Your customized headlines for Thu, Jul 19, 2012

Donny Nelson is the epitome of old-time North Dakota. A lean, sharp-featured man sporting a thick goatee, jeans and dirty boots, Nelson is the grandson of homesteaders. Over the past century his family has collected 8,000 acres of prime cattle grazing acreage and cropland.

Europe could suffer a dangerous bout of deflation if regional officials, including those at the European Central Bank, do not move quickly to support the continent's banks and the wider economy, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke defended the Fed's economic policy before a House panel on Wednesday, saying that the central bank is doing what it can to reduce unemployment and could take additional steps "if we conclude that we're not making progress towards higher levels of employment." But he declined to offer any hint of new action by the central bank to boost the economy.

If those satire-dripping Swiftian nihilists over at the Onion were to parody the corporate world, they would make McDonald's — obesity's favorite whipping boy — a major corporate sponsor of the London Olympics. Big Mac boxes would serve as starting blocks. Archers would try to pierce little packets of ketchup. Garlands made of french fries would adorn the winners' heads.

Defense contractors warned Wednesday that across-the-board federal spending cuts posed a calamitous threat to their businesses and that thousands of jobs were on the line unless lawmakers find another way to shrink the deficit.

Europe could suffer a dangerous bout of deflation if regional officials, including those at the European Central Bank, do not move quickly to support the continent's banks and the wider economy, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke defended the Fed's economic policy before a House panel on Wednesday, saying that the central bank is doing what it can to reduce unemployment and could take additional steps "if we conclude that we're not making progress towards higher levels of employment." But he declined to offer any hint of new action by the central bank to boost the economy.