In an idea that may go over only too well with the airline industry, more consumers say they want a “families-only” section on flights, according to a new poll by travel and fare-comparison website Skyscanner.

You have to wonder if Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is starting to get nostalgic for last decade. 2000 was just a better year for Microsoft than 2010. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is now the world's most valuable technology company, Windows 2000 and its immediate successor Windows XP still have a larger install base than either the Windows 7 operating system, and the Pocket PC 2000, the original Windows Phone released in the April of 2000, is an all but forgotten footnote in the smartphone pantheon.

With existing and new home sales down dramatically this week, you’d expect homebuilder stocks such as Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Pulte Group (NYSE: PHM), as well as stocks in building materials makers and home improvement retailers, to see similar declines. You’d be wrong.

Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (NYSE: WEN) is taking the Wendy’s restaurant slogan “Quality is Our Recipe” to a new level – this time, with all-natural French fries in test markets. And interestingly, the new recipe comes at a time when Wendy’s French fries are already popular. A recent Zagat survey ranked Wendy’s fries fourth best, behind McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger.

The housing market in general was hit right in the face this week with two abysmally weak reports on sales. New home sales dropped -12.4% in July while existing sales dropped a massive -27%. Just like with last summer's cash-for-clunkers auto rebate program, much of the slowdown is payback for the extra sales activity seen during the government's homebuyer tax credit.

For what it is worth, platinum is about to flip negative for the year, palladium is up 18%, while gold and silver are holding up -- having risen about 11.8% and 6.7%, respectively.

Apple TV has proved to be the black sheep at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) as one of the few recent duds amid otherwise dynamic and successful multimedia devices. Since its release in 2007, Apple TV has been largely ignored even as digital and on-demand television has become the preferred TV viewing method.

GameStop (NYSE: GME) opened a new retail outlet in Palo Alto, California yesterday that company brass is calling the "store of the future." That’s good timing for GameStop, since the video game retail stock is in dire need of something positive in its future.

Higher fares and higher fees may soon greet U.S. airline customers, as some industry experts cautiously predict increases in demand that could slowly recover from the last two years of economic turmoil.

In a time when consumer spending is down, it seems that computer maker Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is taking a particularly hard hit. Year-to-date, Dell’s stock has dropped -19.3%, and is currently trading at $11.65. The company famous for building PCs and laptops is a shell of its former self; down over -68% since this time in 2005.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has always catered to hip, independent consumers looking for edgy gadgets. Just look at the Mac vs. PC ads that pit…

The first of a proposed 14 new Dominican Republic Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD) doughnut shops opened its doors in Santo Domingo on Tuesday. For investors, this KKD stock move may be a sign not only of global expansion but of a perhaps slow and marked return to the former glory days at Krispy Kreme.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), thinks the US should develop a more rational energy policy, invest more in energy research and development, and get lucky. The phrase Gates uses does not refer to luck, though. He prefers "energy miracles," by which he means a technological breakthrough that would reduce the amount of carbon emitted.

If Costco has its way, the mob scene taking place at its cavernous stores will soon be on the move – ideally to the oversized mall spaces known as “anchor” positions, which have long been the turf of big box retailers and department stores.

A report from Bloomberg sheds new light on the Apple TV re-launch, including details on rental pricing. Speaking of new AAPL devices, a Taiwanese paper that rightly predicted the announcement of the original iPad is reconfirming the 7-inch iPad 2 for fall 2010.

Wall Street has been abuzz with buyout news. Thursday’s announcement that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) will buy McAfee (NYSE: MFE) for nearly $8 billion in cash made a huge splash last week – and Monday’s move from tech giant Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to outbid Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) for small-cap data storage firm 3Par (NYSE: PAR) really threw the tech sector for a loop.

A brutal housing report this morning sent the market into a tailspin, and the Dow Jones pushed below 10,000 for the first time in six weeks. But after investors digested the news of a gut-wrenching -27% drop in existing home sales, the sell-off softened. The broader markets still finished down, but the Dow reclaimed five figures by the closing bell.