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The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, jumped two and a half points Thursday to reach its highest level of 2006. At 120.5, the Index is up ten points from a month ago and up thirteen from three months ago. This is just the second time in calendar year 2006 that the Index has topped the 120 mark. The Rasmussen Investor Index also gained ground on Thursday, moving up two points to 145.5. That’s up 18 points from a month ago. Only twice this year has the Investor Index measured higher levels...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home building may be ready to shake off its 2006 slump, as housing starts posted the biggest jump since January, according to a government report Wednesday. The report also showed that building permits, seen as a sign of builder confidence, fell more than expected. But the housing starts number was seen by some as perhaps a signal that home building has hit bottom and is ready for a recovery. At the very least, the market appeared more resilient than many experts had assumed.

NEW YORK — U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected in October, a preliminary report showed on Friday, as consumers' view of both future and current conditions improved.

Federal deficit now lowest in 4 years By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer 4 minutes ago The federal budget deficit, helped by a gusher of tax revenues, fell to $247.7 billion in 2006, the smallest amount of red ink in four years. The deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was 22 percent lower than the $318.7 billion imbalance for 2005, handing President Bush an economic bragging point as Republicans go into the final four weeks of a battle for control of Congress. Both spending and tax revenues climbed to all-time highs. The sharp narrowing of the deficit...

Before the usual suspects show up. The Dow Average is different measurment then the Highest Price which was 11,908 back in 01-14-2000. Dow 11,850.53 123.19 Nasdaq 2,290.95 47.30 S&P 500 1,350.21 16.10 10 YR 4.57% -0.05 Oil $59.41 $0.73

By Mark Cotton, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:02 PM ET Oct 3, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks turned higher Tuesday after the price of oil fell to a ten-month low, raising hopes lower energy costs will act as a boost to consumer spending and moderate any excessive slowdown in the economy. More...

Dow industrials close at their highest ever level By Mark Cotton Last Update: 4:06 PM ET Oct 3, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at its highest level ever, after the price of oil slumped to a 14-month low, raising hopes lower energy costs will boost consumer spending and moderate any slowdown in the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDUDow Jones Industrial Average News , chart, profile, more Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio Analyst Create alertInsider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: $INDU ) rose 57 points to an unofficial...

Previous high 11,722.98 in January 2000 At 9:39AM ET: 11,724.46 35.22 (0.30%)

BREAKING ON CNN/MONEY'S WEB SITE: NEWS New home sales up 4.1% in August to 1.05 million annual rate, Reuters reports. Details soon.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Monday, with the S&P 500 closing at a five-and-a-half-year high, as investors bet that the slowdown in the economy and pullback in energy prices means the Federal Reserve won't lift interest rates again anytime soon. The Nasdaq composite (up 30.14 to 2,249.07, Charts) added nearly 1.4 percent, according to early tallies. The tech-fueled index had been on both sides of unchanged in the morning, before moving higher at midday. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 67.71 to 11,575.81, Charts) added 0.6 percent, ending within 150 points of its all-time high of 11,722.98, hit on...

U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday, with the S&P 500 at a new 5 1/2-year high, after strong results out of Oracle Corp. and Morgan Stanley boosted investor confidence ahead of the upcoming third-quarter earnings season

US Treasury Sets New 1-Day Tax Receipt Record Of $85.8 Billion Tuesday September 19th, 2006 / 0h04 WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. government recorded record-high overall and corporate tax receipts on Sept. 15, which was a quarterly deadline for tax payments, the Treasury said Monday. Total tax receipts were $85.8 billion on Friday, compared with the previous one-day record of $71 billion on Sept. 15 of last year, the Treasury said. Within the overall figure, corporate tax receipts Friday were $71.8 billion, up from $63 billion in September of last year. Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Randal Quarles said Friday's...

Consumer confidence zoomed to a seven-month high as lower gasoline prices made people feel a lot better about the current economic climate and their own financial standing.

WASHINGTON - Consumer confidence zoomed to a seven-month high as lower gasoline prices made people feel a lot better about the current economic climate and their own financial standing. The RBC Cash Index, based on the results of the international polling firm Ipsos, showed confidence rebounding to 93.7 in early September. That marked an improvement from August, when consumer confidence sank to a three-month low of 74.8. At that time, the toll of soaring energy prices was blamed for weighing on consumers' psyches. The recent drop in energy prices, however, provided people with some relief and propelled confidence to its...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Wednesday, closing higher for the fourth session in a row, with all three major market gauges carving out four-month highs, thanks to a broad-based advance. The Nasdaq composite (up 12.02 to 2,227.84, Charts) added around 0.5 percent, according to early tallies, closing at its highest point since May 16. Video More video CNN's Maggie Lake reports on rising Medicare premiums and more business news (Septebmer 13) Play video The Dow Jones industrial average (up 40.74 to 11,538.83, Charts) added about 0.4 percent, adding to the four-month high it hit on Tuesday after jumping 101...

U.S. stocks rally; major averages at 3-month closing highs By Last Update: 4:09 PM ET Sep 1, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed with major averages all at their best levels in three months, following news that wage inflation was tamer than expected last month, while other data showed that consumers stayed optimistic and factory activity remained healthy. "I think this news is just what the Fed is looking for," said Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. "The fact that wage inflation is heading down is a shot in the arm." The Dow Jones Industrial...

WASHINGTON (AP) The Labor Department says employers added 128,000 jobs in August, pushing the national unemployment rate down a notch to 4.7 percent.

Bankruptcy Filings Fall About 67 Percent in Third Quarter, More Than 9 Percent in Last Year WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bankruptcy filings fell about 67 percent in the third quarter and more than 9 percent in the last year, according to data released Monday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. There were 155,833 total bankruptcy filings in the third quarter, compared with 467,333 in the year-ago period. During the 12-month period that ended June 30, there were about 1.5 million bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts compared with more than 1.6 million in the year-ago period. It was the...

The federal deficit will register $260 billion this year, the lowest in four years, reflecting a strong economy and resulting growth in tax revenue, congressional analysts said Friday. The estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is well below its earlier predictions and also below the $296 billion White House estimate less than a month ago. Better-than-expected revenues are driving the deficit down from last year's $318 billion figure and far below the record $413 billion posted in 2004. At $260 billion, it would be the lowest since the $158 billion figure in 2002, the first deficit following four years...

Factory Orders Pick Up in June, Retailers Score Solid Sales in July WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's factories saw orders grow by the largest amount in three months, retailers scored solid sales and the service sector expanded, though at a more moderate pace -- encouraging signs that the economy remains in good shape. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that new bookings to the nation's manufacturing sector rose by 1.2 percent in June, the most since March. All the strength reflected demand for "durable" goods, including transportation equipment, computers, and fabricated metal products. Orders for "nondurables" such as food and chemicals, dipped....

Manufacturing growth showed surprising strength in July, even as prices paid jumped, according to a closely watched survey of industry executives released Tuesday. The Institute of Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 54.7 from 53.8 in June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting the index to slip to 53.5. Any reading above 50 in the ISM manufacturing index indicates growth in the sector. The report's prices paid index - which measures inflationary pressures within the sector - rose to its highest since October 2005. It jumped to 78.5 from 76.5 in June, largely due to rising metal prices....

WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods shot up in June at the fastest pace in three months, powered by a rebound in demand for commercial aircraft. The Commerce Department reported that new orders for durable goods rose 3.1 percent last month, much better than the 1.7 percent gain that Wall Street had been expecting. The rise followed a tiny 0.3 percent May gain and a 4.7 percent drop in orders in April. Much of the strength came from an 8.8 percent surge in demand for commercial aircraft, which followed two months of big declines in this...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. payroll growth probably expanded at a healthy rate in June, according to the ADP national employment index released Wednesday. U.S. private-sector nonfarm payrolls increased by about 368,000 in June, ADP said. This is the largest monthly increase in employment since the ADP index was created five years ago. Read full survey. "These findings indicate a strong acceleration of employment in June," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, the economic forecasting firm that computes the ADP index from anonymous payroll data provided by Automatic Data Processing The Labor Department will report on the June figures on...

Orders to U.S. Factories for Manufactured Goods Climb 0.7 Percent in May WASHINGTON (AP) -- Orders to U.S. factories for manufactured goods rebounded in May following a big decline in the previous month as strengthened demand for petroleum and chemicals offset weakness in commercial aircraft and autos. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new orders rose by 0.7 percent in May following a 2 percent plunge in April. The slight increase left orders at a seasonally adjusted $399.9 billion in May. The gain was significantly better than the 0.1 percent increase analysts had been expecting. The overall strength in May...

Huge cuts in an industry at the heart of American manufacturing have fed a popular belief that anyone who makes things in the United States is struggling against an onslaught of foreign competition. Whether American firms are building plants overseas as a way to exploit cheap labour, or closing down factories because they cannot compete any more, the widespread assumption is that the country's entire industrial base is being “hollowed out”. “Our media act as if American manufacturing is going to grind to a halt at around two o'clock this afternoon,” says Cliff Ransom, an independent analyst who scours America...

Economy Zips Ahead at a 5.6 Percent Pace Jun 29 8:45 AM US/Eastern Email this story By JEANNINE AVERSA AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON The economy sprang out of a year-end rut and zipped ahead in the opening quarter of this year at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest in 2 1/2 years and even stronger than previously thought. The new snapshot of gross domestic product for the January-to-March period exceeded the 5.3 percent growth rate estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The upgraded reading _ based on more complete information _ matched economists' forecasts. The stronger GDP...

Manufacturing cranked up, builders boosted construction spending to an all-time high and consumers opened their wallets wider _ fresh signs the economy has snapped out of its end-of-year funk. That was the message coming from the latest batch of economic reports released Monday. A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that factory activity expanded with gusto in April. The group's manufacturing index rose to 57.3 in April, from 55.2 in March. The showing was much better than the reading of 55 that economists were expecting. In a second report, the Commerce Department said total construction spending in March...

WASHINGTON - Casting off an end-of-year lethargy, the U.S. economy bounded ahead in the opening quarter of this year at a 4.8 percent pace, the fastest pace of growth in 2 1/2 years. The latest report on the economy, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, showed that consumers, businesses and government all did their part in terms of robust spending and investment to spur a healthy pace of growth in the January-to-March quarter. The 4.8 percent increase in the gross domestic product marked a vast improvement from the feeble 1.7 percent annual rate registered in the final quarter of...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials hitting a 6-year high, buoyed by stronger-than-expected earnings from companies such as top brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. and a key broker's dropping its "sell" rating on General Motors Corp. The latest string of results in a stronger-than-forecast earnings season overshadowed investors' worries about rising interest rates after orders in March for durable goods such as airplanes and refrigerators surpassed expectations. Anheuser-Busch reported stronger-than-expected earnings, sending its shares up 5.3 percent, or $2.27, to $44.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. For details see: . Top U.S. brokerage Merrill...

ECONOMIC REPORT Stunning 13.8% increase in new home sales Median prices down year-over-year first time since Dec. 2003 By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- New home sales unexpectedly increased by 13.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.213 million, the highest level of the year, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. The increase more than reversed the 10.9% decline in sales in February. It was far stronger than the mild increase to 1.10 million annualized that was expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar. Combined with the small increase reported in existing home sales on...

Mid-Level Business Staffers Hit Hardest... Time Inc. eliminated another 250 jobs today in its latest, largest and, perhaps, last round of cutbacks. The mid-level and junior-level workers shown the door almost all came from the business side of operations at a long list of titles. "As Time Inc. continues to evolve from a magazine publisher to a multiplatform media company, we're continuing to look at our cost base and how to run our business more efficiently and effectively. In doing so, unfortunately, we've had to eliminate a number of positions." "But it's not just about cost cutting," Ms. Zelenko added...

WASHINGTON (AP) The Labor Department reports that the nation's unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in March as employers added 211,000 jobs.

The US has regained top position in the 2005 information technology rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum after slipping to fifth place in 2004. Releasing its latest Global Information Technology Report, Geneva-based WEF said the US lead reflected its excellent physical infrastructure, a supportive market environment and high levels of business and government usage of the latest technologies. Singapore, first in 2004, came second and Denmark third. Four Nordic countries – the others being Iceland, Finland and Sweden – are in the top 10 alongside Canada, Taiwan and Switzerland. The UK, in 10th place, is the top-ranked of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Commerce Department reports that orders for big-ticket manufactured goods, propelled by strong demand for commercial aircraft, posted a 2.6 percent February increase. Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose in February by the largest amount in three months, propelled by soaring demand for civilian aircraft. The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders increased by 2.6 percent last month, double the gain that economists had been expecting. The strength was concentrated in a huge 52.5 percent increase in orders for commercial aircraft, which reflected a rebound after a 70.1 percent drop in January aircraft...

Many of the major stock indexes have hit 5 year highs. The Dow Jones 30, the SP 500 included. Some indexes are at all time highs, such as Russell 2000 and some of the other mid cap and small cap indexes. It was not due to a major surge today, as the indexes were up modestly today. It is just that the trend has been up and we were near the highs. On particular source is hard to pinpoint since we are dealing with stock indexes. You will see a lot about this on the business news shows. Tune into...

SEOUL (Reuters) -- Kia Motors Corp. said it would invest $1.2 billion building its first U.S. factory in Georgia. The site is in West Point, in Troup County, on the western edge of the state. Kia is seeking ways to move more production abroad in order to shield itself from a surging won currency and also grab a bigger share of the U.S. market. The firm also said in a statement it expected its sales in North America, including the United States and Canada, to rise 15 percent to 350,000 vehicles in 2006 and to grow to 800,000 by 2010....

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday it would use Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s plant in Indiana to build its popular Camry sedan in a move that gives Toyota cheap access to production capacity and helps Fuji cut losses at an underused plant. Toyota, Japan's top automaker, and Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru cars, had been exploring ways to cooperate in production and development since Toyota became Fuji Heavy's top shareholder in October after Fuji Heavy dissolved its capital alliance with General Motors. Toyota, which now owns 8.7 percent of Fuji Heavy, said it planned to build...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers added a stronger-than-forecast 243,000 jobs in February and average hourly pay posted the largest annual increase in 4-1/2 years, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report likely to keep inflation concerns simmering. The monthly report showed the unemployment rate edged up to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in January. Economists had forecast that 210,000 jobs would be created in February and that the unemployment rate would hold steady. The February job gain followed a revised 170,000 new jobs in January that had originally been reported as 193,000. Employers have increased their payrolls every...

CPI: +0.7% in Jan 2006 Unemployment Rate: 4.8% in Feb 2006 Payroll Employment: +243,000(p) in Feb 2006 Average Hourly Earnings: +$0.05(p) in Feb 2006 PPI: +0.3%(p) in Jan 2006 ECI: +0.8% in 4th Qtr of 2005 Productivity: -0.5% in 4th Qtr of 2005 U.S. Import Price Index: +1.3% in Jan 2006

Good newsthese days is hard to find. But for no good reason. The mainstream media highlight and overhype America's failures and challenges, from the slow response to Hurricane Katrina to mistaken intelligence on Iraq, giving the impression that a dark cloud hovers over the land. Yet, obscured by the day-to-day hyperventilating of the press lies the most underreported news story of our time: Americans today are better off than at any time in history and are overwhelmingly optimistic about the future. Life expectancy exploded during the 20th century. A woman born today is expected to live 80 years — nearly...

The US economy is set for a strong rebound in the first quarter of 2006, shaking off the hurricane-related weakness of the fourth quarter, a survey of business economists showed. The survey of the National Association of Business Economists called for the economy to expand at a robust 4.5 percent pace in the current quarter -- the fastest since 2003 -- after a disappointing 1.1 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter. "The NABE panel sees the economy roaring back in early 2006 following the fourth quarter's tepid 1.1 percent growth," said Stuart Hoffman, NABE president and chief economist at...

At the January 30-31 meeting of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policymaking committee, the Fed raised its short-term target interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to 4.5 percent. It was the 14th consecutive time since June 2004 that the Fed raised short-term rates. As the Fed indicated in its Jan. 31 press release and as subsequent developments have confirmed, future interest-rate increases are likely. Noting that "possible increases in resource utilization as well as elevated energy prices have the potential to add to inflation pressures," the Fed's Jan. 31 press release declared that "the Committee judges that some further policy firming...

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday after government data showed a stronger-than-expected rise in U.S. retail sales last month, boosting the outlook for corporate earnings. Strong quarterly reports from companies, including Waste Management Inc. (WMI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. trash hauler, and a decline in oil prices also lent support to stocks. On Nasdaq, Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) shares gained after Apple said it would begin shipping this week and next its new MacBook Pro laptop computers and that they would use more...

-- The Commerce Department reports that retail sales outside of autos soared in January by the largest amount in more than six years.

Don't Believe the Hype. We're Still No. 1 What the doomsayers don't say: America is a marvel of creativity By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER What would the most advanced, most forward-looking, most self-assured country in history do without its periodic crises of confidence? In 1957 the Soviets put a tin can into space, and the U.S. thought the sky was falling. In the 1980s we began crying into our soup because Sony was selling so many nifty Trinitrons. "American decline" was all the fashion until the vaunted Japanese model of tight organization and industrial planning took a nosedive and a bunch of...

Unemployment Falls to 4.7% January +193,000 Jobs December +140,000 Jobs - A 32,000 Upward Revision

Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams Robert Roy Britt LiveScience Managing Editor LiveScience.com Wed Feb 1, 10:00 AM ET After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending telegrams. On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible: "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A private research group says consumer confidence rose in January to its highest level in more than three years.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Inspired by a reader who sent a list of once American corporations who's profits are no longer funneled to the hard-working American employee, I investigated the subject. The clip that landed on my desk was from "America is Selling Out," published in The American Conservative, December, 2005. As I digested, emotionally charged from the publication's Web site at www.economyincrisis.org, I agreed with some of the information, discarded the sensational propaganda and extrapolated my take on the issues' raw facts. From what I've experienced and witnessed first-hand, I consider the current state...

WASHINGTON - Job growth slowed in December - following a big hiring spurt in November - with US employers expanding payrolls by just 108,000, underscoring the sometimes choppy path travelled by job seekers. The Labour Department's fresh snapshot of the nation's jobs climate, released on Friday, also showed that the unemployment rate dipped from 5 per cent in November to 4.9 per cent in December, as some people left the labour market for any number of reasons. The 108,000 gain in payrolls registered in December followed a big pickup of 305,000 jobs added in November, according to revised figures released...