U.S. News & World Report - Car buyers these days need to dabble in soothsaying: If you think gas prices will stay high--or go higher--you're likely to buy the smallest car that will get you and your family around. But if you foresee lower pump prices, you might splurge on something, let's say, more nostalgic. -- read full article
Reuters - Stocks fell in choppy trading on
Wednesday as renewed fears about the health of the financial
sector overshadowed stronger-than-expected data on business
investment that suggested an improving economy.
Reuters - The U.S. economy is growing at a
slow pace but it is not in a recession, White House economic
adviser Edward Lazear said on Wednesday. -- read full article
AP - Treasury prices fell Wednesday as durable goods data gave investors, still worried about inflation's effect on long-term bonds, another reason to withdraw from government securities. -- read full article
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.
