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According to the Washington Post, "frequent or frivolous use of credit cards" has been an increasingly common habit of older Americans.

The American banking sector has hit a new low: Federal regulators added 111 new lenders in the last quarter to its "sick list" of "endangered banks," the Wall Street Journal details on A1 today. The state of America's banks looks ever more precarious even as the economy appears to be turning a corner and credit begins to flow more smoothly.

"Four more years" is the big news this morning in the business press, which lead with the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. It was Bernanke's calm under pressure, the Wall Street Journal concludes, that earned him another term.

Is Goldman Sachs tipping off favored clients with first-look analyst recommendations? The Wall Street Journal got its hands on company documents that reveal a seldom-seen practice at the firm where the research department delivers to top clients its predictions on the markets before they appear in research notes.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered up an optimistic take on the national economy Friday. In a speech to central bankers at the Kansas City Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., he said, "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good." According to the New York Times, "In emphasizing not just the imminent end of the recession—the worst since at least the early 1980s if not since the Great Depression—but also the 'good' chances of actual growth, Mr.

Under an agreement reached with the Justice Department and the IRS yesterday, UBS AG (UBS) will hand over the names of more than 4,400 possible U.S. tax evaders. UBS will offer up the names to the Swiss tax authority, which will then pass them along to the IRS. According to the New York Times, UBS will notify those clients in the coming weeks. Until Sept.

The Wall Street Journal leads and the New York Times tops its business section with news of the unraveling of an epic cyber crime.

According to today's Washington Post, credit card rewards programs are being scaled down, just months before a new law restricting the industry takes effect. For many cardholders, frequent-flier miles and cash rebates are becoming harder to redeem or earn. For example, Citi customers who before could redeem a domestic round-trip airline ticket valued at up to $400 for every 20,000 points earned now need 40,000 points for the same ticket.

Could the global recession, as the New York Times wonders this morning, be drawing to a close? More startling still, could Europe be leading us out of this mess?

The Wall Street Journal leads today with a report of this year's large increase in distressed takeovers. In these so-called "vulture" deals," creditors use their debt positions to seize ownership of troubled companies." So far, there have been 140 deals already struck this year, compared to 102 for all of 2008. Deals involve companies of all shapes and sizes, from auto-parts maker Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ) to retailer Eddie Bauer (EBHIQ).

The New York Times reports that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was in close contact with Goldman Sachs (GS) executives during critical periods of the financial crisis. Did he cross the line? An ethics probe will determine whether his treatment of the investment bank, which he previously ran, was acceptable.

By nearly a 2-to-1 margin, on Thursday night the Senate extended the "cash-for-clunkers" program with a fresh injection of $2 billion, the business press blared this morning. But the extension creates some problems still. Automakers are faced with a dilemma: Should they increase production or leave consumers to forage through lean car lots?