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Competition at the Winter Olympics gets underway on Thursday. Some of the events taking place are in figure skating, freestyle skiing and snowboard. The Sochi Games officially open on Friday, and the first medals will be awarded this weekend.

Wall Street's currency markets are under scrutiny. New York's top financial regulator is looking at whether traders at some of the street's biggest firms shared information with each other in a bid to manipulate exchange rates.

Smokers are shrugging off the announcement that CVS will stop selling tobacco products. The company announced the move on Wednesday as part of a strategy to promote healthy choices. But more than half of cigarettes are sold at gas stations, so the company's decision is unlikely to have much of an impact on access to tobacco.

The Congressional Budget Office said this year's deficit is likely to be about a third the size it was in 2009, when the Great Recession bottomed out. A better economy is the main reason for the improving deficit, but moderating health care costs help.

Scandals seem to be popping up almost weekly in the military: Air Force missile officers cheating on exams. Army officers getting kickbacks. Navy instructors sharing test results. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered some reviews of the nuclear force, and asked for an update on ethics teaching at military schools.

On Wednesday, President Obama spoke to Senate Democrats at their annual retreat. Since the debacle of HealthCare.gov last fall, Democrats have been running scared headed into the 2014 elections. With 21 Democrats facing the voters — compared to 15 Republicans — the party's majority standing is at risk.

Also: Kobo has a new CEO; Teju Cole is writing a nonfiction book; Natasha Trethewey on W.H. Auden.

This week's snow and ice knocked out electricity to more than 500,000 customers in Pennsylvania. Tens of thousands of others in neighboring states are also without power. Utilities warn that it will be another day or two, at least, before repairs are finished.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment insurance last week. But Friday's much-anticipated report on payroll growth and unemployment in January may not offer particularly good news, economists say.

The embattled entertainment and electronics company also said it had annual loss of $1 billion. Analysts fear the restructuring may be too little too late for the company.