Speaking of weird, how about that crazy three way tie in the British elections? Now if Brown gets serious and decides to truly carry out a possible resignation then things might move ahead for his party. This has to be surreal for the British people, living in limbo like this for a national government - even after the votes were cast.
And to top off the weird category this week there is a story about President Obama's humor is examined. Apparently, some journalists decided it was noteworthy - it isn't in my opinion - to chastise Obama for no longer being quite so self-deprecating and poking fun at his friends and political enemies. Why is this newsworthy? I'll leave it to you to decide that weird one... :)
Greek Debt, Trader Error Eyed in Market Sell-Off (CBS)
Dow Plunged 1,000 Points Late in Day Before Recovering to Finish Down 347; Did Trader Type 'Billion' Instead of 'Million'?
The stock market had one of its most turbulent days in history as the Dow Jones industrials fell to a loss of almost 1,000 points in less than half an hour.
The sell-off was first thought to have been driven by fears that Greece's debt problems could halt the global economic recovery. But reports suggest that a trader error may have been the primary catalyst or that both factors contributed to the massive drop.
CNBC first reported that "According to multiple sources, a trader entered a 'b' for billion instead of an 'm' for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble, a component in the Dow."
Because so much U.S. trading is now done electronically based on programmed scenarios, such an error could have triggered its own domino effect of "sell" orders across the market.
The market's plunge came less than 90 minutes before the end of trading. The Dow's drop was its largest loss ever during the course of a trading day, but it recovered to a loss of 347 at the close. All the major indexes lost more than 3 percent...
Computer trading intensified the losses as programs designed to sell stocks at a specified level kicked in. Traders use those programs to try to limit their losses when the market is falling. And the selling only led to more selling as prices fell.
The selling was furious:
At 2:20 p.m. 6 May 2010 EDT, the Dow was at 10,460, a loss of 400 points.
It then tumbled 600 points in seven minutes to its low of the day of 9,869, a drop of 9.2 percent.
U.K. in Deadlock, Parties Jockey for Power (CBS)
Prime Minster Brown, Conservatives' Cameron Each Court 3rd-Place Liberal Democrats to Form Ruling Coalition
The leaders of Britain's leading political parties each made bids for the keys to 10 Downing Street, after Thursday's election failed to produce a majority winner.
Conservative leader David Cameron, ahead but shy of a majority, seized the initiative with a "comprehensive offer" to the ideologically dissimilar but possibly willing Liberal Democrats.
"We have to accept that we fell short of an overall majority," said Cameron, 43, as results showed his party 20 seats short in the House of Commons.
"Britain needs strong, stable decisive government and it is in the national interest that we get that on a secure basis. ... I want to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats," he said.
But Cameron promised only a "committee of inquiry" to look into the Liberal Democrats' major goal, reform of Britain's electoral system so that the number of seats gained is based on the percentage of vote a party achieves. They say that is fairer than the current system, in which a party can win a parliamentary majority by getting only a third of votes.
In Thursday's election, the Conservatives won 36 percent of votes cast, Labour 29 percent and the Liberal Democrats 23 percent.
Final results in Thursday's election gave the Conservatives 306 seats it the 650 seat House of Commons. Labour won 258 seats, the Liberal Democrats 57, and smaller parties 28. Voting in one constituency was postponed until later this month because of the death of a candidate.
"The country has spoken - but we don't know what they've said," former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown said, summing up confusion.
The uncertainty sent markets slumping.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday he is prepared to speak to any other party about forming an alliance.
"We find ourselves in a position unknown to this generation of political leaders," Brown said outside 10 Downing Street this morning. "What we have seen are no ordinary election results. People have been talking for some time inside and outside of government about the possibility of a hung Parliament. That possibility has now become very real and very pressing.
"The question for all the political parties now is whether a parliamentary majority can be established that reflects what you, the electorate, have told us," Brown said.
As sitting prime minister, Brown would traditionally be given the first chance to put together a government. His left-of-center Labour Party is seen as a more natural coalition fit with the Liberal Democrats, the third-place party now thrust into the role of potential kingmaker...
Oil Leak Container Touches Down on Seafloor (CBS)
Robot Submarines Used to Position 100-Ton Structure; Contraption Needs 12 Hours Minimum to Settle
A BP-chartered vessel lowered a 100-ton concrete-and-steel vault onto a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, an important step in a delicate and unprecedented attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the sea.
Underwater robots guided the 40-foot-tall box into place. Now that the contraption is on the seafloor, workers will need at least 12 hours to let it settle and make sure it's stable before the robots can hook up a pipe and hose that will funnel the oil up to a tanker.
"It appears to be going exactly as we hoped," BP spokesman Bill Salvin told The Associated Press on Friday afternoon, shortly after the four-story device hit the seafloor. "Still lots of challenges ahead, but this is very good progress."
Once a hose is connected to siphon the box's contents to a ship on the water level, engineers have to separate the mix of oil, water and gas, a potentially explosive process, CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports from Venice, La.
By Sunday, the box the size of a house could be capturing up to 85 percent of the oil. So far about 3 million gallons have leaked in an environmental crisis that has been unfolding since a deepwater drilling platform exploded April 20, sending toxic oil toward a shoreline of marshes, shipping channels, fishing grounds and beaches. Eleven workers were killed in the accident.
The lowering of the containment device was a slow-moving drama playing out 50 miles from Louisiana's coast, requiring great precision and attention to detail. It took about two weeks to build the 40-foot box, and the effort to lower it by crane and cable to the seafloor began late Thursday night. After it hit bottom Friday afternoon, the crane gradually eased off to allow it to settle.
"We are essentially taking a four-story building and lowering it 5,000 feet and setting it on the head of a pin," Salvin said...
Obama's Humorous Shots at Opponents (CBS)
Bill Plante talks to Washington Post's Paul Farhi, author of an article about presidents and their funny bones.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
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