Bloomberg News The ethanol industry is being challenged for its consumption of corn and by diminishing profits.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Not long ago, the fledgling ethanol industry was the darling of investors, farmers, the federal government and a lot of Americans who liked the idea of turning corn into fuel. Suddenly, it doesn't have nearly as many friends.

Nearly 50 San Diego County dwellings per day were lost to foreclosure in April, as the tally of mortgage failures rose 169 percent above last year, DataQuick Information Systems reported yesterday. Buckling under the weight of risky adjustable-rate loans, many borrowers are giving up on ever bringing their debt current.

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve officials strongly suggested they won't be inclined to cut interest rates further even as they sharply downgraded their forecast for economic growth this year, citing damage from the housing slump, credit crunch and galloping energy prices.

WASHINGTON – On a day oil prices leaped to unheard-of highs, senators lined up Big Oil's biggest executives and pummeled them with complaints that they're pretending to be “hapless victims” while raking in record profits.

TOKYO – Honda said yesterday it would launch a new, low-cost hybrid car in Japan, North America and Europe in early 2009 as it seeks to cut the lead of Toyota in the green-car race. Suddenly, it doesn't have nearly as many friends.