With most of the attention on the session being focused on US announcements surrounding subprime concerns, Eurozone economic data fell to the wayside. Granted, there wasn't much to go on. However, what was reported gave a little more hope as to further expansion in the economic region.

For one, unemployment remained relatively still, keeping in time with the previous figure of 6.9 percent. Economic confidence and business climate were also positive for Euro growth and underlying currency appreciation. For the month of August, business assessments were higher at a 1.41 print compared to the previous 1.35. The figure complimented the economic confidence report, which showed stabilization in the region. However, one report did lend some bearish undertones, which would have minimized any gains purported by the previous two indications in normal market conditions. According to statistics agency, German retail sales figures were far less than expected. Rising by only 0.3 percent in the monthly comparison, the figure actually fell further by 1.5 percent on the year. This means that although economic conditions may be improving, the overall propensity for people to spend just isn't there. Although perceived as somewhat

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed Friday to do all that is necessary to protect the national economy from the ill effects of a global credit crunch -- but not to bail out investors and lenders "from the consequences of their financial decisions."

President Bush confidently predicted the country would safely weather the financial storm.

Friday's comments -- made in separate appearances -- by Bernanke here and the president in Washington, sought to send a reassuring but tough love message: Fed policymakers and the Bush administration are on top of the situation that has unnerved investors on Wall Street and around the world and raised anxiety on Main Street. But they'll act in the best interests of the economy.

While Bush announced steps Friday to help homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments, he made clear he has no interest in bailing out lenders, some of whom got cocky, took on too much risk and ended up with bad loans.

"The government's got a role to play, but it is limited," Bush said at the White House. "A federal bailout of lenders would only encourage a recurrence of the

On Aug. 29, we asked you if you would buy, sell or hold this stock. The answer is you should have bought it -- not off the base, which failed, but from a solid rebound off its 10-week moving average.

Capella Education (NasdaqGM:CPLA - News) is an online provider of mostly postsecondary schooling. The school is headquartered in Minneapolis, but its 19,000 students are in every state and 56 countries abroad.

The company had just put up earnings that accelerated in four quarters from 33% to 109%. Sales gained more than 20% in three of those periods.

Capella is in a hot group, too. Commercial Services-Schools is ranked No. 8 out of the 197 industries tracked by IBD, as of Thursday's edition. It has clawed its way higher from the No. 41 slot -- also pretty hot -- over the past eight weeks.

We've already revealed that Capella, which went public last November at $20, had built a seven-week cup, breaking out without a handle in the week ended Jan. 19

It is said that the Great Wall of China, built more than 2,000 years ago, can be seen from the moon. More recently, the country's super-sized stocks have become highly visible too.

Following an 18-month rally, the total universe of mainland Chinese stocks, including those listed in Hong Kong, now stands at some $5,000bn, eclipsing the Japanese market. Chinese companies have taken the number one slot in large parts of the global economy. Measured by market capitalisation, the world's largest bank is Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (at $280bn), while the biggest telecommunications group is China Mobile ($260bn), and China Life and Air China take the top slots in insurance and aviation respectively.

Being big has, well, big advantages. Fund managers are unlikely to trawl through Thai fish processors when they can just buy a Chinese Godzilla and match their peers' performance. Even Chinese companies are playing fund manager, by buying shares in other companies on the basis that this will bloat earnings faster than plant expansion (even if it means the market collapse, when it comes, will deliver a double-whammy).

But are China's corporate giants quite as mighty as they look? Dual listings in Hong Kong and China muddy the waters. If all of ICBC's shares were at the same

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will outline reforms on Friday to help struggling subprime mortgage borrowers, and his central bank chief will deliver a speech which will be pored over for hints of a looming rate cut.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks on "Housing and Monetary Policy" at around 10:00 a.m EDT.

Bush, who will make a statement at the White House an hour later, will announce assistance for homeowners with subprime mortgages to avoid default via changes to the tax code.

"He will also discuss reform efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future," a senior U.S. administration official said.

Massive problems with U.S. home loans, stemming from aggressive lending mainly to poor people who have been squeezed as interest rates climbed, have fostered a liquidity crisis around the globe as banks have scrambled to calculate their exposure to the sector.

The risk of a credit squeeze arising from mass mortgage defaults has also raised the prospect of U.S. consumers trimming spending at a rate that could tip the

The US dollar rallied as the Dow Jones Industrial Average started the day with triple-digit losses, but a later rebound in domestic stock markets left the greenback relatively unchanged through the afternoon. Morning US economic data proved largely uneventful, as second revisions to Q2 Gross Domestic Product numbers fell in line with consensus forecasts. Yet a simultaneous jump in Initial Jobless Claims painted a dreary picture for the future of labor market growth.

The Euro lost ground against its American counterpart, shedding $.0030 to $1.3645. The British Pound similarly lost on the early stock market tumbles, dropping $.0033 to $2.0141. Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen was the biggest gainer on the day; the US dollar fell ¥0.40 to ¥115.71.

Markets showed little concern over morning US economic data, with the dollar remaining almost squarely unchanged following the release of GDP and Jobless Claims figures. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the US economy expanded at a 4.0 percent annualized pace through the second quarter?its strongest performance since Q1, 2006. This represents a noteworthy upward revision to earlier estimates of a 3.4 percent growth rate, but consensus forecasts showed expectations of a slightly higher 4.1 percent result. The very marginal disappointment was hardly cause for alarm, however, and the dollar remained stable through subsequent trade. Yet the attached Personal Consumption numbers sent a relatively clear warning that consumers have cut back spending through the medium

DALLAS (AP) -- Dell Inc. said Thursday that preliminary second-quarter earnings jumped 46 percent on stronger sales of enterprise products and services, improved average selling prices and favorable component costs.

The computer maker said it earned $733 million, or 32 cents per share, in the three months ended Aug. 3, compared with $502 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago. Sales rose 4 percent to $14.8 billion.

The results beat the prediction of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who expected earnings of 30 cents per share on sales of $14.63 billion.

The report comes as Round Rock-based Dell emerges from a yearlong internal investigation into accounting misconduct.

Dell said it will have to reduce more than four years' worth of earnings by up to $150 million for misleading auditors and manipulating results to meet performance.

"While our results demonstrate we've made progress against our goals, we are still in the early stages of transforming our company's structure, costs and

Sears Holdings Corp.'s second-quarter profit dropped 40 percent on lower overall sales and weaker operating results from Kmart and its domestic Sears operations.

The earnings reported Thursday by one of the nation's biggest retailers were also being compared with results that included a gain on a large legal settlement a year ago.

"We are disappointed with our second quarter results," said Aylwin Lewis, Sears Holdings' chief executive and president.

Net income for the period ended Aug. 4 fell to $176 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with $294 million, or $1.88 per share, in the previous year.

Quarterly revenue dipped 4 percent to $12.24 billion versus $12.79 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $1.13 per share. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.

"Our gross margins came under pressure from sales declines and increased promotional activity, and as a result, our net income was significantly below last year