The Associated Press reports that John "Freedom Fries" McCain employs former lobbyists for EADS, the parent of Toulouse, France-based Airbus, on his staff. EADS and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) recently won a $100 billion contract to build refueling tankers for the Air Force, edging out Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) which has filed a protest.

McCain now employs the people who lobbied for EADS on his own staff. According to the AP report, EADS retained The Loeffler Group to lobby for the tanker deal in 2007. Loeffler Group lobbyists on the project included Tom Loeffler, who lobbies for EADS and serves as McCain's national finance chairman; Susan Nelson, who left Loeffler and is now the campaign's finance director; and former Secretary of the Navy William Ball III, who has campaigned for McCain.

EADS also had a long-term relationship with Ogilvy Government Relations, formerly known as the Federalist Group. Ogilvy lobbyist John Green, who records show worked on the EADS account, recently took a leave of absence to volunteer for McCain as the campaign's congressional liaison.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• What Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) knew about its mortgage borrowers, and how it handled that information, is under review by Federal investigators, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of their findings reveal that Countrywide had questionable information, which it then put together many of those mortgages into securities, and sold them to investors.
• The Air Force's award of a $40B contract for aerial refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and European Aeronautical Defense & Space, will be protested by The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch dashed the hopes of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) executives seeking an alternative to Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) $40B offer after Murdoch endorsed the view of analysts and investors that it could not match the value offered by Microsoft.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) president and COO Frederick A. Henderson, the New York Times reported that the auto maker will not intervene in the dispute between parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc (NYSE: AXL) and the United Auto Workers union. Given that the strike has not yet hurt the company's ability to sell vehicles, Henderson said company officials "just have to keep to our own knitting."

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) plans to back a $2B private equity fund set up by Fang Fenglei, its Chinese partner, sources said. The Wall Street Journal reported Goldman will invest about $300M in the fund.
• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) continued setting up a new bond insurance company last month, after Berkshire was urged to enter the bond insurance market by New York government official Eric Dinallo, the Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The LA Times reported that the Air Force could shrink its fleet of F-15 fighter jets, many of them up to 30 years old, because of critical structural flaws.
• According to the Detroit News, people familiar with the deal said that General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for about $39M. The suit was brought about by retirees and employees for claims that involved retirement funds and pension.

For the second time this month, the United States Air Force has decided to ground hundreds of its older Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) F-15 fighter jets. Yesterday it grounded 452 of the fighters in its continued investigation into an accident earlier this month that has exposed some flaws in the planes.

Yesterday's grounding represents approximately 60% of the entire F-15 fleet, and the Air Force has stated that each and every plane will remain grounded until they can all be individually inspected and possibly repaired. Earlier this month, the entire fleet had been grounded, and was only put back into service on the 21st.

The problems first surfaced when Missouri Air National Guard training exercise went wrong. In the accident, the pilot was able to safely eject from the plane before crashing. Investigations into the accident have revealed flaws in the planes fuselage. Specifically, metal rails that hold the fuselage together.

The Air Force investigation has decided there are "possible fleet-wide airworthiness problems".

Shares of Boeing are trading up 0.2% on the day to $93.80, up $0.19.

[photo: JMZawodny]

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Tom Taulli's recent post about AIM Pages reminded me of my high school days.

My freshman year, the Air Force had a recruiting slogan that was two words: Aim High. They gave out book covers and bumper stickers and lapel pins sporting this short catch-phrase. Of course, the other students in my class -- unlikely candidates  for military service -- changed the words to read "I am High".

What does this have to do with the new AOL counterpart to MySpace, AIM Pages? Well, aside from the fact that it's ridiculously easy to make fun of as well, I fear that it will be as short-lived as the Air Force's "Aim High" campaign.

Why? Well, take a look at the average age and demographic of a MySpace user -- under 35 and Internet-savvy. Whereas the name AOL will be immortally associated with the "You've got mail!" set -- an over-35, less Internet-savvy crowd.

While I commend AOL for trying to reach out to a younger demographic, this is probably not the silver bullet it needs right now. To tap into this more youthful demographic, AOL (the folks who brought you "Parental Controls") is going to need nothing short of a revolution of the spirit .

Aim high, AIM Pages, aim high.