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.

Republicans pushing for spending cuts in the 2011 federal budget may be ready to shut the government down to get their way. But is anyone ready to do what it would take to really make a dent in the federal budget: raise taxes on the rich and close corporate tax loopholes?

It's bad enough that air fares and extra fees have been rising as fast as a plane taking off -- now, travelers must wonder if aircraft have been properly inspected. Are the costs, pains and risks of flying reaching the point where frequent fliers should reconsider their transportation choices?

President Obama has officially launched his reelection campaign and when it's time to vote again many may ask themselves whether they are better off than they were four years ago. A close look at the statistics reveals the clear winners and losers so far.

David Sokol, once considered a likely successor to Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, resigned this week from Berkshire under a cloud of possible insider trading charges. But these recent ethical lapses are hardly the worst of Sokol's business transgressions.

David Sokol, widely viewed as the heir apparent to famed investor Warren Buffett, abruptly resigned Wednesday. What investors want to know now is who's still in the running to succeed Buffett as CEO. Here are four possibilities.

Last month, IBM's Watson supercomputer beat trivia champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Jeopardy. At the core of Watson's success was something called Semantic Analysis Technology, and if you want to make your own Jeopardy bet, put some money on the companies that supply it.

Google has been dead money for the last year -- up just 3% vs. 12.6% for the S&P 500. The Internet giant's biggest problem is its inability to diversify its revenue sources. Author Peter Cohan pulls out his Innovation Quotient to suggest how new CEO Larry Page might correct that.

The average American household suffered a huge drop in wealth because of the financial crisis, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve. How did this happen -- and more importantly, what can you do about it?

Last year saw a surge in stock repurchases -- companies like ExxonMobil, Walmart and Microsoft bought back shares at record levels. Buybacks can be seen as a cash giveaway to investors, and they boost earnings per share. But there's a strong reason to be wary of companies that do buybacks.