Reuters - The financial meltdown sweeping the United States hits the fashion runway on Friday, when New York Fashion Week takes off, but its impact may be surprising.

AP - U.S. factories saw demand for their products rise in December by the largest amount in five months, a spot of welcome news that failed to change the picture of an economy struggling to stay afloat.

FT.com - In May 2006, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, noted: 'The credit default swap is probably the most important instrument in finance. ... What CDS did is lay-off all the risk of highly leveraged institutions - and that's what banks are, highly leveraged - on stable American and international institutions.'

AP - Treasury prices fell Wednesday after a report showed workers producing at a stronger-than-forecast pace and labor costs in check at the end of 2007.

AP - The nation's retailers delivered more evidence of a stumbling economy Thursday, as merchants including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported weak January results, extending a malaise that has deepened since the holiday shopping season.

Reuters - The U.S. economy has entered a recession that will be more painful and drawn out than the usual downturn, the director of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey said on Friday.

Reuters - The extent of Europe's infection from the U.S. subprime mortgage virus is becoming clearer, even as the European Central Bank faces down calls for it to follow U.S. and UK counterparts by cutting interest rates.

Reuters - Small businesses are losing confidence in the U.S. economy and have little hope a spate of interest rate cuts or economic stimulus measures will do much to boost sales, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

AP - Wall Street moved sharply higher Wednesday after the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in retail sales last month and eased some concerns about consumers' willingness to spend despite economic uncertainty. The Dow Jones industrials rose nearly 180 points.

FT.com - Asian shares rose on Thursday after Japan's economy grew by more than expected and US retail sales saw a surprise increase, easing fears about a global slowdown.

FT.com - The dollar lost ground against the euro on Friday, extending its losses following comments from the Federal Reserve that cemented expectations for further cuts In US interest rates.

Reuters - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Saturday signed six budget-cutting bills that will close the projected $3.3 billion shortfall in the state budget this fiscal year, but warned that more spending cuts would be needed.

FT.com - Asian stocks traded at levels near to Friday's close, with investor sentiment not too affected by the pessimistic US consumer confidence data that pushed down Wall Street last week.

AP - Oil futures shot higher Tuesday, nearing $99 at times as investors bet that crude prices will keep rising despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon.

FT.com - All members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted for lower interest rates at this month's meeting, judging the risk of sharply slowing growth outweighed that of higher inflation expectations keeping inflation above target.

FT.com - All members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted for lower interest rates this month, according to minutes of the meeting carrying a more dovish tone than last week's Inflation Report.

AP - Oil prices dropped Friday after a U.S. government report showed domestic crude inventories rose last week.

AP - Gas prices jumped Friday to their highest level since June, a possible preview of what many analysts believe will be a record spike in pump prices this spring.

FT.com - Axel Leijonhufvud, the Swedish-born economist, once made an insightful observation about inflation targeting. It worked better in practice than it did in theory, he said. I feel the same about the UK economy. Given what we have long known - about the country's relatively low productivity growth rate and the erosion of its scientific and engineering excellence - the British economy should clearly not have performed quite as well as it did for the past 15 years. Economic theory would suggest that this was not possible.

AP - Job growth is faltering, consumer confidence plunging. The fallout from the worst housing slump in a quarter-century grows. Wherever you look, the signs are unmistakable that the economy is in trouble.

AP - Consumer confidence plunged in February as Americans worried about less-favorable business conditions and job prospects, a business-backed research group said Tuesday.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in January by the largest amount in five months as manufacturers got caught in the weakness engulfing the rest of the economy.

AP - In more bad news for the beleaguered housing industry, sales of new homes fell in January for a third straight month, pushing activity down to the slowest pace in nearly 13 years. The median price of a new home dropped to the lowest level in more than three years.

AP - Oil prices surpassed $103 a barrel for the first time Friday as persistent weakness in the U.S. dollar and the prospect of lower interest rates attracted fresh money to the oil market.