PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

A full-scale price war has broken out for Peco Energy Co. electricity customers as prices have hit their lowest levels since market rates came into play a year ago.

MIAMI - In this glamorous gateway city overlooking Biscayne Bay, a debate is being waged: whether to allow up to three lavish casino resorts in South Florida.

The gritty Port Richmond waterfront - home to tank farms, wharves, and many vacant lots - seems an unlikely location for one of city government's most valuable assets.

Can you trust conventional wisdom, or your gut, in financial matters? Not always. And in some cases, perhaps never, according to the economists and other experts at these sites on money.

"This isn't just about punishing banks for their irresponsible behavior. It's also about requiring them to help the people they harmed by funding efforts to help homeowners stay in their homes."

Money's tight for Pennsylvania. But last month, a state agency went to Wall Street and borrowed $107 million to enrich a California hedge fund, a Wall Street bank, and other speculators in a Harrisburg office building.

States tend to mull over gambling bills for years. It took 15 years for slot-machine gambling to be green-lighted in Pennsylvania, with table games added 61/2 years later. Last year, Massachusetts approved up to three destination casino resorts after a decades-long debate.

A fight is breaking out between the money market mutual fund industry and federal regulators. Whatever the outcome, investors will question whether they can continue to rely on money funds as a safe place to keep cash accessible.

Treasury Auctions 4-week bills, Feb. 14; 3-month and 6-month bills, Feb. 13; 1-year bills, Mar. 6; 2-year notes, Feb. 21; 3-year notes, Mar. 12; 5-year notes, Feb. 22; 7-year notes, Feb. 23; 5-year TIPS, April 19; 10-year TIPS, Mar. 22; 30-year TIPS, Feb. 16.

ATHENS, Greece - Greece's future in the eurozone came under renewed threat Friday as popular protests again turned violent and dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts.

NEW YORK - Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout.

WASHINGTON - President Obama is making a strong election-year push for an economic revival "built on American manufacturing." But he faces an uphill slog, with little consensus even within his own party on how to do it.

The weak housing market remains a "key impediment" to faster economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told home builders Friday in Orlando.

Fisker Automotive Inc., which this week said it was laying off 26 workers at a former General Motors plant in Wilmington that was being readied for the manufacture of hybrid cars, said Thursday that it was unclear when production would begin there, given protracted talks over financing with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Philanthropist Raymond G. Perelman has become the second person to complain about being shut out of the bidding for The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, according to the Associated Press.

This winter has been a shifty one. One day is fair, the next, well, not particularly wintry. If the weather trends continue, spring cleanup this year should be a snap. No storm damage to worry about, for one thing; no ice dams on the roof, no clogged gutters, no overtaxed furnaces trying to keep up.

The Villanova University law school announced it has received a $5 million gift to underwrite the creation of a center for the study of sports law, its largest gift ever.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Picture it: Kodak is exiting the camera business. Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday that it would stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital picture frames in a move that marks the end of an era for the beleaguered 132-year-old company.