Reuters - New orders for long-lasting U.S.
manufactured goods dipped last month but demand outside of
transportation jumped and a gauge of business investment rose
sharply, suggesting surprising strength in the factory sector.
AP - Oil futures rose back above $130 Wednesday, recovering from early losses as threats against Nigerian oil facilities led investors to at least temporarily set aside concerns about falling U.S. gas demand.
AFP - The dollar recovered some lost ground against the euro Wednesday after much better-than-expected US durable goods data offset the impact of higher German inflation, dealers said.
AP - Ford Motor Co. plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August as part of a restructuring in the face of slumping sales and record-high gas prices, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket items besides autos and airplanes showed surprising strength in April, raising hopes that manufacturing can help the economy shake off the slumping housing market and credit crisis.
Reuters - Stocks rose on Tuesday, led by Apple
Inc and other technology bellwethers, as investors bet
that a sharp drop in oil prices will help shore up consumer and
business spending.
AFP - Sales of new homes across the United States rose an unexpected 3.3 percent in April from the prior month, to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 526,000 homes, a government report showed Tuesday.
Reuters - Prices of U.S. 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 - Not since George H.W. Bush ran the White House have consumers felt so downbeat about the economy. And the catalyst for much of the gloom — the housing slump — shows no signs of abating, new data Tuesday showed.
Investor's Business Daily - Israel's economy beat expectations in the first quarter, though it grew at a slower rate than in the previous two. GDP expanded at an annualized rate of 5.4%, the country's Central Bureau of Statistics reported this week. -- read full article
AFP - The dollar gained against the euro and other major currencies Tuesday, lifted by lower oil prices as the market shrugged off a weak reading on US consumer confidence and falling home prices.
Investor's Business Daily - Consumer confidence plunged in May to its lowest level in more than 15 years as energy prices soared, the job market weakened and home prices fell, according to data released on Tuesday. -- read full article
AP - Wall Street advanced in uneven trading Tuesday after a drop in oil prices and an unexpected gain in new home sales encouraged investors to put money back into the market.
