U.S. foreclosures have reached a record high in August as homeowners continue to drop their mortgages and hand over their homes to the banks.

High unemployment in America has reduced the demand for housing and caused prices to plummet. Many homeowners find they have a mortgage that is far bigger then their house is actually worth. If they get into financial difficulty the only option they have is to file for a foreclosure.

“We’re on track for a record year for homes in foreclosure and repossessions,” said RealtyTrac’s senior vice president, Rick Sharga. Total bank repossessions were 95,364, which is up 25 per cent from last year. An amazing 1 out of every 381 U.S. households received a filing for foreclosure.

The number of properties that went up for auction due to foreclosure in August was 96,469, up 2 per cent from August last year.

“Fewer buyers means it’s going to take longer to clear out the distressed inventory, the longer you have that inventory the more price pressure there is on the overall housing market,” said Sharga.

Florida and Nevada have the highest foreclosure rates, with Arizona and California coming in a close third and fourth respectively.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. has offered to purchase Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. for $50 per share plus $122 million of options and restricted shares for a total of $1.56 billion. The offer includes $43.60 and 0.6366 of Hertz share for each Dollar Thrifty share.

“We are pleased to reach an agreement that reflects the significant improvement in Dollar Thrifty’s operating performance since the initial merger agreement was executed,” said Mark Frissora, Chief Executive Officer of Hertz.

Hertz will have to wait until September 30 when Thrifty shareholders vote to see if they approve of the offer. Hertz have also offered a $44.6 million breakup fee if antitrust clearance is not obtained.

Avis has also had its sights set on buying Dollar Thrifty but its offers have been rejected. Earlier in the month Avis offered $1.36 billion, an increase on its previous offer of 3%, but Dollar Thrifty rebuffed the deal. They were concerned about Avis not being prepared to offer a breakup fee which made the offer less attractive.

The Hertz Corporation is over 90 years old and was founded by Walter Jacobs in 1918 who began a car rental program with Model T Fords in Chicago. Hertz currently operates in over 8,000 locations and 146 countries worldwide. It is the largest car rental company in the world.

GoDaddy.com, the world’s largest domain name registrar has put itself up for sale. The company manages over 43 million domain names and according to a Wall Street Journal report could sell for over $1 billion.

The company is being put up for auction by Qatalyst Partners which was founded in 2008 by investment banker Frank Qattrone.

Owner and chief executive, Bob Parsons, founded GoDaddy.com in 1997. It was originally known as Jomax Technologies but after a brainstorming session to come up with something more memorable it became known as ‘ Go Daddy’.

GoDaddy.com is famous for its racy marketing, particularly the sponsored ads broadcast during the Super Bowl. GoDaddy.com has also extended its sponsorship to various race car drivers from NASCAR and the Indy 500.

It’s unknown why Bob Parsons has decided to sell the company now. Spokespeople from both GoDaddy.com and Qatalyst have yet to comment on the sale.

It’s expected that private-equity firms will be interested in bidding for the company due to steady cash flow and the potential to sell other related products to customers who purchase domain names.

Goldman Sachs has been fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to disclose that it was under investigation for fraud by U.S. authorities.

After a five month investigation the UK regulator handed out one of the biggest fines to-date amounting to 17.5 million pounds ($27 million).

Goldman Sachs had failed to report that one of its employees, Fabrice Tourre, was under investigation for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. During the investigation Mr. Tourre moved to London and continued to work without the approval of the FSA.

Goldman Sachs settled the SEC fraud lawsuit for $550 million but failed to report this to the UK financial regulator. Mr. Tourre is challenging the decision and claims he did not mislead investors regarding mortgage-backed securities.

“We have repeatedly stressed the importance of firms self-reporting regulatory issues to the FSA in a timely way. GSI did not set out to hide anything, but its defective systems and controls meant that the level and quality of its communications with the FSA fell far below what we expect of an authorized firm,” said the FSA’s managing director of enforcement and financial crime, Margaret Cole.

Goldman had hoped to repair its tarnished image which had suffered a battering during the world financial crises. The latest fines for failing to report to the FSA do nothing to improve its reputation.

In an attempt to revive a sluggish economy President Obama has come up with a rather dramatic plan to allow businesses to write off 100 percent of new capital investment through 2011. Economists from the White House predict the new plan will reduce business taxes by $200 billion.

Plant and equipment purchased through that period could be written off immediately rather than slowly over 10 years.

The entire proposal will be outlined on Wednesday in a speech by President Obama about the economy. Other plans to stimulate the economy and promote growth include and additional $50 billion for investment in infrastrure.

At a rally in Milwaukee President Obama said, “It’s a plan that says even in the aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can still shape our own destiny, we can still move this country forward, we can still leave our children something better … something that lasts.”

The $50 billion on infrastructure will be used to build or repair roads, railways and runways as well as modernize the air traffic control system. It’s expected to create a substantial number of additional jobs throughout the country.

The proposed tax cuts will benefit 1.5 million businesses and millions of individuals.

The former HP Chief, Mark Hurd, is currently in negotiations with Oracle about being given a top executive position. Hurd was forced to leave Hewlett-Packard after allegations of sexual harassment were brought forward by a female consultant of the firm.

No evidence of sexual misconduct was found but during the investigation it was brought to light that Mr. Hurd had manipulated expenses, possibly to hide his relationship with the consultant. Mr. Hurd was ousted as a result of a loss of trust between himself and the company.

It’s unlikely that Hurd will take the top spot away from current chief executive of Oracle Larry Ellison. Ellison has been in the role for 30 years and is the founder of Oracle.

Oracle is a giant in the software industry with profits in the last fiscal year of $6.1 billion. Earlier this year Oracle completed the takeover of Sun Microsystems for $7 billion. The new purchase places Oracle firmly in the hardware market and makes it a direct competitor of HP. “I don’t think you’ll see a profound change in strategy with the addition of Hurd, but I do think you’ll see a better ability to execute in the hardware business”, said Brendan Barnicle, analyst for Pacific Crest Securities.

Mr. Hurd, Mr. Ellison and Oracle have all declined to comment.

Burger King Holdings have made a deal with 3G Capital to hand over all of their stock for $24 per share or $4 billion. 3G capital will also acquire the company’s outstanding debt.

This buyout by 3G Capital will be the second time Burger King has changed hands in the last eight years and it is the largest buyout of a fast-food chain on record.

3G plan to expand the presence of Burger King around the world particularly in South America and Asia. They are backed by wealthy Brazilians, one of which is a billionaire.

Friendly talks between the two companies have been ongoing for a number of months and 3G’s managing partner, Alexandre Behring said earlier in a statement “The iconic Burger King brand, its solid franchisee network and great product offerings make this a perfect fit for 3G Capital.”

On the news Burger King shares jumped by 25% and finished the day on Thursday at $23.59

Reports of a steering problem with the 2011 Hyundai Sonata have led to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA.

No injuries have occurred but their have been several complaints of a loss of steering capability and investigators are examining the possibility of a bolt in the steering system becoming loose.

About 16,000 Sonatas are involved, all of which were manufactured at the Hyundai factory in Alabama.

The NHTSA noticed that all vehicles reported were manufactured in the same month and had very few miles on them. “No defect has been identified. It’s too early to draw any conclusions about anything,” said Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor.

The 2011 Hyundai Sonata has been a great success for Hyundai with sales in July up 33% from the same month last year. The company has sold 107,085 Sonata’s to date.

About 300 jobs are expected to be created over the next three years by the introduction of the new MasterBrand Cabinets unit by Fortune Brands, Inc. Fortune Brands currently produce everything from tequila to golf equipment and have been chosen to supply new kitchen cabinets for the Martha Stewart Living Kitchens series.

The new line of products will launch next month and will be available in stores throughout the United States. A spokesperson for the corporation said that the business had been selected by the Home Depot Inc. and that they are busy adding more work opportunities for their plant in Kinston, N.C.

Fortune Brands has approximately 24,000 employees overall. Shares rose on the news of the new business which should be consistent over the next few years. Shares were up by 58 cents and finished the morning trading at $44.16.

Hewlett-Packard has offered a counter bid of $1.6 billion for 3Par, surpassing Dell’s original bid of $1.3 billion. It’s expected Dell will put in a counter offer but no-one knows how high they will go.

3Par is a data storage firm that provides high-end storages systems to customers. This technology allows companies to reduce costs and manage their networks more efficiently.

Dell has made it clear that the acquisition of 3Par is a key component of their business plans moving forward. “They offered a compelling case for the value of the asset and its intention to broaden and invest in that business, and not to get it leaves them a bit in the lurch. There are alternatives out there, but nothing that fits this particular slot, and that’s why I expect them to rebid,” said Richard Kugele, analyst at Needham & Co.

3Par shares have soared since the bidding began and were up another 3.6% yesterday. Dell shares fell 3% and HP shares closed down 1.7%