AFP - Federal Reserve policymakers open a two-day meeting Tuesday in search of new tools to stimulate lending and revive an economy that has so far failed to respond to its zero-interest rate policy.

Reuters - William Dudley, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's markets group, has been chosen to succeed Timothy Geithner as president of the regional Fed bank, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

AFP - Barack Obama lobbied support for his 825-billion-dollar stimulus package Tuesday after Timothy Geithner, his pick to help restore the crumbling US economy, was sworn in as treasury secretary.

Reuters - The coast-to-coast fire sale in the U.S. housing market appears at long last to have caught a bit of a bid.

AFP - President Barack Obama was bidding Tuesday to win support for an 825-billion-dollar US rescue package aimed at checking a punishing recession that is taking a huge toll on the world labour market.

Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday vowed to reform the way the Pentagon buys weapons and said budget pressures resulting from two wars and the economic crisis would force tough choices in coming years.

Reuters - The crumbling U.S. economy put a premium on a unique quality that Timothy Geithner brought to his candidacy for Treasury secretary -- he has been involved in every major action in the past year to try to prop it up.

Reuters - German business sentiment posted a surprise rise in January, a survey from Europe's biggest economy showed on Tuesday, offering a glimmer of optimism in a global crisis which prompted Japan to extend aid to small companies.

AFP - US consumers greeted the new year with historically low confidence as the economy struggled in recession, and the outlook remains 'quite pessimistic,' a survey showed Tuesday.

AP - State unemployment rates shot up nationwide in December, with Indiana and South Carolina racking up the largest monthly increases.

Reuters - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she would pursue a broad dialogue with China that extends beyond the economic concerns emphasized by former President George W. Bush.

AFP - The US Treasury on Tuesday ordered new rules to curb the influence of lobbyists from companies receiving government aid under the massive 700-billion-dollar financial rescue program.

AP - William Dudley has been promoted to the top position at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he'll be on the front lines of the government's efforts to end the worst credit and financial crises since the 1930s.

AFP - US glass maker Corning said Tuesday it will slash 4,900 jobs this year in a restructuring to cope with the US recession, reporting unexpectedly sharp plunges in fourth-quarter earnings.

AFP - The euro on Tuesday fell back against the dollar amid fears over the true extent of a global economic crisis and as plans to re-start the stalled US economy gained momentum, traders said.

Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowed to reform the way the Pentagon buys weapons and said budget pressures resulting from two wars and the economic crisis would force tough choices in coming years.

Reuters - A Massachusetts university plans to sell an art collection valued at around $350 million to boost revenue, underlining the growing toll of the recession on U.S. schools.

AP - President Barack Obama met face-to-face Tuesday with congressional Republicans who have been chafing over parts of a $825 billion plan to pull the country out of recession, and he urged lawmakers to 'keep politics to a minimum' and quickly approve the measure.

AFP - Americans greeted 2009 with confidence unexpectedly sinking to an all-time low, a survey showed Tuesday in a further troubling sign for the fragile economy.

Reuters - While many U.S. cities worry that their economies are deteriorating to the level of the 1930s Great Depression, New York City fears reliving a more recent decade that features strongly in city lore.

Reuters - Police chiefs in the United States say the economic downturn is fueling a rise in crime and warn that cuts to their budgets could handcuff their efforts to tackle it, according to a report on Tuesday.

AFP - Business and banking executives warned at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday of worse times ahead for the global economy and urged greater efforts by the US government to turn its economy around.

Reuters - An $825 billion economic stimulus bill advanced another step on Tuesday, as the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $365.6 billion portion of it as President Barack Obama met with Republican lawmakers in an attempt to broaden support.

AP - The Treasury Department said Tuesday it has distributed another $386 million to 23 banks, the first awards from the federal bailout fund since President Barack Obama took office.

AFP - President Barack Obama told Republicans behind closed doors Tuesday that he worried about the soaring US debt because 'I will be judged by the legacy I leave behind' on the economy, a source said.

AFP - The dollar held in a narrow range Tuesday as currency traders awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting and shrugged off weak US economic data.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will make a statement to news media on Wednesday after meeting chief executive officers at the White House to discuss his economic recovery plan, his spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday.

AFP - Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday as consumer confidence plunged to a record low in the United States, the world's biggest energy consuming nation, triggering fears of a deepening recession.

AP - Rising unemployment spared no state last month, and 2009 is shaping up as another miserable year for workers from coast to coast.

Reuters - An $825 billion U.S. economic stimulus bill edged forward on Tuesday as a key Senate committee approved a big piece of it and President Barack Obama met with Republican lawmakers in a bid to broaden support.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will ensure there is the appropriate mix of tax cuts and spending in the proposed $825 billion economic stimulus package to accomplish his goals, the White House said on Tuesday.

Reuters - A couple of times on Tuesday, President Barack Obama was not sure where he was supposed to go as he ducked in and out of meetings on Capitol Hill to talk up his economic stimulus plan.

AFP - Despite criticism of how the bailout of ailing US banks has been managed, officials and economists say more money needs to be poured into the financial industry at the heart of the economy.

AFP - The US Federal Reserve wraps up a two-day policy meeting Wednesday focused on new tools to revive a moribund economy that has so far failed to respond to its zero-interest rate policy.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved a roughly $522 billion package of tax breaks and spending aimed at spurring economic and job growth to reverse the downward spiral of the economy.