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With 16 days to go until November 8, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 2 percentage points — 43% to 41% — in a four-way race, according to the latest IBD/TIPP presidential tracking poll. Unrounded, Trump leads 42.6% to 40.8% — a 1.8-point edge — with Johnson at 7.2% and Stein at 3.3%. Trump also holds a nearly one-point lead in a two-way matchup — 43.2% to 42.3%.

Donald Trump expanded his lead over Hillary Clinton in a four-way race to two points, 42%-40%, in day 4 of the IBD/TIPP presidential tracking poll, with Trump moving past his Democratic rival in a head-to-head match-up for the first time.....Meanwhile, in a 2-way race, Trump leads Clinton by a half-point -- 42.2% to 41.7%. Previously, Clinton had led by two or three points in a 2-way race vs. Trump.

"The total number of in-person early ballots is down 3 percent from the same day in 2012, while those from registered Democrats are down 11 percent, from registered Republicans down 7 percent, but up among registered unaffiliated voters by 28 percent." Current breakout**: Democrat = 53% Republican = 24% Independent = 23% "Among absentee mail-in ballots, we are nearing the end of the 6th week of voting, with nearly 180,000 ballots requested and over 58,000 ballots returned and accepted for votes." Democrat = 35% Republican = 40% Independent = 25%

Trump: 43 Clinton: 41 Johnson: 7 Stein: 4 Undecided: 5

Washington, DC- Three weeks out from election day the Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Clinton’s bump from the last week or so receding just in time for the third debate. The effects of Trump’s “hot mike” incident and second debate performance appear to have subsided somewhat, and the election has reverted back to pre-debate levels Hillary Clinton continues to lead Donald Trump among likely voters, though her lead has shrunk to 4 percentage points, with Clinton at 43% to Trump at 39%.

Party Requested % ttl Rep 64,317 40.5% Dem 49,886 31.4% Una 44,605 28.1% Party Returned % ttl Rep 16,331 39.0% Dem 15,108 36.0% Una 10,488 25.0%

Japan logged its largest trade deficit ever in January as exports nearly halved due to a sharp slowdown in the global economy amid a worldwide credit crisis.

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — Hugh Quinn has seen the ever-weakening dollar shatter his ability to sell hand-cut Irish lead crystal to American customers. Ingolf Haas says profit at his family-run cuckoo clock business in Germany has dropped at least 10 percent since the U.S. currency's latest decline began. Roberto Anselmi now sells more of his Italian white wine to Canada than to the United States. Times are tough for small and artisanal businesses across Europe that traditionally target Americans as their No. 1 buyers, since the swooning dollar shrinks their revenues from U.S. sales but their costs remain in expensive...

India’s Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram produced a populist annual budget this morning, aimed primarily at helping the rural poor, whose plight contributed in 2004 to the defeat of the country’s last Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. In a dramatic gesture that almost eclipsed the rest of his 30-page speech, he waived overdue loans totaling an estimated $12.5 billion that are owed by 30 million farmers who have less than two hectares (five acres) of land. He pledged another $2.5 billion to help 10 million more settle loans. Chidambaram also boosted the government’s spending on education by 20% and on health by...

The ethanol boom is running out of gas as corn prices spike NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Cargill announces it's scrapping plans for a $200 million ethanol plant near Topeka, Kan. A judge approves the bankruptcy sale of an unfinished ethanol plant in Canton, Ill.. And that was just Tuesday. Indeed, plans for as many as 50 new ethanol plants have been shelved in recent months, as Wall Street pulls back from the sector, says Paul Ho, a Credit Suisse investment banker specializing in alternative energy. Financing for new ethanol plants, Ho says, "has been shut down."How can the ethanol...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Your favorite pants are fraying? You may soon be able to order replacements directly from the factory where they were made, according to the chief scientist of an ambitious Chinese Internet project. China's government is building a vast virtual world dubbed Beijing Cyber Recreation District, which founders say will help the manufacturing superpower evolve into an e-commerce juggernaut. Some supply-chain experts say the project is impossibly grandiose in its goal to provide direct links between tens of thousands of Chinese manufacturers and millions of individual customers around the world. But every "Made in China" label...

BusinessEurope, an employers group, tells head of finance panel that strength in euro had reached 'pain threshold' for European companies. BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The EU's employers federation said Wednesday that the rise of the euro against the U.S. dollar was beginning to hurt European businesses.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Air Berlin, Germany's No. 2 airline, said on Tuesday it would order 60 Boeing 737-800 jets. The airline said 85 planes would be delivered between 2007 and 2014, adding that of those planes 25 would be for its subsidiary DBA, which it bought in August.

Can any FReepers point me in the right direction on the following questions that I know I've seen before. 1) The % the deficit this year is in terms of GDP and its historical significance compared to other years since WW2 (I know I have seen this chart before on this website) 2) The cost of the Bush tax cuts on this year 3) What portion of #2 went to the top 2% 4) A link with the list of the deficits by quarter/year starting anytime before 2001 Any help appreciated! These would be answer to the biggest questions posed...

Consumer Confidence Soars, Housing Strong By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence surged to a two-year high this month on hiring hopes while new home sales in June posted a smaller decline than expected, according to two reports on Tuesday that signaled the economy may be picking up after a brief hiatus. The Conference Board, a private forecasting group, said its consumer sentiment gauge climbed in July for the fourth straight month to 106.1 from an upwardly revised 102.8 in June, outpacing Wall Street forecasts. "These are strong numbers. I have no doubt they indicate continuity for...

1 18 The Passion of the Christ NM $295,280,000 2004 2 22 The Matrix Reloaded WB $281,576,461 2003 3 36 Beverly Hills Cop Par. $234,760,478 1984 4 38 The Exorcist WB $232,671,011 1973 5 45 Saving Private Ryan DW $216,540,909 1998 6 51 Terminator 2: Judgment Day TriS $204,843,345 1991 7 60 Gladiator DW $187,683,805 2000 8 73 Pretty Woman BV $178,406,268 1990 9 76 There's Something About Mary Fox $176,484,651 1998 10 82 Air Force One Sony $172,956,409 1997 11 83 Rain Man MGM $172,825,435 1988 12 84 The Matrix WB $171,479,930 1999 13 92 Hannibal MGM $165,092,268 2001...

WRAPUP-U.S. Stocks, Oil soar; Dollar, Bonds Rise August 19, 2002 18:56:14 (ET) NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks on Monday rallied to close at five-week highs, while oil surged to near $30 a barrel on the belief OPEC will keep output curbs in place. The dollar caught a strong head wind from stocks, rising against both the euro and Japan's yen on a quiet day. Bonds recovered from last week's slide against a backdrop of scant economic news and rose across the yield curve, in spite of the buoyant stock market. In New York, crude oil futures...

Ok, I'm sitting here in my dorm with my roommate who is watching the Cartoon Channel. I glance up to watch it for a minute. I didn't catch the name of the cartoon but basically this group of various looking characters goes back in time to the American Revolution. George Washington is having trouble finding his troops so the group tells GW that they will find them and bring them back.They go up to this hippie looking woman whom all the troops are with. They tell her they need the troops to go defeat the British. She asks them why, ...

MSNBC just announced that the Bush administration has overwhelming evidence that Osama Bin Ladin is directly responsible for Tuesday's attacks.

America: The Good Neighbor. An editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing ...