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It has been reported that finding a new iPhone 4 got harder for U. S. consumers this week after AT&T said it would not have supplies for walk-in customers until June 29 at the earliest.

PC Magazine reported on Wednesday that a sales representative said in an e-mail message that those who did not pre-order the phone would have to wait until at least then to purchase one from AT&T, and Best Buy said supplies would be limited to customers who pre-ordered until June 24, at which point, "We do not know how many phones we will actually have in stores … if any."

Northrop Grumman had agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle charges it made false claims concerning electronic components, said the U. S. Department of Justice.

It has further been reported that the government alleged the company failed to properly test electronic parts used in navigation systems for military planes, helicopters, submarines and equipment sent into outer space.

As the dollar index fell 0.37 percent, Grain futures were mostly lower on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday.

Corn was off 5 to off 6 1/2, soybeans were off 7 1/2 to off 12 1/2, wheat was unchanged to off 2 1/2 and oats were off 2 to off 3.

It has been reported that Corn prices were off on a weak day for sellers prompted, in part, by an overnight downturn in crude oil prices.

Wheat futures closed modestly lower but found support in a Statistics Canada report that wheat acreage was down 9.2 percent this year in Canada compared with 2009.

It would start penalizing homeowners who unfaithfully abandon their mortgages, the Federal National Mortgage Association said on Wednesday.

The bank said in a statement, "Defaulting borrowers who walk away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure."

It will appeal a ruling by a federal judge in New York dismissing its $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube, Viacom Inc. said on Wednesday.

The New York Times has said that Viacom alleged in the suit that Google Inc., which owns YouTube, is not protected from claims of copyright violation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The law's so-called safe harbor provision allows uploading of copyrighted matter provided a Web site operator takes down content if a copyright owner objects that it was posted without permission.

After a New Orleans judge lifted an offshore drilling moratorium, Crude oil prices dropped to nearly $76 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The New York Times has reported that U. S. District Judge Martin Feldman on Tuesday blocked a six-month White House ban on deepwater drilling, calling the order a "blanket, generic, indeed punitive, moratorium."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar then vowed to issue a new order for the industry "that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate and within our authorities."