A Canadian company's oil pipeline troubles in the U.S., including large spills this summer in Michigan and Illinois, could influence tougher regulatory proposals from Congress.

The U.S. House's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has scheduled a Wednesday hearing in Washington primarily to look into a spill that sent an estimated 820,000 to 1 million gallons spewing from an Enbridge Inc. pipeline near Marshall, Mich., in late July, polluting the Kalamazoo River.

Committee members also may discuss an Enbridge spill reported within the last week in suburban Chicago and ask regulators about a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. gas pipeline explosion that killed at least four people in suburban San Francisco.

The committee was researching new pipeline safety legislation even before this summer's accidents, which have caused Midwest gasoline prices to surge and raised questions about a nationwide system of aging pipelines that carry gas and hazardous liquids through communities and under rivers and lakes.

John LaForge, who's been living in a hotel since oil from an Enbridge pipeline contaminated his Michigan property in late July, wants Congress to send a tough message.

If you believe a few respected money managers, there's opportunity aplenty in stocks now. If you find that surprising, wait until you hear where they think the bargains lurk: big blue chips that almost always fetch premium prices.

Legendary bear Jeremy Grantham of GMO LLC in Boston says the U.S. faces "seven lean years" of meager growth, but he has been pounding the table about blue chip bargains with big dividends. Steven Romick of FPA Crescent predicts rising taxes and an economic malaise but is singing the praises about "bigger is better" stocks now, too.

"If you're worried about a feeble economy you want to own companies with strong balance sheets," says T2 Partner's Whitney Tilson, who is loading up on big, multinational companies though he doubts the market will rise much for a while. "The beauty today is those companies are on sale."

Blue chips are always in the news. They're widely owned by pension funds and by individual investors in index funds, and heavily covered by Wall Street analysts. They're the companies that sell beer and medicine. They're the banks where people put their money. They make tractors and computer software. And they typically trade at premium prices, so sometimes are shunned by contrarians like the three above who have been bearish when others are bullish.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press showed that Pacific Gas & Electric submitted paperwork to regulators that said a section of the same gas line -- about two and half miles from the blast -- was within "the top 100 highest risk line sections" in the utility's service territory.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration classified the 30-inch diameter transmission line as a "high consequence area" requiring more stringent inspections called integrity assessments, agency spokeswoman Julia Valentine said.

Nationwide, only about 7 percent of gas lines have that classification, she said.

The official death toll from the blast was four Sunday, and San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said they're still trying to confirm whether more remains found are human and identify victims. Police have said five people are missing.

The mixed ruling in Delaware's Chancery Court gave no clear victory to either of the companies, whose relationship turned from cozy to competitive and ended up in court in 2008.

Still to be litigated is a lawsuit Craigslist filed in San Francisco against eBay alleging its larger rival used its board seat to glean confidential information about the classified ad business.

EBay sued its smaller rival in 2008, claiming a rights plan Craigslist adopted diluted eBay's stake from 28.4 percent to 24.85 percent.

"More fortunate than Goliath, eBay leaves this field with only a gash across its forehead; less fortunate than David, Craigslist leaves this field with something less than total victory," wrote Chancellor William Chandler III of Delaware's Court of Chancery in his opinion.

EBay, which has estimated Craigslist's value at several billions of dollars, has always maintained that the courts would reinstate its true stake.

Craigslist, meanwhile, has been anxious to protect its decision-making and trade secrets after eBay launched a competing ad site, and Thursday's ruling will keep eBay out of the classified company's boardroom.

EBay claimed victory in a statement released on Thursday which did not mention the board seat.

"EBay brought this suit to protect its own shareholders and preserve its valuable investment in Craigslist," it said.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has seen a surge in tip-offs concerning alleged corporate fraud as the Financial Reforms Act offers millions of dollars in bounty payments to whistleblowers, the Wall Street Journal said.

Whistleblowers who provide "original information" about large frauds could net as much as 30 percent of the penalties and recovered funds collected by the SEC under the Dodd-Frank financial reforms act.

"We have gotten some very high-quality tips," SEC official Stephen Cohen told the Journal.

The whistleblower program aims to get timely information from insiders close to a fraud and based on which the agency would pursue cases against the offenders, the Journal said.

"The goal is not just to get more tips; we want to get more high-quality tips," Cohen told the paper.

SEC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.