Time is running out for Congress to renew extended unemployment benefits for millions of American workers out of a job. If the latest GOP proposal is enacted, time will also run out a lot sooner for the checks workers collect for extended jobless insurance benefits.

Workers in states with the worst job markets would be hit hardest under the GOP plan, which would shorten the maximum length of time a worker can collect benefits. In California, where the unemployment rate stands at 11.7 percent, the current 99-week maximum would be cut by 40 weeks. Workers in other hard-hit states, including Michigan, Illinois and Florida, would also see their extended benefits run out 40 weeks sooner than the current program, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — In the government’s latest attempt to address the ailing housing market, President Obama will announce changes to a federal program Monday that will make it easier for struggling homeowners to refinance to today’s near-record low rates.

Under the new program, homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are worth will be able to refinance no matter how much they are underwater, as long as they are current on their payments.

The revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will also streamline the refinancing process, doing away with certain types of appraisals and underwriting requirements, and reducing or eliminating fees that prevented homeowners from refinancing in the past.

Full Story at Housing refinance program offered by federal agencies – Oct. 24, 2011

Troubled homeowners get a lifeline

If the recent wild leaps and plunges in financial markets have prompted you to cash out your stocks, you’re not alone. Individual investors are bolting for the exits.

Thursday’s big sell-off, which saw the Dow Jones industrial average move by triple digits for the ninth time this month, was the latest evidence of a crisis mentality that has taken hold on global financial markets, turning the usually quiet month of August into a nail-biter for small investors. A lot them have just one word for their broker: “Sell.”

“You’re talking about money exiting the market en masse and it’s completely wanting to get out stocks agnostic of sector,” said Art Hogan, a managing director at Lazard Capital Markets. “What we’re having right now is panic selling.”

Burger Joint serves nearly two-dozen different kind of burgers, including a peanut butter and jelly burger and a burger served on a glazed donut.

The mother and son who’ve teamed up to create these concoctions said they were inspired by the many cable television shows featuring off-the-wall food.

“Because a lot of people like their burgers, they’re all about burgers, different types of burgers,” said owner Gale McGrath.

Customers seem to be willing to give these unusual combinations a try.

Planting a garden doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. But the fear of failure keeps many a gardener-wannabe from spending time and energy on planting backyard crops. Knowing the easy vegetables to grow for your region — in addition to when and where to plant them — is the best way to ensure success.

When planning your crops, try to space out the planting of foods that have a short harvest season. An ideal garden will always have something to put on the table, rather than an abundant period and then a dry spell with nothing growing.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Oil prices plunged more than 8% Thursday as weak economic data and a strengthening dollar drove crude to its biggest one-day drop since April 2009.

The main U.S. oil contract for June delivery settled down $9.44, or 8.6%, to $99.80 a barrel. That’s its lowest level since mid-March and marks its biggest one-day percentage drop in two years. Brent crude, the European benchmark, fell $10.73 to $110.46 a barrel.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — For years, President Obama has been clear about his preferred tax policy: Tax the rich more and protect households that make less than $250,000 from higher taxes.

It’s not clear what he’ll say about taxes on Wednesday when he lays out his ideas for how to tackle the country’s long-term debt. If history holds, he’ll stick to his guns.

MINAMI SOMA, Japan — The Odaka neighborhood seems frozen in time since it was abandoned after the tsunami nearly a month ago: Doors were left hanging open and bicycles were abandoned. A lone taxi sits in front of the train station. Mud-caked dogs roam empty streets, their barking and the cawing of crows the only sounds.

Many homes and businesses in the area escaped serious damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but their owners have not been allowed back because of concerns about radiation from the nearby nuclear plant crippled by the massive wave.

Fertility companies are paying egg donors high fees that often exceed guidelines, especially for donors from top colleges and with certain appearances and ethnicities, a new study finds.

The upshot: Parents with infertility problems are willing to pay up to $50,000 for a human egg they hope will produce a smart, attractive child.

Apple passed an important milestone last quarter that nobody on Wall Street seems to have noticed: the iPod, once Apple’s (AAPL) No. 1 source of revenue, fell into third place after the Mac (No. 1) and the iPhone (No. 2).

Think of Apple’s business model — as Steve Jobs often does — as a three-legged stool: Mac, iPod, iPhone. As recently as 2006, the iPod leg accounted for 55.5% of Apple’s revenue. By last quarter, its share had shrunk to less than 18%.

But this is a good thing, argues Bullish Cross‘ Andy Zaky, a day trader and occasional blogger whose estimates of Apple’s earnings regularly beat — by a long shot — the estimates published by professional analysts