AFP - The dollar held on to early gains against the euro here Tuesday, drawing strength from lower oil prices and as the market shrugged off a weak reading on US consumer confidence.

AP - Sales of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months although the unexpected increase still left activity near the lowest level in 17 years.

AP - Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years.

AP - Wall Street moved higher in uncertain trading Tuesday as investors sifted through a mix of economic data: a government report that showed the first gain in new home sales in six months and a disappointing reading on consumer confidence.

Reuters - Prices of single-family homes plunged a record 14.4 percent in March from a year earlier, while consumer confidence slumped to its lowest in 16 years in May as gasoline prices surged.

AP - Jackie Hoffman sifted through a laundry bin filled with aging bread, choosing a loaf of white.

Reuters - Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan was quoted on Tuesday as saying the United States was still more likely than not to have a recession despite relative stabilization in the economy in recent weeks.

Reuters - The majority of small business owners think the U.S. economy is getting worse, though sentiment showed some improvement in May from its recent lows, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

AFP - A recession in the United States remains a probability, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview published on Tuesday.

AP - Jackie Hoffman sifted through a laundry bin filled with aging bread, choosing a loaf of white.

AP - Soaring fuel prices are proving to be a pain for most people in the country, but they may have helped save the jobs of hundreds of workers in North Dakota's oldest town.

AFP - Iran plans to hike domestic gas prices in order to encourage consumers to conserve and to help to free up supplies for export, officials said on Saturday.

Reuters - The United States is already in a recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many people expect, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said in an interview published in German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.

AP - Fast-rising gas prices claimed their latest victim Thursday: Ford Motor Co., which dropped its goal of becoming profitable by 2009 and said it will cut production of trucks and sport utility vehicles through the rest of this year. It was a warning shot to the rest of the beleaguered U.S. auto industry, which is facing its worst sales in more than a decade.

Reuters - Twice as many Americans expect the value of their homes to fall in the next 12 months than a year ago, while price rises in the next five years will fail to keep pace with inflation, according to the results of a survey.