Reuters - Stock markets are up sharply since March. The recent batch of economic data has not looked as dire as feared. The U.S. Federal Reserve is finding fewer takers for its loan auctions. A fine-art sale drew a record $86 million price for a Francis Bacon painting.

Reuters - Martin Feldstein, President of the National Bureau of Economic Research, said in a newspaper interview published on Monday he had seen a clear reversal in U.S. monthly economic indicators since December or January.

AP - First the good news: The worst of the painful housing slump and the credit crunch might come to an end this year. Now the bad: The economy will weaken further and unemployment will rise.

AP - A national survey says the average price for regular gasoline rose about 17 cents in the last two weeks.

AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday that financial markets are "considerably calmer" now than they were two months ago. He predicted the economy will be rebounding by the second half of this year.

AFP - US homebuilding showed a surprisingly strong jump in April, signaling a ray of hope amid the rubble of the worst housing slump in decades, according to government data released Friday.

AP - Wall Street capped a week of big gains with modest moves Friday as investors grappled with surging energy prices that overshadowed news of a surprise increase in home construction.

Reuters - Consumer confidence tumbled to its lowest in 28 years this month, a survey showed on Friday, as short-term inflation expectations reached the highest levels since the stagflationary early 1980s.