Your customized headlines for Thu, Aug 2, 2012

MADRID — Calling the euro "irreversible," European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said that the ECB is ready to intervene in the bond market to ease the region's crisis but stopped short of announcing concrete action.

As the Obama administration moved last year to bail out Solyndra, the embattled flagship of the president's initiative to promote alternative energy, a White House budget analyst calculated that millions of taxpayer dollars might be saved by cutting the government's losses, shuttering the company immediately and selling its assets, according to a congressional investigation.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy was slowing and unlikely to create nearly enough work this year for millions of jobless Americans, but Fed leaders declined to take any steps to boost growth.

Like so many proprietors across this host city, restaurateur Albert Siu could almost hear the cha-ching of Olympic gold. But almost a week into the Games of the XXX Olympiad , he stood amid empty tables at his eatery in the normally bustling West End theater district this week and asked the same question being posed by so many Londoners: Where have all the tourists gone?

Mortgage rates edged up this week, breaking their streak of record lows, according to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

After falling below 3.5 percent for the first time ever last week, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.55 percent, up from 3.49 percent a week ago. It was 4.39 percent a year ago.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy was slowing and unlikely to create nearly enough work this year for millions of jobless Americans, but Fed leaders declined to take any steps to boost growth.

FOND du LAC, Wis. — A month ago, many people in this state presumed that Tommy G. Thompson — still a household name here after serving an unprecedented four terms as governor — had a lock on the Republican nomination for the Senate.

It's no secret that some very rich people support the super PACs and other groups that have inundated the 2012 campaign with unlimited sums of cash. But a study to be released Thursday details the extent to which this kind of donating is the sport of the One Percent.

NEW YORK — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) packed 70 of her top donors into a conference room overlooking Times Square this week and urged them to give more money and spread the word.

But not for her reelection — she's got millions in her campaign chest and is leading her Republican opponent in the polls by a 2 to 1 margin. Gillibrand instead raised money for three Democratic women who have a good shot at unseating House Republicans.

Maybe the timing wasn't meant to rain on the union's parade, but Democrats found it curious that Wednesday's hearing on airport screener misdeeds fell on the same day the agency met to finalize a labor contract.

As a teenager growing up in Houston, Ted Cruz memorized the U.S. Constitution word for word. It was the beginning of what those who know the Republican Senate candidate say has been a lifetime commitment to his interpretation of the document.