The state of the US economy featured prominently in Senator Obama’s speeches as he hit the campaign trail in the state of Nevada. The Democrat presidential nominee highlighted his differences with the Republican candidate on issues of taxation, energy and health care plans.

Speaking at the town hall in Reno, Obama hit out at the economic plans of his GOP rival, John McCain and accused the latter of not only putting up negative ads but also of refusing to come clear on important issues like reigning in high fuel prices as well as support for alternative sources for energy.

Obama reiterated that his tax plans would not hurt the average worker but would in fact bring about greater relief to the middle class. He pointed out that McCain’s economic plans went against raising the minimum wage and furthering the GI bill. Obama also accused McCain of supporting a health care plan that would go against the interests of the average citizen and of blocking efforts to promote renewable energy.

Nevada has been a traditional stronghold of the Republicans and is the only caucus state where Obama did not win during the primary season.

The US Treasury is seriously considering the option of recapitalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the months to come. News of the expected move appeared in the August 18 edition of Baron and comes in the wake of the government’s attempts to bail out the two top home funding companies in the US in order to save the housing market.

The report which appeared in the weekly financial newspaper Baron, claims that the Treasury is ready to infuse tax payers’ money into the companies. The bail-out would most likely take the form of preferred stock with high seniority, convertibility rights and dividend preference.

However this form of recapitalization backed by the Treasury would deal a severe blow to the existing holders of the common stocks of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The preferred holders would suffer huge losses as would those holders of the two companies’ subordinated debt reaching up to $19 billion.

Moreover the recapitalization by the Treasury would place a huge burden on the country’s taxpayers and even double the US debt, according to the Baron’s report. If current evaluations are to be believed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each would have a negative value of $50 billion after taking into account deferred tax assets and generous asset marks.

US auto giant Ford has plans of rolling out a new luxury crossover vehicle according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Ford has decided to add to its luxury segment line-up by producing a new Lincoln MKT crossover. The vehicle will have a seven passenger seating in three rows. In appearance, it will be more or less similar to the Ford Flex but will sport a sleeker body and thus minimize the rather boxy design of the Flex.

Even though the new Lincoln MKT will be on the larger side, it is expected to come equipped with a V-6 engine rather than a V-8. According to sources, Ford expects to sell around 20,000 of these vehicles in a year. Production is slated to begin in 2009 at the company’s manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario.

In recent months, the demand for large vehicles and SUVs in the US has taken a dent due to rising fuel costs. The second quarter reports of major auto companies like GM Motors and Ford showed significant losses. Some analysts have been predicting a trend towards hybrid and more fuel efficient cars but clearly Ford does not intend to give up on its large car segment which together with trucks drove its most profitable sections in the past.

A series of bills pending before the US Congress is set to bring hope to all those small businesses in the country who are struggling to find affordable health care.

The Congress is expected to approve wide ranging reforms in health care laws which would reduce medical costs for small firms by allowing them to pool in collective assets through the setting up voluntary state health cooperatives. The Small Business Health Options Program Act (SHOP) and the Small Business Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees Act (CHOICE) are two such bills.

According to the proposals in the CHOICE bill, firms with up to hundred employees would be given incentives like a refundable tax credit of 65 percent of insurance costs. The bill would also enable self-employed individuals to save $5000 each while small firms would save upwards of 34 percent.

The National Federation of Independent Business has identified health care costs as the primary concern of small businesses since 1986. According to data released by the Federation, health insurance costs for small firms have increased by 129 percent in the past eight years. What is particularly a cause for concern is the estimate that on an average, employees of small companies pay as much as 18 percent more in premiums as workers of large firms for the same amount of benefits.

At the opening ceremony of the XXIX Olympic Games, the world’s attention was riveted to the spectacular architectural feat signaled by the Beijing National Stadium. It is popularly known as the Birds Nest Stadium, because of its elliptical lattice steel framework and has been built at a cost of $423 million USD.

In the most expensive Olympics till date, the stadium not only stands for the might of the Chinese economy in the world market but is also a symbol of the coming together of global business and sports. The stadium’s global significance becomes evident in the fact that its architects were chosen in a worldwide design competition and the contract was finally awarded to a collaboration among renowned Swiss architects Herzog &de Meuron, British engineering firm ArupSport as well as the China Architecture Design & Research Group.

Besides hosting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the Bird’s Nest Stadium will be the venue for the main track and field competitions and will also host the closing ceremony of the Games. Currently the stadium has a seating capacity of 90,000 which will be reduced to 80,000 after the Games. The stadium cost the Chinese government 3.5 billion yuan which is equivalent to $423 million USD or 19 tonnes of 24 carat gold.