As state and local funding for education dries up, schools around the nation are asking their communities to help them maintain their services and programming.

Question: Looking into the future of the American economy, I see tons of debt, the yoke of increasing social spending, pork-fed bureaucratic waste, the exporting of jobs and the importing of poverty. While this may paint a negative picture, I feel it's reality. We all want to be patriotic, but aren't there more fiscally responsible places to invest in that may offer a better landscape? --Dave, Bethlehem, Penn.

Sony updated its line of e-readers Wednesday, a move that brought a touchscreen to its cheapest version but also hiked its price by almost $30.

Late Monday, BP responded to a request from the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce that asked the company to report how much money it had shelled out on advertising after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

While everyone's been worried about a double-dip recession, the manufacturing sector has been on a quiet tear, expanding in August for the 13th straight month, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

If you're thinking about buying an electric car but you're worried about getting stuck someplace when the battery runs out, General Motors has a two words for that.

Automakers are operating in terra incognita as they prepare for the biggest change in the way cars are powered in a century. As they begin to add battery-powered cars to their lineups, they will have to solve some fundamental problems about how the cars are built and sold.

The jobs picture still looks sour, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

China's manufacturing sector rebounded in August, calming some fears about the pace of that country's growth.

The end of summer is approaching fast and everyone wants to get out and enjoy those last few days in the sun.

Once upon a time another Naval Academy graduate, Ross Perot, tried to right troubled General Motors Corp. as an activist director. Now it's the turn of Dan Akerson, class of 1970 and a telecoms executive-turned-private equity specialist.

U.S. stocks were poised to start September with a bang Wednesday, as investors aimed to put last month's dour performance behind them.

If Republican leaders were serious -- and gutsy -- about using the Gulf oil spill as an opportunity to put the nation on a sane energy course, they'd pull out a little-noticed bill sponsored by Arizona's Jeff Flake and South Carolina's Bob Inglis and plop it atop their 2010 campaign book.

A hot new smartphone can be Incredible, Vibrant, Epic or just "eh," but no matter how it stacks up, it's a safe bet that it will start selling at $199.

Stocks were little changed at the end of a choppy session Tuesday, closing out a lackluster August for the market as investors weighed meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve against upbeat economic reports.

The Federal Reserve is the last line of defense against a weakening economy, but there has been sharp disagreement among members over what action the central bank should take.

Shares of luxury retailer Saks surged Tuesday after a British newspaper said the company could soon get a buyout offer of $1.7 billion.

When Chrysler and GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 they planned to shutter thousands of dealerships across the country. Fewer than one third of the dealers who hoped to stay in business are in the running for a comeback.

Treasury prices soared and yields tumbled as institutional investors plowed into the market to get their portfolios squared away before the month comes to a close.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating possible steering mechanism problems on some 2011 Hyundai Sonatas.