Long wait for satellite radio deal may end soon

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s acquisition of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. may be cleared by federal regulators this month, and it can't happen fast enough for XM.

Computer says get a life – and we have

Last week hundreds of young people queued overnight to watch Andrew Murray play a game of tennis. Tickets were reportedly changing hands for £2,000. Yet the game could be watched on any television or computer screen, in the comfort of home, pub or work-place. Last year the market clearing price for a ticket to December’s Led Zeppelin reunion was £7,425. Yet every note was available for free on download. What is happening?

Housebuilders partied like it was '89. And now the pain is like '91

Once again, Tony Pidgley, the Barnardo's boy turned multimillionaire residential builder, is set to make a killing out of a property downturn. While his peers at Barratt and Taylor Wimpey were getting ready to announce mass redundancies and desperately trying to shore up their balance sheets in the worst housing crisis since the early 1990s, the 60-year-old chief executive of Berkeley announced two weeks ago that the company would spend £350m on cheap land.

The buck doesn't stop here; it just keeps falling (AP)

AP - Things in the U.S. sure are tough. Brother, can you spare a euro? Signs saying "We accept euros" are cropping up in the windows of some Manhattan retailers. A Belgium company is trying to gobble up St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, the nation's largest brewer and iconic Super Bowl advertiser.

'Hancock' grabs heroic $107.3M over long weekend

Will Smith's box-office superpowers remain intact. Smith's "Hancock" - the story of a boozing, foul-mouthed superhero who dresses like a street bum - led the Fourth of July weekend with a $66 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Is capitulation on the cards? (Reuters)

Reuters - Profit warnings, breaches of key index levels, record oil prices, stressed consumers and investors seeking safety provide the background for markets this week, and many people are wondering how long this will all last.