Harold Maass of The Week The Best of Today's Business

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Heat rises for Time Warner

Dissident shareholders launched a proxy fight to replace a majority of Time Warner's board. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who led the attack, said he wanted to force the media giant into a "very meaningful and deep restructuring" to boost its stock performance. The dissidents are having investment bank Lazard Ltd. propose ways to streamline the company. A Time Warner spokesman said the company was already "taking the right steps." (Reuters in the Los Angeles Times, free registration required)

Fighting avian flu

The federal government is building a stockpile of an experimental vaccine to prevent a bird flu outbreak, which could confine millions to their homes for months and strangle the economy. Eight million doses should be on hand by February, and scientists are studying ways to dilute the supply to cover a third of the population. "I didn't know there was so much going on," said Charles Helms, chairman of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. "It's incredible." (The Washington Post, free registration required)

Surprising news

Sales of new homes jumped unexpectedly in October, suggesting that the housing market remains healthy even if it is cooling. One analyst called the figures "bizarre," as other signs show home sales down all around. But Michelle Girard of RBS Greenwich Capital said, "Declarations of a collapse in the housing sector are premature." Also, falling gas prices and an improving job outlook helped boost consumer confidence in November -- another good sign for the economy. (The Wall Street Journal, paid registration required) Government figures on gross domestic product in the third quarter and a Federal Reserve report on regional economic conditions -- both due today -- could provide a clearer picture of where the economy is heading. (Reuters in Yahoo!News)

Eastern affluence

The states on the East Coast have the highest paying jobs, according to newly released Census figures. Connecticut, which has a median income of $56,409, overtook New Jersey as the state with the highest wages. Mississippi had the lowest. (AP in Yahoo!Finance)

BEST COLUMNS OF THE DAY

Are happy days here again?

Things are looking up for the economy, says Investor's Business Daily in an editorial. Consumer confidence is soaring, new home sales just hit a record, and orders of durable goods manufactured in the U.S. are rising at twice the expected rate. We have "the pro-growth Bush economic policies" to thank for this "prosperity." So why isn't the Bush administration standing up to take the credit?

The economy "appears to be booming," says Vikas Bajaj in The New York Times, but "it is not that simple." Consumer confidence is only soaring because it sank so low when Hurricane Katrina sent gas prices through the roof. And home sales are slowing down no matter what the new figures say. If the Fed keeps pushing interest rates up, the housing market will slow even more and consumers will cut their spending. So don't "expect the party to continue."

GOOD DAY FOR: Enterprise journalism, as U.S. military officials have reportedly been secretly paying Iraqi newspapers as much as $1,500 to run positive stories written by American troops about the U.S.-led effort to rebuild the country. (Los Angeles Times)

BAD DAY FOR: Good deals, as experts estimate that consumers never redeem 40 percent of the $6 billion in rebates offered each year on everything from mouthwash to PCs. (BusinessWeek)

NOTED: The number of companies worldwide that reported being hurt by financial fraud has increased by 22 percent over the last two years. In 60 percent of cases, the culprit was an employee of the defrauded company. (Reuters)