AP - Shoppers, enticed by heavy discounts and armed with rebate checks, spent freely in June, helping to lift retailers' sales. The outlook for the back-to-school season remains tough, though, as consumers confront high gas and food prices, a slumping housing market and tighter credit.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would start building its Prius hybrid in the United States in 2010 and suspend production of slow-selling big trucks for three months in a sharp reversal of strategy forced by slumping sales and high gas prices.

AP - Laurel Ranticelli considered driving 40 miles round-trip to take education classes at the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst. Then she realized she could take the same courses from her computer at home and save on fuel costs.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has offered a gloomy outlook for U.S. consumer and business sentiment, saying some people may feel as if the economy is in recession for the next year.

Reuters - Oil handed back early gains to stand below $136 a barrel on Wednesday as U.S. government data showed an unexpected increase in gasoline stocks, overshadowing a larger-than-expected fall in crude inventories.

Reuters - Stocks rose in another turbulent session on Tuesday as a pullback in oil prices eased worries about consumer and business spending, while financial shares gained after the Fed chairman said he may keep open a lifeline for banks.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday that home foreclosure starts may hit 2.5 million this year, many of them the borrowers' own fault for taking out loans they couldn't afford.

AP - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank might keep open a lifeline to financial firms, while the latest data showed distress in the housing and retail sectors continues.