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Mortgage rates have held below the 5 percent threshold for the second straight week, only weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire.

German carmaker BMW AG says its 2009 net income fell 36 percent to €210 million ($286 million) because of lower demand for its cars during the economic downturn as well as a higher tax rate.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he regrets that a major defense contractor has pulled out of the contest to build a badly needed new Air Force plane.

Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen AG says its 2009 net income declined 80 percent to €960 million ($1.3 billion), confirming its preliminary estimate released in February.

For the want of a better two-second picture of a tachometer, ABC News has called into question its reporting on acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles.