Stock futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening Thursday as investors await a key reading on the nation’s economic health. Overseas markets were lower.

They are on investors’ hit lists and the green tech media is keen to monitor their progress. Key policy makers from the United States urge them on. Israeli solar technology innovators are channelling and shaping the sun’s energy and breaking the world’s dependence on oil.

CNN Money : A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com. Read the whole story: CNN Money

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a “One nation under God” button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

Reports are coming in of a Publishers Clearing House Scam in which victims receive phone calls claiming they’ve won the jackpot prize of $500,000 — and all they have to do to collect it is pay a processing fee of $1000 dollars. However, ABC News reported that “Publisher’s Clearing House doesn’t call winners and they are currently not offering a $500,000 prize.” The Herald Tribune describes a Sheriff’s investigation into the case: A Manatee Sheriff’s detective called a number provided to a local victim and, after several days, one of the scammers called back and said they were from the “Federal Gaming Commission in Washington D.C.” When confronted on the telephone by the detective, the scammer hung up.

Never mind its typical merchandise, the world’s largest retailer has a new item on the shelf. You can now purchase Walmart caskets , a development that could threaten funeral homes. Beginning at $999 for lower-end models, all 27 caskets in the Walmart online inventory cost less than $2,000, except the “Sienna Bronze Casket,” which sells for $3,199.

A leading House Democrat backed away Wednesday from a sweeping proposal that would have watered down a post-Enron reform, permanently exempting small publicly-traded companies from a requirement that they obtain outside audits of their internal controls. Rep.