Developers' Secret Underground Land Grab, & 5 More Things to Know Today

Here's a quick rundown from the world of business and economics this morning: the things you need to know, and some you'll just want to know.

• That lovely, brand-new home you bought in the fresh development, on a nice half-acre plot? Well, you may not realize it, but you might have only purchased the top of that land. Builders and developers are increasingly (and quietly) keeping the mineral and extraction rights for the land under the houses they sell. And homeowners are only finding out when the drillers and miners arrive in the neighborhood.

• No movement yet on the government shutdown, but CNN reports that House republicans are finally beginning to consider letting the nation avoid a catastrophic debt default by raising the debt ceiling. A little bit. Temporarily. Maybe four to six weeks worth -- just enough to give the nation some breathing room while they go back to negotiating for more deficit reduction and the repeal of Obamacare.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%• Here's yet another way the power traders on Wall Street are faking out the rest of us: Only 3.2% of the orders placed in the stock market in the second quarter of 2013 were actually completed. The rest were cancelled a split second after they were placed. Why? High-frequency traders using amped-up computer programs flood the market with orders to manipulate prices, and then profit from the results.

• Boeing may have the battery issues on its 787 Dreamliner sorted, but the bumpy ride isn't over yet. In the past two days, Japan Airlines has reported electronic glitches on two Dreamliners, including one that caused the toilets to fail.

• A full-time McDonald's worker with 10 years behind the counter who has never gotten a raise confronted the president of McDonald's during a speech he was making in Chicago, telling him she couldn't afford shoes for her kids on the $8.25 an hour wage he was paying her. Hoping this story has a heartwarming, "Undercover Boss"-style ending? Sorry: She got arrested. And her hours were cut.

• And finally, our friends at CNBC ask us to remember that during this government shutdown, we the people aren't the only ones feeling the pinch. Government-employed goats have been furloughed from their jobs, too. We kid you not.