AP - When Eric King moved from his apartment in Pittsburgh to a single-family home with a lawn, he bought a manual lawn mower instead of the usual gas-powered kind. He figures he's putting money in his pocket and saving trips to the filling station.

Reuters - Consumers expect housing market weakness to linger for longer than they did a few months ago, a survey showed on Friday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a drop in oil prices fueled investor optimism about consumer spending, driving shares of transportation and retailers sharply higher.

AP - Stocks ended a back-and-forth session with modest advances Thursday as a sharp drop in oil prices helped counter renewed concerns about the strength of the economy.

AP - Oil prices dropped sharply Thursday after China said it will raise fuel prices, a move that could dampen the booming Asian nation's oil consumption.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday the Federal Reserve should be given explicit authority to step in to protect the financial system if its stability is threatened, even if it means offering emergency funding to investment banks.

AP - The economy, hobbled by higher fuel and food prices, tighter credit and a depressed housing market, is limping along at a snail's pace, a private business group said Thursday.

AFP - The dollar held mostly firm Thursday as traders focused on a US Conference Board reading of leading indicators that suggested that the world's largest economy could avoid recession.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to urge that the Federal Reserve be given new powers to regulate Wall Street after the collapse of brokerage Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., U.S. media reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - A sharp rise in British retail sales pierced the global economic gloom like a rare shaft of sunlight on Thursday, but other developments showed that hopes that storm clouds would disperse were premature.

Reuters - The Nasdaq rose on Thursday as top technology companies and other exporters benefited from tumbling oil prices, seen as easing strains on global economic growth.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell 5,000 last week, government data on Thursday showed, but claims remained near levels indicating a sluggish labor market amid a cooler economy.