PARMA, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, fighting to keep Democrats in charge of Congress, said on Wednesday the United States could not afford to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich and accused Republicans of being fiscally irresponsible.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former chief executives who were criticized during the financial crisis for driving their firms to the brink have found new homes.

Sept. 8 - The world's largest hamburger maker McDonalds, reports global sales after a seven percent growth figure in July.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal government should take mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off life support sooner rather than later, the Mortgage Bankers Association urged on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy has shown "widespread signs" of slowing over recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a report suggesting that while the recovery has been faltering, the economy may skirt a second recession.

Sept. 8 - Economic Policy Institute's Josh Bivens reacts to U.S. President Barack Obama's speech on the economy in Ohio.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Regulators probing the stock market "flash crash" last May still have not uncovered a single cause but will point to "stub quotes" and other previously identified issues as having exacerbated the market's dramatic drop, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

Sept. 8 - Reuters Breakingviews columnist James Pethokoukis says with tax cuts due to expire at year's end, some Wall Street firms may move forward their annual bonuses.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy has shown "widespread signs" of slowing over recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a report suggesting the recovery was faltering along the East Coast and in the Midwest.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Members of Goldman Sachs Group Inc's New York Principal Strategies team are in talks with several groups, including KKR, Perella Weinberg, BlackRock Inc and Carlyle Group, to possibly join one of the firms, a source familiar with the matter said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California regulators are seeking fines of up to $9.9 billion from a unit of health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc, citing mismanaged medical claims, failure to pay doctors and other lapses.

Sep.8 - BP part blames Transocean, Halliburton for Deepwater spill, Vodafone sells China Media stake, German exports help fuel recovery.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former AIG Chief Executive Martin Sullivan is getting another chance.

Sept 8 - BP shifted much of the blame for a rig blast that led to the United States' worst-ever oil spill onto its contractors Transocean and Halliburton. Jon Decker reports.

Sept 08 - High unemployment and signs of weakness in the housing market have economists once again pulling back their growth forecasts. Bobbi Rebell reports.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dividends are nice -- especially when bank accounts are paying less than 1 percent in interest. If you can buy shares of a company like General Electric, Kellogg or Waste Management and pick up an immediate yield of more than 3 percent, why wouldn't you?

BOSTON (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis SA pitched a new offer to acquire U.S. biotechnology company Genzyme Corp for $71 a share in exchange for the opportunity to conduct "partial due diligence," according to DealReporter, which cited a source close to the discussions.

LONDON (Reuters) - For a bank that prides itself on smooth successions, HSBC is suddenly scrambling to pick its next chairman.

LONDON (Reuters) - Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline insisted there would be no change to its cautious stance on deal-making, after announcing it had hired one of Europe's top M&A bankers as its new finance chief.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stubbornly high unemployment and signs of persistent weakness in the housing market have prompted economists to further cut their outlook for U.S. growth in the second half of the year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.