Fred Business News- Consumer spending rose slightly last month, as rising prices forced Americans to shell out more, according to a government report released Friday.

The Commerce Department said spending by individuals rose 0.4% in January, but that was due primarily to inflation. In constant dollars, spending held flat.

"Consumers were a little more conservative," said Wachovia analyst Sam Bullard. "There is lots of pressure on the consumer now - they are holding discretionary purchases off."

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 0.2% gain in non-inflation-adjusted ...   more »

Fred Business News- The Writers Guild of America says members have voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract with Hollywood studios that increases payment for shows offered on the Internet.

The guild says the deal was endorsed by 93.6 percent of those who voted in Los Angeles and New York.

The contract was approved through a mail-in ballot that came after members were briefed two weeks ago on the deal and voted to end the 100-day strike that devastated the entertainment industry.

Under the contract, writers ...   more »

Fred Business News- Foreclosure filings nationwide soared 57% in January over the same month last year - another indication that the nation's housing woes are deepening.

A study released Tuesday by RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties, showed that 233,001 homes were affected, 8% more than in December. Of that total, 45,327 homes were lost to bank repossessions.

The only good news was the comparatively modest month-to-month increase in total filings.

"It could be that some of the efforts on the part of lenders and the ...   more »

Fred Business News - A flood of drug safety warnings from the Food and Drug Administration may have physicians and patients suffocating from information saturation. Experts say there are too many red flags for them to pay attention.

"It seems that almost weekly we're getting a safety missive," said Les Funtleyder, an analyst who covers the pharmaceutical industry for trading firm Miller Tabak. "We're almost getting safety fatigue."

Already this year, the FDA has issued a number of high-profile warnings. Patients flood their doctors with anxious phone calls. ...   more »

Fred Business News - Gas prices swelled nearly 16 cents over the past two weeks, rising to a national average of $3.10, a survey said Sunday.

The Lundberg survey tallied prices on Feb. 22 and compared them with those of Feb. 8 and found they had risen 15.88 cents, publisher Trilby Lundberg told CNN in a telephone interview.

That's 75.24 cents above what the average price was at this time last year, she said.

The price increase nearly paralleled the increase in the cost of crude over ...   more »

Fred Business News - A federal court jury on Friday found the owner of a company that sells "male enhancement" tablets and other herbal supplements guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.