In Focus

Losing Money Isn't the Postal Service's Only Problem

Faced with an estimated $7 billion shortfall in 2010, the United States Postal Service is contemplating radical cuts that would eliminate Saturday mail delivery and raise the cost of postage. But to really turn the USPS's problems around, it will either need to be directly funded by the government or it needs the freedom to set its own prices, policies, and hours.

HK MTR Shares Climb, JAL Continues to Plunge

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%, ending the day at 3,237. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.2%, to 10,855 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng shed 0.9% to close at 21,460.

Android Spells Trouble for iPhone

Google's Android is proving to be the first true competitor to Apple's iPhone in terms of bandwidth consumption and rich application use. If providers such as MetroPCS or Leap Wireless start offering Android-powered smartphones, it could be a big problem for some big players.

Status Quo Ahead for the Fed

With the unemployment rate at 10 percent and analysts predicting it will barely drop to 9.9 percent by the third quarter of 2010, Ben Bernanke would be committing political suicide if he raised rates now.

Reviving the Dying Desktop

No one bothered to tell Apple or its loyal customers that desktops were going the way eight-track tapes and rotary phones. Its computer sales surpassed estimates in October and November, thanks largely to the strength in desktops.

John Hussman's Big Bearish Call on Stocks

When a highly successful money manager like Hussman crunches the numbers and decides that shares are priced to disappoint -- perhaps for the next decade -- intelligent investors would do well to pay attention.

Citi Will Repay $20 Billion in U.S. Bailout Funds

To reduce government influence, the banking giant is set to pay back nearly half of its $45 billion in TARP funds. The government converted the remaining $25 billion into a 34 percent ownership stake, which it now plans to sell during the next year.

Why Citi Is Rushing
To Repay TARP

It turns out that plenty of bank assets are still troubled, which is one reason why Citigroup is facing an uphill battle to repay its government bailout. The U.S. apparently isn't going to let Citi exit TARP unless it comes up with a way to deal with $301 billion in sick assets.

November Search: All About Google

Internet giant Google grew its U.S. market share by a full percentage point to 71.6 percent in November, according to Web traffic tracker Hitwise. See how Google's gain impacted Bing and Yahoo.