Morning Mix: Small Business Sends Mixed Messages

A bit more small business borrowing: In a positive sign, small businesses are cautiously beginning to borrow a little more. That news out this morning follows Wednesday’s upside surprise when it comes to consumer confidence. (Reuters)

Big worries: An overwhelming 86 percent of small business owners are worried about a double-dip recession, a quarterly survey by Citigroup shows. (Fox Business)

Vacations endangered: It’s not just the infrastructure from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to the coast of Maine that could take a pounding from Hurricane Earl, now churning in the Atlantic. It’s the thousands of vacationers enjoying the last week of summer on the coast, and the millions of dollars they bring to local economies. (ABC)

A Tea Party victory: It may be the biggest political upset of the year and certainly speaks to the energy of galvanized conservatives that Joe Miller has now officially defeated Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s GOP primary. (Associated Press)

Paper or plastic: California grocery checkout clerks will continue to give consumers the choice of whether they want paper or plastic bags after the state senate voted down a bill that would have banned plastic grocery bags. (CNN)

A divided Fed: Like other economists and business leaders, members of the Federal Reserve’s Open Markets committee had a variety of views as to what the body should do to revive the flagging economy, according to minutes of their latest meeting released Tuesday. (Washington Post)

Bair wastes no time: Federal Deposit Insurance boss Sheila Bair says her agency will move quickly to set up a system for breaking up “too big to fail” financial institutions. (Reuters)

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