A new study from Vanity Fair revealed that most Americans believe the US government should initiate cyber attacks if there is a need. 56% of the 1,045 U.S. adults polled in the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair survey think cyber attacks are a necessary warfare tactic, with 27 percent against the idea and 17 percent saying they simply don't know.

A new survey by PriceGrabber revealed that 1/3 of American consumers want to buy an iPhone 5. "Our survey data confirms the strong following Apple has built around its iPhone, with more than one-third of consumers planning to upgrade to the latest model only a little over a year following the release of the iPhone 4," said Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber.

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, tried to assure global financial markets that the US economy has a viable efficient model that has helped it withstand all crises. Addressing the US Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the State Secretary assured that the US Congress would come to a deal on the debt before August 2 deadline to avert default.

Moody’s has trimmed the rating for Greece by 2 notches to Ca Monday which is just one notch before the default status. The ratings agency warned that chance of a default is now “virtually 100 percent.” Moody’s noted that while the bailout agreed last week by euro zone leaders will help Greece to reduce its debt, the country still faces medium-term solvency challenges and significant implementation risks.

The International Monetary Fund warned China that it remains concerned over the property bubble in the country. The prices in many cities remain high even though Beijing has introduced higher inflation rate. Chinese government undertook some measures to cool the real estate sector by having reduced transaction volumes and property price increases, but still in some larger cities prices still look “bubbly,” said Nigel Chalk, IMF mission chief to China.

German and French leaders have come to a consensus over the second bailout for Greece in a move to avert crisis for the whole Europe and the world. After 7 hours of talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was present for part of their talks. Now their decision will be presented to crisis summit in Brussels on Thursday starting at 1100 GMT of all 17 leaders of the bloc.

China urged the US to enter “responsible” measures to increase market confidence in the dollar and US government debt. A Chinese currency regulator called upon US leaders amid their efforts to develop an 11th-hour deal to raise a $14.3 trillion debt ceiling for the United States before it runs out of money to cover all its bills on August 2.

A new study revealed that Facebook is falling in terms of user satisfaction losing thus significant market share to Google+. American Customers Satisfaction Index (ACSI)/ForeSee Results E-Business Report showed that while Facebook performed well this year compared to the last it still ranked last among all the sites included in the study. The report author Larry Freed described the Facebook user experience as "poor” saying Facebook has benefitted from "a monopoly of sorts" in the social networking market.

China believes the United States will be able to come out of its debt crisis and resolve an impasse related to raising debt ceiling with no need to be declared a default. China is interested in having US on a high level as it is the biggest foreign creditor and the dollar decline would have a negative impact on its economy. Chinese advisers think that the deadlock in budget negotiations would not prevent the US authorities to come to a decision to raise the debt ceiling.

According to the quarterly survey by the Nielsen Company global consumer confidence declined in the second quarter to the lowest level since the second half of 2009, the height of the global economic downturn. In the United States consumer sentiment was weaker than one and a half year ago. The survey reveals that consumers across the globe continue tightening their belts and plan to cut their expenses on different luxuries and extra things.

A new study reveals that some online advertising networks continue tracking Web Users even though the latter use opt-out requests and the networks promised to take into account these requests. Stanford University's Center for Internet Society reports that 8 members of the Network Advertising Initiative, a cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies, promise to stop tracking people who use the NAI's service to opt out of targeted advertising, but continue to leave tracking cookies on those people's computers.

A new stimulus program may be adopted by the United States, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday. Bernanke noted that additional asset purchase plan is in the works. The head of the central bank said that the economy is growing more slowly than expected, and should that continue the central bank stands at the ready with more accommodative measures.

Parents in Britain cannot obtain friendship with their children on the Facebook website, reveals a new survey. 30% of UK parents get rejected when sending Facebook “friend” requests to their children and many of them then use other people's login details in order to keep track of their kids’ activities.

The United States will inevitably default when the debt ceiling deadline on August 2 comes, noted David Murrin, chief investment officer at Emergent Asset Management. "It's inevitable that the US will default - it's essentially an empire which is overextended and in decline - and that its financial system will go with it. “The question is: does it default when it is forced to by the outside world, probably the Chinese, or does it take the option to default on its own terms in such a way that it may have a strategic advantage," he said.

Ireland’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s to junk this week. The ratings agency warned that the country would need a second round of bailout. Ireland’s downgrade comes a week after Moody’s lowered the rating for Portugal to junk status with a similar advice to get a second bailout. The credit rating agency sees that private investors need to share the pain of helping sinking European nations.