Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that markets have calmed down to the point where prices will be driven by economic factors including an improving housing market rather than by fear.

AFP - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday he believes the financial crisis is winding down, but that it would take some time to fully emerge from the economic malaise.

Reuters - Stocks finished little changed on Friday as surging oil prices lifted energy shares and offset data that showed consumer confidence sank to its lowest in 28 years.

Reuters - U.S. consumer confidence tumbled to a 28-year low this month as rising prices strained household finances, while another drop in single-family housing starts underscored problems still plaguing the economy.

AP - Construction of new homes increased by the biggest percentage in more than two years in April, a rare spot of good news amid the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.

AP - Jennifer Marsh was sick of paying high gas prices and bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing claims for initial jobless benefits rose by 6,000 in the latest week while the number on benefit rolls after a first week of aid hit a four-year high, a government report showed on Thursday.

Reuters - Sixty nine percent of Americans see gasoline prices as a serious problem for their families but only 41 percent favor a temporary repeal of the gasoline tax as proposed by presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton, a poll released on Thursday said.

Reuters - Recent turmoil in financial markets underscores the need for banks to hold "generous" capital cushions, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday as he urged them to actively raise money.

AP - The stock market notched its second straight daily advance Thursday, with investors assuaged by a pullback in oil prices and some better-than-expected economic data.

AP - Oil futures ended a whipsaw session slightly lower Thursday as the expiration of options played havoc with prices, driving crude near record high levels at times and down by more than $3 a barrel at others. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, advanced past $3.77 a gallon.