Unless lawmakers can agree on budget legislation to keep the federal government running, a shutdown at midnight Friday looms. If it happens, there will be a few clear winners, some who break even and a whole lot of losers.
Unrest across the Middle East is pushing high oil prices higher, and that's having a cascade effect that feels a lot like inflation as these higher prices bubble through the economy. Still, that's not enough reason for the Fed to battle inflation by starting to raise rates.
Wall Street's endless parade of buyouts and mergers, divisions and revisions has created a tangled landscape in which companies that are famous for one thing often own brands that are completely different -- or even diametrically opposed. Here are seven of our favorite mismatches.