Tech Bulls Boost Markets; Crude Tops $60 a Barrel; Bing Takes Bite Out of Yahoo, But Not Google; Weatherization Funds Cause Concern About Fraud; Paulson Defends BofA/Merrill Deal; U.S. Weighs in On China’s Spy Game; Microsoft Stores: Next to An Apple Store Near You

Microsoft’s Bing Off to Strong Start; U.S. Natural Gas Reserves Higher Than Once Thought; Carnival Cruise Lines Beats the Street; Treasuries Fall Again; GE Capital May Come Under Fed Scrutiny; Mexico’s Tourism Plummets on Swine Flu Scare; Discover Profits Down

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is expected to unveil its new Internet search engine to the public next week, an attempt by the software heavyweight to grab back some of the Internet search market from behemoth Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG).

With the benchmark Federal Funds rate already down to 1.0%, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben. S. Bernanke has only so much room for another cut (although many economists are predicting an additional half-percentage-point cut at the Dec.15-16 meeting).

Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG) is well established as internet search-engine champion. And its rapid expansion into other technologies means the company is poised to bounce back strongly when the financial crisis is over. Money Map Report editor Horacio Marquez says the current market downturn provides the perfect opportunity to buy Google stock at a bargain price.