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Obama win triggers run on guns in many stores

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Sales of rifles, pistols and ammo are surging in parts of the United States, as many gun owners fear President-elect Barack Obama 's administration may seek to tighten ownership of certain weapons.

"The day after the election, I had many more calls than usual from people looking for semi-automatic rifles," said David Greenberg, the owner of the Second Amendment Family Gun Shop, in Bisbee, Arizona, who sold out of AR-15 rifles in recent days.

Americans joyous, worried after Obama victory

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Americans woke with joy, cautious optimism and frank worry on Wednesday after the historic win by Democrat Barack Obama , who went from long shot to president-elect on the promise of change.

Just hours after Obama's victory speech to thousands of cheering supporters in Chicago, ordinary Americans headed to work clutching coffees and carrying newspapers that proclaimed Obama's place in history as the first black U.S. president.

Obama leads McCain in 5 of 8 key states

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in five of eight key battleground states as Americans prepare to vote in the White House race, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Tuesday.

Obama expanded his national lead to 11 points over McCain among likely U.S. voters in a separate Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll, up from 7 points on Sunday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Election divides civil rights battle town

SELMA, Alabama (Reuters) - If Democratic candidate Barack Obama wins Tuesday's presidential election, he will owe a debt to this Alabama town where one of the most significant confrontations of the civil rights era played out.

Forty-three years ago, state troopers and local police wielding clubs and firing tear gas charged peaceful civil rights protesters marching across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma and beat them senseless.

Their purpose was to stop the march and to enforce laws that prevented ...

Nissan offers zero percent loans on five models

DETROIT (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Friday it is offering interest free loans on five vehicle models to boost sales and assist buyers sidelined by the credit squeeze.

Nissan's loan offer covers the Nissan Murano SUV, Sentra, Altima, Versa cars and Rogue crossover SUV and is available for a term of three years.

Boeing machinists approve contract, return to work

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co's 27,000 assembly workers voted to approve the company's four-year contract offer on Saturday, ending a strike that has stopped production at the plane maker's Seattle area plants for 57 days.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job on September 6 after rejecting Boeing's initial offer, demanding better pay and limits on outsourcing. It was the fourth strike in 20 years by Boeing's biggest union.

One in five homeowners with mortgages under water

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly one in five U.S. mortgage borrowers owe more to lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate may soon approach one in four as housing prices fall and the economy weakens, a report on Friday shows.

About 7.63 million properties, or 18 percent, had negative equity in September, and another 2.1 million will follow if home prices fall another 5 percent, according to a report by First American CoreLogic.

Gay marriage votes may show changing U.S.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gay couples are not hiding any more and that has made all the difference, said health care administrator Linda Merkens before Tuesday's vote in California that will decide the legality of same-sex marriage there.

It's one of several important ballot measures voters will face in states across the country on Election Day.