LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood actors and studios held a final day of labor talks on Monday before their contract was due to expire, but the midnight deadline was expected to pass with neither a settlement nor a strike.

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Hollywood actors, studios head for labor limbo

California lawmakers have missed the deadline to approve a state budget for the fiscal year that starts Tuesday. Republicans and Democrats in both houses of the state Legislature remain far apart on how to close the state’s $15.2 billion budget shortfall….

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Calif. starts fiscal year without budget

San Francisco officials are denying liability in the death of a San Jose teenager who died on Christmas Day after being attacked by an escaped tiger at the zoo. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a response Monday to a claim by the parents of 17-year-old…

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San Francisco denies liability in tiger attack

DETROIT (Reuters) – Chrysler LLC will shut its St Louis minivan plant, cutting production of its top-selling vehicle and 2,400 factory jobs in a sign of the automaker’s troubles with a market reeling from record gas prices.

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Chrysler to shut minivan plant as sales slump

Thinking of Treasuries or other fixed-income plays as the stock market sinks? Here’s what to look for

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Smart Bond Plays for Dark Days

Thinking of Treasuries or other fixed-income plays as the stock market sinks? Here’s what to look for

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Bonds: Smart Plays for Dark Days

Thinking of Treasuries or other fixed-income plays as the stock market sinks? Here’s what to look for

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Bonds: Smarter Playsfor Darker Days

NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co reigned supreme across global debt and equity underwriting for the last quarter.

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JPMorgan reigns over debt, equities underwriting

The bank takes away its minimum payment feature on mortgages, a clear sign that a further surge in defaults is inevitable

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Wachovia’s Pick-a-Pay Pullback

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Navistar International Corp’s return to the New York Stock Exchange on Monday after a year-long exile to the Pink Sheets did not generate the warm reception the company’s management undoubtedly hoped for.

Navistar return to NYSE gets rude welcome

MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida sued mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp for predatory lending practices on Monday, alleging the company at the center of the U.S. mortgage crisis made subprime loans to people who could not repay them.

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Florida sues Countrywide over mortgages

Students at Art Center College of Design created their visions for the ‘Next Lunar Rovers’ in a transportation design project sponsored by NASA

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The Next Lunar Rover

An attorney for Alabama asked jurors Monday to award the state as much as $800 million from two pharmaceutical companies accused of overcharging for Medicaid drugs. The state claims GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis engaged in fraud from 1991 to 2005, depriving…

Ala. lawyer asks jury for $800M in drug fraud case

Treasury prices ended a turbulent first half of 2008 close to where they started the year, as investors hesitated to make any big moves ahead of more readings later this week on the shaky U.S. economy. Six months into the year, the economy is still looking…

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Treasurys little changed as Wall Street ends flat

In a bid to prevent a summertime spike in gang violence, police and other officials unveiled a plan Monday to keep several city parks open late into the night. The idea is to keep youngsters off the streets and engaged in sporting and other activities…

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LA parks open late to keep kids out of gangs