VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) _ President Barack Obama pledged to create many more jobs and “make the middle class secure again” in a campaign-closing appeal on Thursday _ more than five weeks before Election Day -- to voters already casting ballots in large numbers.

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion posted another large quarterly loss on Thursday, but the hemorrhaging was not as bad expected.

Ferrari, Bentley and Lamborghini are bracing for slower growth as the European debt crisis saps demand even for high-priced toys for the wealthy.

Demand for durable goods other than transportation equipment unexpectedly dropped in August for a third consecutive month, signaling that slowdowns in business investment and exports will restrain the economic expansion.

Discover Financial Services shares rose more than 7 percent Thursday, after the company said credit card use increased and more customers paid off their card balances on time in its fiscal third quarter. That news overshadowed a slight earnings decline in the period mostly due to it setting aside more money to cover bad loans and for a legal bill from a settlement with regulators.

There would be limited potential to develop state trust land near the southern Arizona landmark of Picacho Peak as an industrial park if Union Pacific Corp. is allowed to buy some of the property for a new railroad switching yard, according to a study released Monday.

Authorities will have more time and tools to investigate mortgage fraud under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown announced signing Tuesday.

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes fell in August from a two-year high in July.

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell again to new record lows. The decline suggests the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts may be having an impact on mortgage rates.

Stocks notched their first gain of the week Thursday after Spain announced severe budget cuts intended to convince the world that it can meet deficit-reduction targets.

The price of oil gained almost $2 per barrel Thursday after three straight days of declines.

The Federal Reserve’s latest mortgage bond purchases so far are helping profit margins at lenders including Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. more than homebuyers and property owners looking to refinance.

It’s a taxpayer divide. That’s the takeaway since the tape was leaked of Mitt Romney referring to the 47 percent of citizens who don’t pay income taxes.

Campbell Soup Co. is closing two U.S. plants and cutting more than 700 jobs as it looks to trim costs amid declining consumption of its canned soups.

Financial markets recovered their poise Thursday, though investors remained concerned that Greece and Spain will struggle to implement thier debt-reduction strategies.

U.S. stock futures are rising, helped by expectations the People's Bank of China will soon take more steps to combat a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell, snapping the longest rally in almost four years, as Spain prepared to announce a package of budget cuts and economic measures in an effort to resolve its debt crisis.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week, a sign the labor market is getting back on track.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The economy in the U.S. grew less than previously forecast in the second quarter, reflecting slower gains in consumer spending and farm inventories.

Demand for long-lasting manufactured goods plunged in August because of a huge drop in volatile commercial aircraft orders. But in a hopeful sign, orders that reflect business investment plans rose.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., losing market share in Europe this year, is boosting sales in the troubled region through “self-registrations,” in which dealers sell cars to themselves without having customer orders.

Shares of H.B. Fuller Inc. tumbled Thursday, after the specialty chemical maker reported lower-than-expected third-quarter revenue and cut its revenue forecast for the full year.

Shares of United Airlines' parent company fell Thursday after it said a key revenue measure declined in the third quarter, raising concern about travel demand and pricing.

Nearly two dozen theaters around the country will offer free and discounted tickets for plays, classes and other services to veterans and military families under a program being launched this week that builds off a similar one for museums.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay nearly $12 million to settle civil charges accusing one of its executives of providing campaign services to a Massachusetts official in return for bond business.

Former Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks has settled a pair of lawsuits related to a failed multimillion-dollar development project near Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Thursday called the new Windows 8 operating system scheduled for release next month “a very exciting new product” and “a very big deal” for the world's largest software maker.

Bassett Furniture Industries Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter net income grew more than fivefold on stronger sales and a one-time tax benefit.

The Big Apple is getting another “biggest”: The world's biggest Ferris wheel is to be built on Staten Island, in an ambitious attempt to draw tourists to what's sometimes known as the city's “forgotten borough,” officials announced Thursday

(Marketwire) -- 09/27/12 -- MedHOK, one of the healthcare industry's fastest growing software companies, announced today the appointment of Maryalice Anderson, RN, BSN, PMP, as vice president of clinical solutions. MedHOK offers fully NCQA-certified software for HEDIS(R), Pay for Performance and Disease Management performance measures.

Spain and Greece outlined plans Thursday to cut spending and raise taxes to convince international lenders and financial markets they are on the right track to cut their deficits.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Oil advanced the most in eight weeks on speculation China’s government will bolster stimulus efforts and as Spain approved a 2013 austerity budget.

In the waterfront slum of Makoko in Nigeria's largest city where shacks stand above the murky, fetid water on stilts of cast-aside lumber, an architect thinks the neighborhood should float.

Moody's Investors Service on Thursday confirmed its ratings for Hertz Global Holdings Inc., including its “B1” corporate family and probability of default ratings, saying that its pending acquisition of one of its rivals will help it stay competitive and maintain its current ratings.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have shot out of bankruptcy and into the ranks of baseball’s biggest spenders, fueled partly by a secret agreement between former owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball that may limit the revenue the team is obliged to share with less prosperous clubs.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nike Inc., the world’s largest sporting-goods company, declined after reporting future orders that trailed analysts’ estimates as demand sank in China.

Intel previewed a wave of tablet computers powered by a microprocessor that the company redesigned to make a bigger dent in the rapidly growing mobile market.

Farm and ranch store chain Tractor Supply Co. said Thursday that James Wright will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, and President and Chief Operating Officer Gregory Sandfort will become CEO.

Facebook is rolling out a service called Gifts which, as its name suggests, lets users send chocolate, coffee, socks and other real-life presents to one another.

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Fiat SpA Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn are headed for a showdown as tensions between the two rise.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- DuPont Co. asked a U.S. judge to overturn a $1 billion verdict won by Monsanto Co. in August over genetically modified soybeans, saying the jury got it wrong on all counts.

Japan's industrial production slid further in August, dropping 1.3 percent from the previous month as auto and electronics output fell due to slumping global demand.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The euro traded close to a two-week low against the dollar as Spanish ministers gathered in Madrid to present a fresh round of budget cuts amid the prospect of a sovereign bailout.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rebounded from the lowest close in almost two months after U.S. crude inventories declined and as investors speculated that recent losses were excessive.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose in New York on speculation investors will boost demand after the metal’s drop to an almost two-week low. Silver gained for the first time this week.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a selection of the most important news affecting the oil market.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks rose around the world and commodities rebounded from a seven-week low amid speculation China’s government will do more to support economic growth. Spain’s bonds advanced as ministers met to approve a 2013 austerity budget.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Cocoa fell for a second day in New York as concerns eased that supplies would be disrupted by a reform of the sector in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer. Coffee advanced.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plunged 26,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, a hopeful sign for the job market. It's the lowest level of weekly applications in nine weeks.

Years before F-22 pilots began getting dizzy in the cockpit, before one struggled to breathe as he tried to pull out of a fatal crash, before two more went on television to say the plane was so unsafe they refused to fly it, a small circle of U.S. Air Force experts knew something was wrong with the prized stealth fighter jet.

Mattress rivals Tempur-Pedic and Sealy are becoming bedfellows.

The admiral in charge of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet says a prototype mine-detecting drone was put through more tests during military exercises in and around the Persian Gulf this month.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer confidence in the U.S. climbed for a fifth straight week as Americans grew less pessimistic about the world’s largest economy.

The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, held back by the severe drought that reduced farm production in the Midwest.

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Are you a retiree living in Florida? Looking for a car with big back seats to haul your community neighbors to the early-bird special? Then Cadillac has a car for you: the new XTS sedan.

Greece's coalition government reached a “basic agreement” Thursday on a new round of harsh austerity cuts demanded by its international lenders.

The NFL's regular officiating crews are back. Their return couldn't have come soon enough for many players, coaches and fans.

Nonfat cheese that tastes like plastic. Low-calorie soda that leaves a bitter aftertaste. Sugar-free brownies that crumble like Styrofoam.

Two dozen passengers joined a lawsuit in New York on Thursday against JetBlue Airways Corp. stemming from a pilot's rant during a cross-country flight.

Police have released the head of Google Inc.'s Brazil operations after his detention for not taking down YouTube videos a judge ruled violated local electoral law.

President Barack Obama has appealed to veterans and military families in defense-focused southeast Virginia, casting himself as a president who is ending foreign entanglements and aiding returning soldiers with educational opportunities.

Republicans on Thursday fired a vendor suspected of submitting 106 questionable new voter registrations in Florida's Palm Beach County, ground zero for disputed ballots in 2000's presidential race.