Mary Dooe

As budget woes continue to plague lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as well as leaders in Europe, we speak to the leader of California, Gov. Jerry Brown, over his state's financial issues. Officials in Houston are trying to figure out what to do with the Astrodome -- renovate it or tear it down. Manufacturers are reporting slowing sales of desktop and laptop PCs suggesting a slow down in economic growth, but computer sales may no longer be a reliable indicator of new hires and overall business growth.

If you're looking for a safe place to park your money, think Ford. Moody's has boosted the automaker's debt to investment-grade, giving a thumbs up to a long financial turnaround for the company. Today, struggling tech giant Hewlett-Packard will announce whether the company will shed tens of thousands its workers. With Memorial Day approaching, parents begin to consider summer plans and the value of camp for their kids. This week Target launched a line of Gay Pride T-shirts on its website in time for Gay Pride month in June which may help mend fences between the retailer and the gay community.

There's a new warning this morning from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that says the 17 nations that use the euro are at risk of falling into a severe recession. It's been two years since the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and today officials from government are looking at one item central to that spill: the blowout preventer. As soon as next week, Southwest Airlines could get clearance to build a brand new international terminal at Houston's Hobby airport -- but one competitor is doing its best to thwart those plans.

Gas prices continue to soar in the U.S., but Americans haven't yet flocked to alternative fuels like natural gas in a big way. Billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens expected us to -- but after being one of the industry's biggest supporters, he's now backed out of natural gas stocks all together. In New York last night, tens of thousands of orthodox Jews gathered at Citi Field to discuss the pros and cons of using the Internet. And America's second largest movie theater chain, AMC, has been bought by one of China's largest real estate developers, creating the world's largest cinema chain.

Happy Facebook IPO Day! The company priced its IPO yesterday at $38 a share, for a market valuation of $104 billion. But just exactly how is Facebook going to live up to that market cap? On the table at the House of Representatives are big budget cuts for the military; one of the casualties of defense budget cutting is the $45 million Technology Innovation Program. The U.S. Commerce Department has announced steep tariffs on solar panels from China. And this year, the cost of going to prom is a bit higher than usual.

Shareholders of Chesapeake Energy are asking a judge to delay the company's annual meeting so they can get more information about their CEO's compensation and his personal financial interest in drilling natural gas wells. Chicago is getting ready for all the world leaders who will be in town for the big NATO meeting that starts today -- and for the busloads of people who will be coming into town to protest. What is a joint venture, and why is it worthwhile for companies? And Los Angeles sports fans -- and the Staples Center -- are flying high as three of the city's pro teams are in the playoffs.

There are new concerns this morning of a banking crisis in Greece, after the country's political parties failed to come together and form a coalition government. This week's Facebook IPO could mean big things for the California state budget. And in Atlanta this morning, the world's busiest airport welcomes its first passengers to a brand-new, $1.4 billion international terminal.

In the U.K., voters delivered big losses to the ruling Conservative party yesterday. This weekend, voters in both France and Greece will go to the polls and the expectation is that they'll be in a bit of an anti-austerity mood. Are 401(k)s really the right ticket to a happy retirement? The movie "The Avengers" opens in the U.S. today -- but it has already brought in more than $250 million around the world. And tomorrow is the 138th Kentucky Derby. Horse raising is a multi-billion dollar business, and a growing percentage of that money is being spent on cutting-edge veterinary care.

President Obama said last night during his speech in Kabul, Afghanistan that the goal is for Afghan forces to lead combat operations by next year. Here in this country we'll get some indication this morning of how the housing market is doing. Another way to gauge the health of the housing market, of course, is to check one of those websites like Zillow or Trulia. Executives from the online TV site Hulu are in New York today -- along with their counterparts from Yahoo, Youtube and AOL -- selling their content to advertisers. Elsewhere in New York, the painting known as The Scream goes on auction at Sotheby's.