NEW YORK - June 1, 2011 - Wall Street is having a hard time figuring out what to do now that the U.S. economy appears to be sputtering and yields are so low, according to Peter Yastrow, market strategist for Yastrow Origer.

NEW YORK - June 1, 2011 - U.S. private-sector payroll growth slowed sharply in May, falling to the lowest level in eight months and prompting some economists to lower forecasts for job growth in Friday's U.S. government report.

The ADP Employment Services report is the latest in a string of data suggesting economic growth remained sluggish early in the second quarter after hitting a soft patch in the first months of the year. The economy grew at a tepid 1.8% annual rate in the first three months of the year, softer than analysts originally anticipated.

NEW YORK - June 1, 2011 - The last month has been a horror show for the U.S. economy, with economic data falling off a cliff, according to Mike Riddell, a fund manager at M&G Investments in London.

"It seems that almost every bit of data about the health of the U.S. economy has disappointed expectations recently," said Riddell, in a note sent to CNBC on Wednesday.

NEW YORK - May 31, 2011 - Home prices began double dipping months ago, but now that S&P/Case Shiller has chimed in, it really must be so.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.2% in March from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists' expectations.

LONDON, England - May 31, 2011 - U.S. home prices as measured by the Case-Shiller index have now fallen by more than they did during the Great Depression, according to Capital Economics.

Paul Dales, senior U.S. Economist at Capital, said the Case-Shiller index released earlier on Tuesday - which tracks prices of single-family home in 20 major U.S. cities - are now 33% below the 2006 peak and back at a level last seen in the third quarter of 2002, edging out the 31% dip seen in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

ATHENS, Greece - May 30, 2011 - About 30,000 people protested in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Sunday evening against the government's tough economic austerity policies.

The demonstration, larger than many others that have taken place during Greece's economic crisis, appeared to be the first that resulted from spontaneous calls over social media sites such as Facebook. Many others have been organized by unions or political factions.

NEW YORK - May 27, 2011 - Pending sales of existing U.S. homes dropped far more than expected in April to touch a seven-month low, a trade group said on Friday, dealing a blow to hopes of a recovery in the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index dropped 11.6% to 81.9 in April, the lowest since September. Pending home sales lead existing home sales by a month or two.