CNNMoney - Last Updated: August 1, 2008: 8:45 PM EDT

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Federal regulators closed Florida’s First Priority Bank on Friday, marking the eighth bank failure of the year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was named the receiver of the failed bank, entered into an agreement with Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank (STI, Fortune 500) to assume the insured deposits of First Priority.

All six branches of the Bradenton, Fla.-based bank will reopen on Monday as branches of SunTrust. First Priority depositors will automatically become depositors of SunTrust, the FDIC said.

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Motortrend, July 2008

Diet 1 Series: None of the boost, all of the fun

By Carlos Lago

We’re all clamoring about the 135i, but can you blame us? The surprising power delivery and cornering capability of the BMW make it hard not to. But while the 135i is the focal point of the 1 Series offerings in the U.S., the 128i is the more sensible sibling with similar attitude. We were impressed by the 128i when we first drove it and now that we’ve tested the cheapest BMW available, we can show you how it stacks up against the competition and its twin-turbocharged brother.

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FORTUNE - August 1, 2008, 5:25 pm

By Yi-Wyn Yen

SAN JOSE, Calif. –Carl Icahn made the right choice not to fly out west to attend the Yahoo shareholder meeting Friday.

The billionaire activist who is the newest Yahoo director wasn’t the only one that didn’t show up to the  gathering. Judging by the number of shareholders who did attend, interest in the annual meeting was fairly low. But there were still some fireworks from shareholders who remain disgruntled over how Yahoo’s board handled buyout negotiations with Microsoft.

Eric Jackson, a dissident shareholder from Florida, kicked off the question-and-answer session  by criticizing Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock. “I think you’re overpaid for compensation,” Jackson said. “I think you overplayed your hand with Microsoft and you’ve overstayed your welcome.”  The audience clapped and cheered and then laughed when Yang replied, “Eric… It’s good to see you again.”

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Sillicon Alley Insider - Henry Blodget | August 2, 2008 4:18 PM

Given the rampant speculation that Jerry Yang should or will exit stage left as Yahoo’s CEO, Yahoo’s Board had to do one of two things:

1. Can him
2. Reiterate full confidence in him.

Yahoo’s chairman Roy Bostock appears to have just done the latter in an interview with the New York Times:

Roy Bostock… said the board has no plans to replace its C.E.O. “I have absolute confidence in Jerry and the management,” he said in an interview last week.

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Technology August 1, 2008, 8:42PM EST

The annual gathering featured familiar themes, from hopeful strategies to unhappy shareholders, amid little Microsoft fallout

by Robert D. Hof

It’s almost as if the past six months never happened.

Yahoo’s (YHOO) much anticipated annual meeting on Aug. 1 left its current board and co-founder and Chief Executive Jerry Yang intact, in control, and still insisting they can return to contention with runaway rival Google (GOOG). Despite rampant shareholder anger that the Internet icon couldn’t close any of a series of deals with Microsoft (MSFT) since the software giant’s unsolicited $45 billion buyout bid Feb. 1, the long-delayed annual meeting was remarkable mostly for how little happened.

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Sillicon Alley Insider - Eric Krangel | August 2, 2008 7:00 AM

We didn’t expect this week’s Yahoo shareholder meeting to be that interesting, and we were right. The interesting part happened the night before, when Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told former employee Jon Miller that he couldn’t get out of his non-compete and join the Yahoo board. He-said/he-said promptly ensued.

Big Media sounded off about the state of the ad market this week. And Big Media didn’t have good news. Viacom (VIA) says ad sales were much worse than expected.  Comcast’s (CMCSA) ad biz is down too. Over at CBS (CBS) it’s even worse. There was one winner: Interpublic (IPG), which is seeing growth overseas.

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BUSINESSWEEK - News & Features August 3, 2008, 1:45AM EST

Only 15 cars for sale in the U.S. get combined gas mileage of 30 mpg or better. We tell you what they are

by Jim Henry

At the end of 2007, sales of the Chevy Cobalt (BusinessWeek.com, 8/7/07) were down 5.1% for the year, to 200,620. The bland little compact, made at General Motors’ (GM) Lordstown plant in Ohio, was the successor to the Cavalier, and its weak performance raised the possibility that it—and the Lordstown plant—could be victims if GM were forced to shut down more production.

What a difference a year makes. Sales of the Cobalt are up more than 18% in the first half of 2008, and Lordstown cannot make them fast enough to keep up with demand. Job growth in the area is high, and despite a stagnant real estate market in most of Ohio, the area around Lordstown is enjoying enviable strength. What is the reason for this dramatic turnaround? Did GM radically overhaul the Cobalt? Did dealers offer an irresistible discount? None of the above. The tame little Cobalt has a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine that gets an EPA-estimated 24 mpg city/33 mpg highway, making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars for sale in the U.S. And, with a base sticker of $15,010, it’s one of the cheapest too.

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