At The Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed, so we've rounded up today's most relevant news items on one convenient page. We hope you find this midday edition informative and useful.
U.S. looking into homebuilders
In what some see as greater government vigilance, the U.S. Department of Labor requested records of all employees in the past two years at PulteGroup
Critics of the probe said the government may be overstepping boundaries by asking for the records. Others said that examining the subcontractors, the lifeline of homebuilding companies, could hurt the business considerably. In most states, builders are not responsible for violations of workers' rights perpetrated their subcontractors. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
After Bartz, Yahoo! is buyout target
Carol Bartz's departure from Yahoo!
Recession fears
The U.S. seems to have entered a vicious cycle that could lead to a second setback for the country's economy. Consumers' rising fears make them hold back on spending, which leads to less hiring ... and therefore less spending. Experts put the country's odds of sliding into a double-dip recession between 25% and 40%, though all say that such events are very hard to predict. But the continuing pressure from Europe's debt crisis, and a weak economy that's unable to keep with population growth, paint a grim future. Read more at The New York Times.
BP's gold mine
BP
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