Expensive babies, Profitable clunkers

Good day for adopting an 18 year old, Bad day for old-car lovers

Good day for: Adopting an 18 year old, as a middle-income family with a child born last year will spend about $221,000 raising that child through age 17, according to report by the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The tab rises to $291,000 when accounting for inflation. (The Huffington Post)

Bad day for: Old-car lovers, as junkyards and scrap-metal recyclers are expecting a boom from the "Cash for Clunkers" stimulus program, which offers rebates to people who trade in old gas guzzlers and buy more fuel-efficient new vehicles. "It's going to be a bonanza," said Nathan Adlen, co-owner of Aadlen Bros. Auto Wrecking in Sun Valley, one of the largest auto dismantlers in Southern California. (Los Angeles Times)