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Microsoft engineer Rajas Patil smiles as he displays for the photographer temporary tattoos with the company's logo during an event unveiling a new Microsoft Windows operating system Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Though Windows 8 will be backed by a $1 billion marketing campaign, questions surround the software. The biggest one of all: Is it innovative and elegant enough to lure consumers who've fallen in love with an assortment of smartphones, tablet computers and other gadgets? (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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Attendees check out some of the new devices coming to market with Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8, at a launch event at Pier 57 on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012 in New York City. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Microsoft)
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Employees look on as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaks via a webcast during an event unveiling a new Microsoft Windows operating system Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Designed to run on both PCs and tablet computers, Windows 8 heralds the biggest change to the industry's dominant operating system in at least 17 years. Windows 8 attempts to bridge the gap between personal computers and fast-growing tablets with its touch-enabled interface. The launch event came amid a slew of other tablet offerings ahead of the holidays. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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This Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, photo shows Miles Wright, CEO of Xanofi, in his laboratory in Raleigh, N.C. Launched in September 2010, the company is preparing to market a liquid-based nanofiber production process. Mr. Wright, a registered independent, chuckles at a new GOP ad calling this period "the worst economic recovery America has ever had." "The fact is, it's still a recovery," he says. "Innovation hasn't stopped. People's efforts to commercialize technology, to open up a service business, while it gets harder because of lack of capital, I don't think people have stopped hoping and dreaming. And a lot of people have had success." Mr. Wright says a lot of the job growth is happening in small companies like his "that maybe go a little under the radar." But the point is, it's happening. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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A woman pushes her shopping cart along a street in Barcelona on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012. Spain has raised 4.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion) at slightly lower interest rates in a debt auction that saw strong demand as the country considers whether to request international help to manage its finances. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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Vendors waits for customers at their fish shop in a market in Barcelona on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012. Spain has raised 4.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion) at slightly lower interest rates in a debt auction that saw strong demand as the country considers whether to request international help to manage its finances. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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A broker, seen between screens in a trading room of a Portuguese bank in Lisbon, talks on the phone on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. Portugal managed to raise 1.85 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in a debt auction Wednesday despite the country's bleak economic prospects and growing political tension over austerity policies. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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A man walks by barriers protecting the parliament ahead of a planned demonstration against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Spain's economy continued to shrink in the third quarter, contracting by 0.4 percent compared with the previous three months, according to central bank estimates that will increase pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to seek financial help from Europe. Several thousand people are expected to take part in the demonstration as lawmakers debate budget spending cuts for 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
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Students march in protest against government cuts in education in Barcelona on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. The Spanish government has pushed through nine straight months of tough austerity measures that have prompted Spain's 17 regional governments, some of which are heavily indebted, to slash spending in health care and education. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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In this Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012, photo, a home for sale is shown in Miami Lakes, Fla. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, that the rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.39 percent from 3.36 percent. The previous week's rate was the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
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In this June 25, 2008, photo, buildings and palm trees are reflected on the entrance of the Countrywide Financial Corp. office in Beverly Hills, Calif. The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan sued Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide in 2008, for more than $1 billion on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, for mortgage fraud against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the years around the financial crisis. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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In this Sept. 21, 2012, photo, fliers are stacked on the granite counter of a new home for sale in Oklahoma City. U.S. sales of new homes jumped in September to the highest level in more than two years, further evidence of a sustained housing recovery that could help lift the lackluster economy. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, that new-home sales rose 5.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000. That's up from a rate of 368,000 in August and the highest rate since April 2010, when a federal homebuyer tax credit inflated sales. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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Countrywide Financial Corp. is accused of loosening its standards for making loans while telling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were buying loans from Countrywide, that the standards were getting tighter. (Associated Press)
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Protesters demonstrate outside parliament as lawmakers in Madrid debate budget spending cuts for 2013. Spain’s economy continued to shrink in the third quarter. Greece also is still reeling. (Associated Press)
