Marketplace: Tuesday, September 7, 2004

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A look at today's markets (closing numbers)
DOW 82.59 (0.80%) ; NASDAQ 14.08 (0.76%) ; S&P 500 7.67 (0.69%)

Newscast The U.S. Army is planning to break up Halliburton's multibillion dollar contract and open it to competitive bidding. Marketplace's Bob Moon has the story. The Congressional Budget Office says the federal deficit will hit a record $422 billion this year - but at least that's less than earlier predictions. Marketplace's Marty Goldensohn reports. Listen to all newscast items

Features Drug trials ... on trial MGI Pharma is creating a website for voluntary posting of clinical drug trials. Meanwhile, medical journals may require public posting of results before publishing drug trial information. How will this all shake out? Reporter: Rachel Gotbaum Premiums on the rise Medicare premiums are shooting up more than $10 a month - the biggest increase ever. The Bush Administration released the bad news late last Friday - six weeks earlier than expected. Was the timing an attempt to bury the bad news by leaking it just before the holiday weekend? Reporter: Helen Palmer CEO's who sell, sell, sell They're called exchange funds, and corporate insiders use them to dump their company's stock without raising red flags. Sound a touch underhanded? The SEC thinks so. Host David Brown talks with Wall Street Journal Reporter Randall Smith about the regulators' latest probe. Q + A: David Brown with Randall Smith Big Mac, fries, and libel Two environmental activists are taking the British government to court to have the English law of libel declared unfair. The so-called McLibel Two were sued for defamation by McDonalds in the 1990s. They are now seeking to prevent multi-national corporations from pursuing individuals in the libel courts. Reporter: Stephen Beard The politics of business, and business of politics Tech booms and housing bubbles may come and go, but politics is a recession-proof industry. Every two years, there's a new election and new candidates looking for campaign advisors. That means permanent employment for savvy political professionals. Reporter: Amy Scott

Coming up on Marketplace... Move over Judy Blume