Your customized headlines for Wed, Feb 29, 2012

The nation's home prices have fallen to their lowest level since 2002, according to a private report, casting a troubling shadow over what has otherwise been a brightening economic recovery.

Although analysts have been nervously eyeing rising oil prices and Europe's struggling economy, Tuesday's S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values report offered a sobering reminder that the still-shaky housing market remains one of the most potent threats to a robust recovery.

An Indiana electric vehicle company that had planned to build energy-efficient fleet trucks announced Tuesday it will close down this week, and it blamed the Obama administration for stringing the company along for three years with promises of a federal loan.

We've become a society that shares too much of our personal information — and all that voluntary transparency makes us vulnerable to crooks.

When companies fail to protect our privacy, we are rightfully upset. Javelin Strategy & Research, in its latest report about identity theft, says that about 36 million people were notified of a data breach in 2011. Having your information lost or stolen during a breach doesn't automatically mean you will be a victim of identity theft, but it certainly greatly increases the odds.

A new federal rule aimed at limiting risky behavior by banks is prompting protests from local and foreign governments alike, which warn it could make it harder for them to borrow money for public projects and operations.

The federal government is doing a poor job of coordinating its responsibilities in dozens of areas, including food safety, breast cancer research, assistance to small business owners and home buyers and background investigations for federal job applicants — a disorganization that could be costing taxpayers tens of billions of dollars annually, according to a new report.

The nation's home prices have fallen to their lowest level since 2002, according to a private report, casting a troubling shadow over what has otherwise been a brightening economic recovery.

Although analysts have been nervously eyeing rising oil prices and Europe's struggling economy, Tuesday's S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values report offered a sobering reminder that the still-shaky housing market remains one of the most potent threats to a robust recovery.

According to the Voteview ideological ranking system, the most moderate Democratic senator in the 112th Congress — that's this session, for those keeping track — is Nebraska's Ben Nelson. The most moderate Republican senator is Maine's Olympia Snowe. And as of today, they're both retiring.

— Olympia Snowe is retiring.

— The gender breakdown of whose books get reviewed in top magazines and who reviews them.

— Does annual economic activity increase an additional 1/366 percent during a leap year?

Put aside what you think of President Obama's policies, or the GOP's criticisms. Think back to the clips you've seen of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum campaigning. Now watch Obama speaking to the United Auto Workers today.