Shares of the New York Times Company jumped Wednesday on rumors that the world's richest man could increase his stake in the newspaper publisher.

Stocks started September with a bang as investors cheered a rare dose of good economic news but investors may need to buckle in for the coming week: It's a holiday-shortened week with little on the docket to set the tone.

1. Loyalty is overrated

President Barack Obama blasted Senate Republicans on Monday for blocking a small business assistance bill, calling their opposition "pure partisan politics."

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that it has closed an investigation into the proposed merger of United and Continental, paving the way for the airlines to unite later this year.

Investors shifted away from Treasurys on Friday, after a better-than-expected report on U.S. economic growth and comments from the Federal Reserve chairman.

For a promotion and entertainment company, Live Nation has had a tough time doing either with much success. Instead, over the last year, it's been battered by regulators, goaded by class action lawyers, sued by rock stars, virtually ignored by analysts, and despised by fans fed up with paying for hidden fees in tickets, only to fork over even more for overpriced T-shirts and beer. Worse still, Live Nation still can't seem to make any money, reporting both unexpectedly large losses and revenue declines earlier this month.

The economy is slowing, the Fed is cautious about the recovery and the world's biggest chipmaker is lowering its sales forecast. But stocks rallied more than 1% Friday.

The financial crisis that destroyed some of the world's biggest banks and sent others to the brink of failure have changed Americans' idea of lending and borrowing. While most still seem to have no problems storing their money at banks small and large, a few trends indicate that everyone from consumers to some of the world's largest companies are straying away from large financial institutions as sources of funding.

A wave of weak economic reports has prompted some Democrats to embrace a short-term extension of the Bush tax cuts -- even for the rich.