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Current and former Food and Drug Administration officials say in a lawsuit that the agency secretly monitored their private email after they raised concerns that approved medical devices might risk public safety.

The doctors and scientists who researched the products approached members of Congress and the incoming Obama administration to express alarm that the devices were approved over their objections.

Their lawsuit, first reported Monday by The Washington Post, says the agency monitored email sent from their personal Gmail and Yahoo accounts from work computers over two years. It says those emails included messages to congressional staff and drafts of whistleblower complaints.

The staffers say they were legally protected whistleblowers and the monitoring violated their constitutional rights to free speech and against illegal search and seizure, even though a warning on FDA computers said they had no expectation to privacy. The defendants say they were admonished or lost their contracts to work with FDA in retaliation.

The FDA said Monday it would not comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit says the plaintiffs were among those who complained in fall 2008 to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that senior managers at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health “ordered, intimidated, and coerced FDA experts to modify their scientific reviews, conclusions and recommendations in violation of the law.” Then in January 2009, after Barack Obama’s election but before he was sworn into office, nine FDA employees sent a letter to the Obama transition team complaining of corruption within the FDA device review process that they said was endangering public health.

For example, the FDA scientists alleged that the agency approved the use of computer-aided detection devices with breast mammograms even though they had been determined not to be safe or effective, harming women and resulting in unnecessary public health costs.

The suit says FDA officials began secretly referring to the letter’s signatories as the “FDA 9″ and began the secret monitoring. The suit says the agency used spyware on their government-owned computers that allowed them to take “screen shots,” or pictures of what was on their computer screens without their knowledge.

The scientists’ complaints were the subject of a New York Times article on March 28, 2010, that said FDA brushed aside its own experts’ warnings about the risks of radiation exposure from routinely using powerful CT scans to screen patients for colon cancer.

The lawsuit says lawyers for General Electric Co., which applied for agency approval of CT scans for colon cancer screenings, complained that confidential information may have been leaked to the Times. Agency officials used the letter to make a criminal referral to the Office of Inspector General and attempt to have the plaintiffs investigated and potentially charged with serious crimes, the suit says. But the IG’s office found no evidence of criminal conduct and noted that disclosures relating to public safety to Congress and the media were protected whistleblower activity.

The attorney who filed the suit, National Whistleblowers Center Executive Director Stephen Kohn, said spying on employees who raise health concerns stops others from coming forward in the interest of public safety.

“The FDA’s illegal spying program is not just a problem for the six victims in this case,” Kohn said in a statement Monday. “The day we allow the government to spy on employees based on their lawful whistleblower activities is the day we give up privacy for every honest public servant in America.”

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Sales (ETSLTOTL) of previously owned U.S. homes probably rose in December to the highest level in more than a year, a sign the housing market ended 2011 with momentum, economists said before a report today.

Purchases increased 5.2 percent last month to a 4.65 million annual rate, the most since May 2010, according to the median forecast of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Historically low mortgage rates and a pickup in employment may be giving Americans the confidence to purchase homes that have fallen in value. At the same time, another wave of foreclosures may inhibit a faster recovery in real estate as more distressed properties are put on the market.

Turkey’s foreign minister has called for the immediate resumption of talks between Iran and major world powers to end the standoff over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Ahmet Davutoglu also said at a joint news conference with Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi that Turkey was ready to host and “make any other kind of contribution” to talks between Iran and six countries leading negotiations _ the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

Salehi said the six powers should enter talks without conditions, otherwise “it is a sign that they do not approve of the negotiations.”

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its efforts are designed for civilian power generation and research.

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Stocks barely budged Wednesday, and investors held on to their gains from a strong opening to the year. It wasn’t much, but after the lurching, up-and-down weeks of 2011, investors were grateful for the winning streak.

Strong December sales helped the stocks of automakers and specialty stores. Banks, health care companies, and utilities fell slightly. Netflix surged after its first good news in months.

But nothing else moved much. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 21.04 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 12,418.42. The Dow opened the year with a 180-point gain Tuesday, which brought it to the highest level since July.

“At least thus far in 2012 we haven’t followed the path of 2011, where if it’s a good day, there’s a bad day right away,” said Ryan Detrick, senior technical analyst with Schaeffer’s Investment Research.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq also had big gains Tuesday but only moved a fraction of a point a day later. The S&P inched up 0.24 to close at 1,277.30. The Nasdaq fell 0.36 to 2,648.36.

“It’s healthy to see that after a big rally,” said Randy Warren, chief investment officer for Warren Financial Service. “People need to sit back and think about it.”

Retailing industry stocks rose 0.8 percent as a group after post-Christmas sales came in 5.3 percent better than a year ago. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. rose 1.8 percent, and Ross Stores Inc., which sells discounted clothes, rose 0.7 percent.

Big-box stores fell, though. Analysts have been concerned that some stores raised holiday sales with deep discounts that will hurt profits. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell 1.1 percent, making it the second-biggest decliner among the Dow’s 30 stocks. Target Corp. fell 2.2 percent and Kohl’s Corp. fell 1.4 percent.

Automakers delivered a strong end to 2011, helped carmaker stocks. Analysts had been expecting December to be a strong sales month for cars on the theory that more confidence in the economy would unlock pent-up demand. Ford Motor Co. rose 1.5 percent and General Motors Co. rose 0.5 percent after those two companies and Chrysler reported strong increases in December and full-year sales low fee payday loans.

Visa Inc. fell 1.8 percent and MasterCard Inc. fell 3.3 percent. Janney analysts downgraded both to “neutral” from “buy” and predicted that Americans will keep cutting their personal debt.

The biggest winner in the S&P 500 was Netflix Inc., up 11.4 percent. The company, which delivers movies and TV shows online and by mail, said customers had streamed more than 2 billion hours of video in the fourth quarter.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes briefly popped above 2 percent, then fell to to 1.98 percent in the afternoon. Yields have been falling over the past year as investors have loaded up on low-risk investments. A rise in yields suggests that investors are more willing to take risks by parking money elsewhere in exchange for higher rewards.

The price of gold rose $12.20 to $1,612.70 per ounce. Oil rose 26 cents to $103.20.

European markets declined, and the euro fell back below $1.30, to $1.2945, within a penny of its lowest level in a year. Another increase in Italy’s borrowing costs renewed worries about Europe’s efforts to restore confidence in its debt-hobbled governments.

In other corporate news:

_ Acme Packet Inc., which makes phone equipment, plunged 19 percent after saying its quarterly profit and revenue would be well below analyst expectations.

_ Yahoo Inc. fell 3.1 percent after the company named Scott Thompson, president of eBay Inc.’s PayPal division, as CEO _ its fourth in five years. Yahoo has been without a permanent CEO since firing Carol Bartz in September. EBay fell 3.8 percent.

_ Fallen photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co. fell 18 cents to 47 cents after The Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with the matter, reported it is preparing a bankruptcy filing in case its efforts to sell some of its patents fail. On Tuesday, Kodak said its stock could be removed from the New York Stock Exchange if it doesn’t rise above $1 in the next six months.

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Corn traders are bullish for a fifth consecutive week on speculation that dry weather in South America is damaging crops, boosting demand for U.S. supplies at a time when stockpiles are predicted to shrink to a 16-year low.

Nineteen of 25 traders surveyed by Bloomberg expect corn to advance next week. Lower-than-average humidity and dry soil will curb crop development in Argentina and southern Brazil through at least Jan. 7, according to T-Storm Weather LLC, a forecaster in Chicago. Argentina is the world

Five months after it opened its doors, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is poised to begin the year without a Senate-confirmed director.

Over these next few weeks, the question will be whether President Obama will sidestep Congress and make a so-called recess appointment to fill the job.

The president made clear earlier this month that he would consider "all our options," including a recess appointment of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to run the consumer bureau.

At stake are vast new powers the CFPB can’t wield without a director. For example, the bureau can’t regulate financial products from non-banks, including student loan providers, debt collectors, payday lenders and check cashers.

Without a chief, the bureau also can’t regulate mortgage originators and servicers, which played a big role in the financial crisis by providing subprime mortgages to families who couldn’t afford them.

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Earlier this month, the Senate failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to take up and consider Cordray’s nomination.

Senate Republicans have vowed since May to block confirmation of any director unless they get structural changes to the bureau, which was formed as part of the Wall Street reform law passed last year.

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called Cordray the "perfect example of an abomination in terms of Senate behavior."

"He is exactly the right person for the job to be the consumer watchdog," Carney said.

Since May, Republicans have used a little-known procedure to keep the Senate in session — even as it wasn’t really conducting any business — in order to stop the president from making recess appointments.

The Constitution says neither the House nor the Senate can adjourn for more than three days without the other chamber’s consent. And since May 12, neither chamber has taken a recess.

So far, Obama has not tried to challenge the blocking move electronic check payday advance. But, legal experts say, he has options. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could gavel down the Senate for less than three days and give the president an opening.

Another scenario: The president could make an appointment when Congress flips from its first session to its second session sometime on or before Jan. 3.

That has rarely been done. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt made 160 recess appointments on Dec. 7, when the first session of Congress ended at noon and the second session began soon after, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The Constitution also gives the president the power to adjourn Congress into recess if the chambers can’t agree when exactly to schedule a recess, said David Arkush, an attorney and director of Congress Watch for Public Citizen, an advocacy group.

"I think it’s time for the president to make a recess appointment, it’s time for CFPB to be up and running with its full powers," Arkush said.

Republicans say their objection to Cordray’s nomination has nothing to do with the nominee.

Instead, they want three big changes to how the bureau is overseen. They want to replace the director with a board; make the bureau ask Congress for money each year; and gain more power to overrule the bureau.

If Obama decides to make a recess appointment with Cordray, he’s bound to incur the Republican wrath.

Norman Ornstein, a public policy scholar at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, expects Obama to spend his winter vacation analyzing the political costs to sidestepping Congress on a number confirmations that Republicans have blocked.

"Frankly, if I were President Obama, I would do some recess appointments now, because what’s going on is unconscionable," said Ornstein. 

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Traders doubled bets on Israeli interest rate cuts in the past two weeks, speculating the central bank will act to insulate the economy from a global slump as inflation slowed to a one-year low.

The Bank of Israel may lower the 2.75 percent key rate 41 basis points over the next 12 months, compared with 21 basis points of cuts priced in on Dec. 8, according to interest-rate swaps, an indicator of investor expectations. Policy makers review borrowing costs today, with 12 out of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecasting a 25 basis-point reduction.

+%3Cp%3E+Shares+in+solar+power+company+First+Solar+fell+over+20%25+in+early+trading+Wednesday+after+the+firm+lowered+its+sales+forecast+for+2011.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+Arizona-based+company%2C+which+is+a+leading+maker+of+thin-film+solar+panels+and+also+a+developer+of+solar+power+projects%2C+predicted+net+sales+in+2011+of+%242.8+to+%242.9+billion.+That%27s+down+from+earlier+projections+of+%243.0+to+%243.3+billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+company+said+the+lower+sales+were+due+to+delays+in+its+projects+caused+by+weather+and+%26quot%3Bother+factors%2C%26quot%3B+but+predicted+a+healthy+2012.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BOur+diverse+business+model+and+robust+project+pipeline+will+help+First+Solar+generate+a+significant+amount+of+cash+in+2012+while+improving+operational+efficiencies%2C%26quot%3B+Mike+Ahearn%2C+Chairman+and+Interim+CEO+of+First+Solar%2C+said+in+a+statement+Wednesday.+%3C%2Fp%3ESolar+power+bankruptcies+loom+as+prices+collapse%3Cp%3EThe+company%2C+which+has+been+steadily+growing+in+profitability+since+2007%2C+is+expecting+its+earnings+per+share+to+range+between+%243.75+and+%244.25+in+2012.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThin+film+solar+panels+are+less+efficient+than+traditional+silicon-based+solar+panels+but+have+historically+been+cheaper+to+produce.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ELike+all+solar+panel+makers%2C+shares+in+First+Solar+%28%29+have+been+battered+this+year+as+a+huge+oversupply+and+slack+demand+caused+the+price+of+silicon+solar+panels+to+plummet.+First+Solar+shares+are+down+over+70%25+since+January.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EDozens+of+solar+panel+makers+are+expected+to+go+bankrupt+this+year+as+the+depressed+prices+prune+weaker+companies+from+the+market.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+most+visible+victim+of+the+price+collapse+so+far+has+been+Solyndra%2C+a+maker+of+advanced+but+pricey+solar+panels+that+went+bankrupt+after+receiving+a+half-billion+dollar+loan+backed+by+the+U.S.+government.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EFirst+Solar+does+not+have+any+government-backed+loans.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EJesse+Pichel%2C+an+analyst+at+the+investment+bank+Jefferies+%26amp%3B+Co.%2C+maintained+a+hold+rating+on+First+Solar+stock+earlier+this+week+even+in+anticipatiinon+of+the+lowered+sales+figures.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EStill%2C+Pichel+said+the+company+has+to+work+on+lowering+costs.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BFirst+Solar+has+projects+which+are+profitable+and+is+not+a+bankruptcy+risk+near+term+in+our+view%2C%26quot%3B+he+said.+%26quot%3BBut+the+future+of+the+company+will+be+determined+by+its+ability+to+lower+module+costs+and+increase+efficiency.%26quot%3B+%26nbsp%3B+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2011%2F12%2F14%2Ftechnology%2Ffirst_solar%2Findex.htm%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

Sony’s long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine has hit stores in Japan as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up at shops from early in the morning.

Sony is predicting brisk sales, even though Saturday’s launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business.

The device is a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld seen as a successor to the PlayStation Portable. Vita’s launch will heat up competition with rival Nintendo Co.’s 3DS.

Many of the purchasers Saturday had made advance orders on the Internet so they can start playing immediately.

The PS Vita goes on sale in North America and Europe on Feb. 22.

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