AP - For weeks — months — the price of a barrel of oil marches skyward, and gas prices at the pump soar to frustrating heights.

Reuters - Stocks soared on Thursday on a sharp drop in oil and several unexpectedly strong earnings reports, but the rally may not hold into Friday, given disappointing results from Google, Microsoft and Merrill Lynch after the bell.

AP - Wall Street shot higher Thursday, extending its rally into a second session as tumbling energy prices bolstered an already upbeat mood that followed stronger-than-expected quarterly reports from big names like JPMorgan Chase and United Technologies. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 200 points, bringing their two-day advance to more than 480.

Reuters - Cincinnati receptionist Roz Steadman had never been much of a coupon clipper, but the urge to be more careful with her money amid a faltering economy changed that about a month ago.

AP - From his office in a strip mall in the Southern California desert, energy trader Bill Rapp bet heavily that Hurricane Katrina would cause natural gas prices to go up and up and up.

AP - Wall Street firms and banks stepped up their borrowing over the past week from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program.

AP - A beat-the-deadline rush to file permits for apartment construction in New York City lifted housing starts to unexpectedly high levels in June, but it was no cause for rejoicing. Construction of single-family homes nationwide fell to the slowest pace in 17 years.