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NEW YORK -- The U.S. government bond market ended the month Friday even stronger than where it began, though the rush to risk-free assets has clearly lost its urgency.

October has been a volatile period in the ongoing credit crisis, but it finished with markets on a more stable footing. The worst constraints on crucial short-term funding for the corporate sector appear to have eased, and interest-rate markets are pointing to further declines in borrowing costs.

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. appears to be the lead candidate in acquiring Chrysler LLC after talks with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. were halted.

Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private equity fund that owns an 80.1% stake in Chrysler, ended the discussions in favor of concentrating on GM, according to a person familiar with the discussions who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach on Friday said a highly critical review of the agency's stance on a chemical found in plastic food and drink containers raises important questions.

A review released Wednesday was sharply critical of the FDA's view that the chemical Bisphenol-A, or BPA, is safe at current levels found in plastic food containers, saying the agency relied too heavily on studies funded by the chemical industry and didn't back its stance up with available science.

Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holding Co. told the Maryland Public Service Commission that its purchase of Constellation Energy Group Inc. and its Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. unit would stabilize the troubled utilities and curb rate increases if approved.

Some Constellation shareholders were upset by MidAmerican's $26.50-a-share offer, after the company had been trading at over $100 earlier in the year. Mr. Buffett swooped in about a month ago with his $4.7 billion bid for Constellation after investors fled the company over fears about its solvency.

The Federal Reserve and academics who give it advice are rethinking the proposition that the Fed cannot and should not try to prick financial bubbles.

"[O]bviously, the last decade has shown that bursting bubbles can be an extraordinarily dangerous and costly phenomenon for the economy, and there is no doubt that as we emerge from the financial crisis, we will all be looking at that issue and what can be done about it," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week.

Under pressure to disclose more information after the surprise sale of shares of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., Sumner Redstone's National Amusements Inc. said it is in negotiations with its lenders and has created a special committee to conduct those talks.

The negotiations suggest the family holding company is still grappling with its financial issues, despite the sale of $233 million of its Viacom and CBS holdings to avoid breaching its debt covenants. The most urgent issue for National Amusements is a year-end deadline to repay roughly half of its $1.6 billion in debt, according to people familiar with the situation.

The U.S. Supreme Court quashed attempts to force hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters to undergo added scrutiny in Ohio, potentially dealing a setback to John McCain less than three weeks before the election.

The unanimous decision set aside a lower-court order that would require election officials to examine more closely the legitimacy of many new voter registrations.

NEW YORK -- Fannie Mae shareholders, battered by the federal takeover of the mortgage finance giant, may yet have checks coming their way.

A class-action lawsuit alleging securities fraud by the company could yield a hefty payment to shareholders. That suit, now in U.S. District Court in Washington, puts the regulator running the company in an awkward position.

The former Blink-182 drummer was released from a Los Angeles burn center where he was being treated after surviving the Sept. 19 horrific crash in South Carolina.

Rocker Travis Barker, 32, has been discharged Friday from Grossman Burn Center, where he was hospitalized on Sept. 29 with second- and third-degree burns.

By Ann Hornaday
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 18, 2008; C01

What would Poppy do?

That's the question that will inspire audiences fortunate enough to meet this year's most unforgettable and even revolutionary screen protagonist. Played by the radiant Sally Hawkins in Mike Leigh's comedy "Happy-Go-Lucky," Poppy emerges as an altogether new kind of heroine at a time when -- in Hollywood, at least -- violence, bleakness and pessimism are continually confused with moral seriousness. Observed with insight and compassion by Leigh during a few weeks of her crammed and contented life, Poppy may first impress viewers as an irritating or lovable ditz, depending on their temperament. But as channeled by Hawkins in a performance bursting with insight and fizzy joie de vivre, Poppy gradually comes into her own as a character of rare depth, wisdom and even courage.