The most recent report about retail sales showed double-digit declines in some closely watched categories, but also indicated the numbers were stabilizing.

Wall Street rose after economic reports showed that although the economy continues to weaken, the downward curve may be tapering off in some sectors.

Historians are looking to the struggles of the 1930s for hints on how baseball teams will hold up in a downturn.

The discount retail chain Goody?s Family Clothing will begin liquidating its stores as the retailer becomes one of the year?s first victims of the worsening economy.

Reuters - General Motors Corp has adequate government loans pledged to cover the worst-case scenario it outlined in December to Congress and will not need more unless the economy worsens, a Bloomberg report said.

Reuters - Top U.S. lender Bank of America , raising cash to weather a dismal market at home, sold a $2.83 billion chunk of its holding in China Construction Bank (0939.HK) on Wednesday, dragging the Chinese bank's stock 6 percent lower.

Reuters - Japan's second-largest retailer Aeon Co Ltd slashed its earnings outlook and said it may post its first annual net loss in seven years, hit by flagging sales, a writedown at U.S. unit Talbots and accounting changes.

Russia?s gas price dispute with Ukraine escalated, disrupting deliveries to the European Union in the midst of a bitter cold spell.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a medical correspondent for the news network and a neurosurgeon.

An ad campaign for atheism in London is aiming to counter religious ads, one bus billboard at a time.

The boss of Satyam, India's fourth-biggest software firm, resigns after admitting to irregularities in its accounts.

Exports of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stop altogether with both countries accusing each other of turning off the tap.

Bank of America is to sell a stake in China Construction Bank, in an move that could raise $3bn, the Chinese bank says.

How reliant is Europe on Russian gas supplies?

Marks and Spencer says it plans to close 25 Simply Food stores and two of its regular stores, and cut 1,230 jobs.

Blacks Leisure issues a profits warning after its boardwear business drags down sales in the run-up to Christmas.

Reuters - Global stocks rose on Wednesday, extending a rally into a 10th straight day, inspired by hopes massive U.S. government spending and tax cuts will continue to support the dollar and stimulate demand for exports.

Reuters - Dow Chemical Co is prepared to miss next week's deadline to clinch the $15 billion takeover of Rohm & Haas in an effort to raise enough cash to complete the deal without taking on too much debt, the Financial Times reported on its website late on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. banks will have to raise fresh capital in 2009, and a sharp increase in credit-rating downgrades on mortgage-related securities will lead to further stresses on the companies' capital, according to prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney.

AFP - British retailer Marks & Spencer said on Wednesday it would close 27 stores and eliminate as many as 1,230 jobs.

The chairman of Satyam Computer Services, an Indian company that serves numerous Fortune 500 companies, resigned, sending Satyam?s shares down 77 percent.

Barack Obama said that his administration would be forced to impose tighter discipline on government.

All gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were shut down as the pricing dispute between it and Russia escalated.

Exports of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stop altogether with both countries accusing each other of turning off the tap.

Sales of videogame software and hardware in the UK hit an all time high, figures from the industry trade body show.

Jobless for years - the accountant who lives on £35 a week

UK car sales in 2008 are 11.3% lower than they had been in 2007, following a 21.2% drop in December.

Reuters - Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, on mounting worries over the impact of the recession on companies after Alcoa Inc said it will slash more than 15,000 jobs as it reduces aluminum production.

AP - U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC said Wednesday it will cut 1,230 jobs and close 27 of its stores in a drive to reduce costs, as Britain's retail sector continues to struggle.

A leading Indian outsourcing company massively inflated its earnings for years, the chairman said.

As the pricing dispute escalated on Wednesday, the cutoff showed the first signs of hitting the European economy.

Shares in China?s big banks skidded on Wednesday after the Bank of America?s sale of part of its holding in China Construction Bank.

German unemployment levels rose for the first time in nearly three years in December, according to government figures.

Prices of fruit and vegetables start to rise in some Indian cities as a nationwide strike by lorry drivers enters a third day.

Apple has announced at Macworld that music on its iTunes store will now be DRM free

UK car sales in 2008 are 11.3% lower than they had been in 2007, following a 21.2% drop in December.

Sub-prime lender Cattles plans to cut 1,000 jobs, 20% of its workforce, as it seeks to weather the economic downturn.

Reuters - Top U.S. lender Bank of America raised $2.83 billion from selling part of its holding in China Construction Bank (0939.HK) and Hong Kong's richest tycoon followed by selling a $500 million stake in rival Bank of China (3988.HK).

Reuters - Alcoa Inc , which is cutting aluminum production and jobs in the face of the global economic downturn, plans measures in Russia that will affect 18 percent of its workforce in the country, the company said on Wednesday.

Sonja Kohn, who gathered billions for Bernard L. Madoff from investors in Russia and across Europe, has disappeared from view.

The chipmaker said that it expected fourth-quarter revenue to fall 23 percent from a year ago because of weak demand and inventory reductions by its customers.

A decision by the aluminum producer Alcoa to slash jobs and production to navigate through the global downturn weighed on U.S. stock futures.

The owner of CNN and Time magazine said that it expected to record a fourth-quarter $25 billion write-down that would lead to an operating loss for the period.

Bank of America sold part of its holding in China Construction Bank, sending shares in China?s big banks skidding.

An ad campaign for atheism in London is aiming to counter religious ads, one bus billboard at a time.

The clothing firm Viyella, which was founded in 1784, calls in administrators to sell the business.

Reuters - Stocks fell at the open on Wednesday as technology bellwether Intel Corp warned about its outlook, adding to the gloomy mood following a report showed 693,000 private-sector U.S. jobs were lost in December.

Reuters - Microchip maker Intel Corp said on Wednesday its preliminary fourth quarter revenue was worse than expected due to weaker global demand for personal computers, dragging its shares down 4 percent.

Reuters - Time Warner Inc said on Wednesday it expects to record a charge of about $25 billion in goodwill writedowns, leading to a loss in the fourth quarter.

AFP - British clothing-to-food retailer Marks & Spencer said Wednesday it would cut as many as 1,230 jobs and shut 27 stores as the group struggled with falling sales and a looming recession.

Bernard L. Madoff violated his bail agreement by sending jewelry to his friends and family, prosecutors argued.

Barack Obama sought to distinguish between the need to run big deficits for several years and the need to reduce them later.

The Congressional Budget Office says the the federal government deficit will exceed $1 trillion next year.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Wednesday as signs of more labor market deterioration and a disappointing revenue outlook from technology bellwether Intel Corp heightened concerns about the severity of the recession.

Reuters - Microchip maker Intel Corp said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter revenue was likely worse than expected due to weaker global demand for personal computers, dragging its shares down more than 6 percent.

Reuters - The head of Indian outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services resigned on Wednesday, disclosing that profits had been falsely inflated for years and sending its shares tumbling nearly 80 percent.

AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, on Wednesday named the president and CEO of its Sam's Club warehouse division to fill the same roles at its expanding international unit.

With a $1.2 trillion budget deficit being projected, Barack Obama said changes in Social Security and Medicare will be needed to bring spending in line.

A top Indian outsourcing company massively inflated its earnings for years, the chairman said.

Wall Street fell on profit warnings from Time Warner and Intel and job cuts at the aluminum producer Alcoa.

An ad campaign for atheism in London is aiming to counter religious ads, one bus billboard at a time.

Marks and Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose says he has no intention of taking a pay rise this year.

Reuters - Stocks slid on Wednesday after a report showing a larger-than-expected drop in private-sector jobs and a revenue warning from top chip maker Intel Corp added to signs that the recession is deepening.

AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that allowing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to return to their old operating ways is not an option.

AFP - British retailer Marks & Spencer, an icon and key barometer of consumer sentiment on the nation's high streets, is to cut up to 1,230 jobs and shut 27 stores, it said Wednesday.

Warnings from Time Warner and Intel foreshadowed a bleak season for fourth-quarter corporate earnings.

The nation?s largest medical laboratory company, Quest Diagnostics, provided possibly erroneous results to thousands of people who had their vitamin D levels tested in the last two years.

Bernard L. Madoff violated his bail agreement by sending jewelry to his friends and family, prosecutors argued.

As the pricing dispute escalated on Wednesday, the cutoff showed the first signs of hitting the European economy.

Nearly everything at the International Consumer Electronics Show is a little computer that wants to seek out and connect to other computerized devices, no matter who makes them.

Marks & Spencer is the latest British retailer to be hit by the country?s worst downturn in more than 17 years.

The elderly are less likely to receive follow-up care for mental illness when their out-of-pocket costs are higher than for other medical care.

The pound reaches its highest level against the euro for three weeks, ahead of Thursday's UK interest rates announcement.

Reuters - Stocks tumbled on Wednesday in their worst decline in about a month after a revenue warning from top chip maker Intel Corp sparked a sell-off in technology shares and tumbling oil prices hurt the energy sector.

AP - A group of private investors including former executives of Countrywide Financial Corp. has purchased $558 million in home mortgages from the government in a deal involving assets of the failed First National Bank of Nevada, the investors announced Wednesday.

Reuters - Democratic President-elect Barack Obama intends to retain Federal Deposit Insurance Corp head Sheila Bair, who has pushed for fast mortgage modifications, according to a report on Wednesday.

Reports from Time Warner, Intel and Alcoa foreshadowed a bleak season for fourth-quarter earnings, sparking a sell-off.

Quest Diagnostics provided possibly erroneous results to thousands of people who had their vitamin D levels tested in the last two years.

As the pricing dispute escalated on Wednesday, the cutoff showed the first signs of hitting the European economy.

Resumption of their old operations is no longer an option, the Treasury secretary said.

Reuters - Stocks suffered their worst decline in more than a month on Wednesday after a grim private-sector jobs report coupled with a revenue warning from top chip maker Intel Corp revived deep concerns about the economy.

Reuters - Microchip maker Intel Corp on Wednesday issued its second revenue warning on the fourth quarter, saying demand for personal computers was even worse than it feared and sparking wide concerns about tech companies.

Reuters - Home furnishings retailer Bed Bath & Beyond reported a lower quarterly profit, hurt by the soft U.S. economy and a major rival's liquidation, and forecast earnings for the current period below Wall Street estimates.

After decades of reinvention, two of the biggest sectors of the local economy are education and health care, among the most resistant to downturns.

Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program ?Hardball,? told his staff on Wednesday night that he would not run for the Senate in 2010 in Pennsylvania.

The Bush administration said Wednesday it would not finish implementing new fuel-economy rules for vehicles, leaving the issue to the incoming Obama administration.

You might think of high-tech gadgetry as something that drains your bank account ? but it can save you money, too. A lot of it.

Why it makes sense to charge customers nothing

Reuters - FedEx Corp has cut its marketing budgets by more than 25 percent in 2009 as part of its response to the bleak U.S. economy, the package delivery giant said on Wednesday.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's choice to shape up federal agencies is a longtime senior partner at a leading consulting firm who also tried to modernize the IRS and push the tax agency to more aggressively pursue corporate and high-income tax cheats.

Quest Diagnostics provided possibly erroneous results to thousands of people who had their vitamin D levels tested in the last two years.

Intel said that its sales for the fourth quarter would fall short of previously reduced forecasts by about $500 million.

Negative business sentiment, a hard-hit banking system and a global downturn are working their way through Europe with a vengeance.

The Internal Revenue Service?s watchdog agency calls on Congress to ease some tax laws regarding defaults on consumer debt.

The owner of CNN and Time magazine said that it expected to record a fourth-quarter $25 billion write-down that would lead to an operating loss for the period.

The move into commerce by a religious sect that has determinedly kept the modern world at bay has been more out of necessity than desire.

A multimedia campaign, getting under way this week, is the first for the Tropicana juice brand from its new agency, the Arnell Group in New York, part of the Omnicom Group.

Wal-Mart Stores named Doug McMillon, the president and chief executive of its Sam?s Club warehouse division, to fill the same roles at its expanding international unit.

The F.D.I.C. may have been too soft on the private equity firms buying IndyMac, the failed California-based bank.

The Lenovo Group, China?s biggest personal-computer maker, will cut about 2,500 jobs, or 11 percent of its work force, amid a worldwide economic slump.

Reuters - Lenovo Group (0992.HK), the world's No. 4 PC seller, announced a broad restructuring on Thursday, including a lay-off of 2,500 workers, as the global downturn pushed it to a loss for the December quarter.

Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, whose company acquired Wachovia Corp, said on Wednesday that minimizing job losses will be a priority but added that some cuts would begin this year.

As the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home, a move that could have painful effects for American borrowers.

Satyam Computer Services, one of India?s largest outsourcing companies, significantly inflated earnings and assets for years, the chairman said before resigning.

Economists and politicians across the political spectrum say Congress should spend whatever it takes to rescue the economy.

Bernard L. Madoff violated his bail agreement by sending jewelry to his friends and family, prosecutors argued.

Sheila C. Bair will most likely be kept in her job by the Obama administration, two senior advisers to the Obama transition team said on Wednesday.

Seventh Avenue hopes Michelle Obama will be the lifeline to revive the fashion industry in a recession.

Citgo Petroleum Corporation said Wednesday said that it would resume shipments of free oil for about 200,000 low-income Americans.

Mr. Lee was a reporter and editor for The New York Times who oversaw the expansion of its business coverage during a tumultuous era in the financial world.

One of the world's biggest computer makers, China's Lenovo, is to cut 10% of its global workforce after a fall in demand.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc unveiled on Wednesday a list of partners to aid its push to bring the Internet and television together, hoping their joint effort will finally connect with consumers.