Business news for Fri, 28 Mar 2008. 1236 news.

Tempe Music Festival is growing

Inexpensive open source software should do well as IT managers are forced to stretch their shrinking budgets.

WASHINGTON -- Democrats urged President Bush on Friday to endorse their housing assistance proposal, which would let bankruptcy judges lower payments for homeowners staring at foreclosure.

The city of Sacramento will receive $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance solar technologies citywide, Rep. Doris Matsui announced Friday.

Apollo Group shares dive after the company reports a loss due to a class-action lawsuit.

Find out if taking the path less traveled will work in your favor - or against it.

Stocks slid Friday, falling for the third straight session, as investors abandoned an early rally attempt as J.C. Penney's profit warning and churning in the financial sector kept economic fears in focus.

NEW YORK - Newspaper print advertising revenue fell by the biggest percentage on record in 2007, an industry trade group reported Friday.

NEW YORK - Sales of investment and vacation homes plunged last year along with the rest of the housing market, but still made up one out of every three homes sold, the National Association of Realtors reported Friday.

NEW YORK - Gold prices fell sharply Friday after the dollar ticked higher and crude oil retreated, diminishing the precious metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation.

A key U.S. House member said he supports Honolulu's proposed commuter rail project and said the system could received nearly $900 million from the federal government.

WORLD oil prices fell sharply today on renewed concern that a slowdown in the US economy would dampen energy demand and on news that damage to an Iraqi pipeline was not as serious as first thought.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- IAC/InterActiveCorp. Chairman Barry Diller does not need a green light from Liberty Media Corp. to split up IAC, a Delaware court has ruled, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday on its Web site. The news sent late-traded shares of IAC up 7.2% to $21.96 in after-hours activity. (Corrects share price.)

Pharmaceutical company Eisai won a preliminary injunction that stops Teva Pharmaceutical from marketing a generic version of Aricept, Eisai's treatment for Alzheimer's disease, until 2010.

The IMF approved a proposal that would increase the votes of poorer countries by only 1.6 percentage points, a blow to developing nations that seek to realign the fund's voting power.

The Tampa Bay Partnership presented a check for $50,000 to the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority Friday at its monthly board meeting. The contribution is part of a public-private matching funds effort to address startup expenses needed for legal counsel and operations support to get the Authority off the ground. (WB)

US stocks fell overnight as a profit warning from JC Penney raised concerns about slowing consumer spending while persistent worries about credit-related problems throttled financial stocks.

The major averages give up early gains following a downturn in financials. J.C. Penney's profit warning weighs on retailers. Frank Curzio recaps the action in The Real Story (above).