Congress objects to $700 billion bailout with no help for homeowners: Election-year politics are seaping into the White House's bailout plan as Congress clashes with the administration over its desire to provide stronger relief for homeowners, protection for taxpayers and tougher regulation of banks. Warren Buffett to the rescue: Don't call it an act of charity. Warren Buffett is known for shrewd investments and for not panicking when everybody else does. So it's no surprise that his Berkshire Hathaway firm is investing $5 billion in the embattled Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs, in a move that could bolster financial markets.
FBI launches criminal probe behind turmoil: The FBI has opened an investigation into whether corporate fraud played a role in the unheaval at four big companies at the core of the meltdown: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and American International Group.
Henry Blodget slams bailout proposal: The Wall Street pundit says that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke have got it all wrong. He says the banks will use government money for their own gain and cleaning up the banks won't make them start aggressively lending again.
Music groups settle online royalty dispute: The music industry's groups have settled online royalty disputes, but not the big one over Internet radio royalties. That means the high-stakes battle continues between SoundExchange, which collects fees for artists and record labels, and Internet radio sites such as Pandora and Live 365.
Bebo instant messenger service is dead: Just a month after Bebo launched its IM service, it's a goner. Not many folks used it, but no word from Bebo on the reason for the shutdown.
StockTwits gets angel funding: A Twitter and Tumblr-powed financial bulletin board has closed a round of angel financing from Wallstrip founder Howard Lindzon, Roger Ehrenberg, Andy Swan, Landon Swan, and Betaworks.
Intel invests $20 million in Telligent: The chip giant has put money into Telligent Systems, a four-year-old developer of social computing platforms for enterprises.
Third Google founder emerges: On Google's tenth anniversary, Hubert Chang announces that he is the third Google co-founder. He joined Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1997 but says he returned to school to finish his doctorate. (Maybe he should have gone the Bill Gates drop-out route?)
Mail.ru, Russia's third largest Internet company, valued at $2 billion: Digital Sky Technologies, the Internet investment group in Russia run by Yuri Milner, has obtained a 50.6% majority stake in Mail.ru by acquiring an additional 15 percent stake in the company for $300 million from Tiger Global Management. California gives biotech industry a bonus: The new state budget, signed after a slight delay, has life science backers happy about the extension of a tax deduction, allowing Net Operating Losses to be extended from 10 years to 20 years. That will help drug companies that take 15 or 20 years to get new drugs to market.