revealed' which rather reveals his distorted mind.

The Great California Garage Sale is happening Friday August 28 and Saturday August 29, an effort from California's government to sell surplus and unclaimed property at a warehouse in Sacramento.