WASHINGTON - July 14, 2010 - Federal Reserve officials cut their forecasts for growth this year and signaled they stood ready to take new steps if the economy worsens.

A new document, released Wednesday, revealed a more cautious mood among the Fed policymakers in light of Europe's debt crisis, a volatile Wall Street, a stalled housing market and high unemployment.

WASHINGTON (PNN) - July 14, 2010 - Retail sales fell in June for the second straight month, more evidence that there is no economic recovery despite what the propagandists say.

WASHINGTON - July 13, 2010 - Job openings dropped in May from the previous month and layoffs edged up, fresh evidence that employers are reluctant to add workers.

The Labor Department says job openings fell to 3.2 million from 3.3 million in April. The dip follows two months of increasing openings, driven partly by temporary government hiring for the 2010 Census.

NEW YORK - July 12, 2010 - When recession struck in the past, Amerikan cities became centers of poverty and crime. This time, during the Second Great Depression, expect dereliction in the suburbs.

NEW YORK - July 12, 2010 - Ignore the uber-low yields on U.S. government debt. It's only a matter of time before markets lose confidence in the U.S. government, argues Harvard professor Niall Ferguson.

NEW YORK - July 12, 2010 - The credit scores of millions more Amerikans are sinking to new lows.

Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5% of consumers - nearly 43.4 million people - now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them as poor risks for lenders. It's unlikely they will be able to get credit cards, auto loans or mortgages under the tighter lending standards banks now use.

FRANKFURT, Germany - July 11, 2010 - The sovereign debt crisis would seem to create worry enough for European banks, but there is another gathering threat that has not garnered as much notice: the trillions of dollars in short-term borrowing that institutions around the world must repay or roll over in the next two years.

The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund have all recently warned of a looming crunch, especially in Europe, where banks have enough trouble raising money as it is.