INVESTMENT

President Obama will announce a $500 million partnership to spur innovation and create jobs in the manufacturing sector during a speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Friday.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: Southern Union, Navios Maritime Holdings, Noranda Aluminum Holding, Crexus Investment and Vishay Precision Group. The top after-market NYSE losers are: STR Holdings, Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Energy Transfer Equity, New York & Co and Imation Corp.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has begun the massive construction of a clock that will run for 10,000 years.

Fast food, soda, potato chips, cookies. Fat, carbs, sugar. We've heard it all at one time or another, this makes you fat. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports how much weight a person is likely to gain or lose over four years based on one additional daily serving of a range of specific foods. Is it really potato chips that contribute to overweight and obesity?

Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire has been sued for $300,000 by a group of investors over illegal poker winnings. The lawsuit also includes film director Nick Cassavetes, Welcome Back Kotter TV star Gabe Kaplan and Paris Hilton's onetime sex video partner, Rick Salomon.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Herman Miller, Intevac, Magic Software Enterprises, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, and Pharmasset. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: First Pactrust Bancorp, WD-40, CEVA, Insulet, Saba Software, Apple, and Google.

Firm settles regulatory probe for misleading investors

The Federal Reserve released a statement today after its June meeting, and ahead of Ben Bernanke's press conference Wednesday afternoon. The press conference will be only the second one in the Federal Reserve's history.

How big could the national debt get? Well, to paraphrase a line popularized by actor William Shatner, if Congressional lawmakers can not agree on a deficit reduction package, it’s going to get ‘really big’ -- grow to a total larger than the U.S. economy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a formidable challenge this afternoon when he addresses the economic and investment community post the 2-day FOMC meeting

Hyundai Construction Headquarter will locate Norcross and bringing about 100 jobs in Georgia.

Best Buy to use cash hordes no longer needed to repurchase $5 billion in stock. The company increases its quarterly dividend 7%. Best Buy will reduce square footage in its big box stores over the next five years.

On Tuesday, Encana announced its $5.4-billion joint venture agreement with PetroChina to develop the Cutbank Ridge assets had failed during almost a year of talks.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: AeroVironment, Asia Entertainment & Resources, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Globus Maritime, and Merge Healthcare. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: NuVasive, Adobe Systems, Atmel, Globe Specialty Metals, Altera, Research In Motion, and Apple.

More than 80 percent of venture capitalists believe the initial public offering market is at very weak levels, according to a new survey from Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association.

U.S. regulators are poised to expand oversight of the roughly $2 trillion hedge fund industry, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expected on Wednesday to adopt rules requiring private fund advisers to register with the agency.

Bernie Madoff's boat is going for $4.3 million this week at the 17th annual Gaim Conference - one of the European hedge fund industry's most glamorous annual events, according to Financial Times.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Vitacost.com, Gulf Resources, Vical, Clearwire, Copano Energy, and Apple. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Prospect Capital, Leap Wireless International, Iridium Communications, Impax Laboratories, and Adobe Systems.

An $8.4 billion lawsuit brought last week against Blackstone LP by creditors of the bankrupt Extended Stay hotel chain ranks as one of the largest ever filed over a failed leveraged buyout.

This Monday the Steps of City Hall New York staged the protest of hundred of cab drivers opposing the bill proposed by Mayor Bloomberg in Albany. The bill aims at the allowing livery car drivers to pick up passengers in certain parts of New York City, which is currently only legal for yellow cabs.

The musical concert Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles on Broadway will play its last performance on September 4, ending its one-year-long show of an extended Beatles concert.