By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - August 18, 2011 - The global credit markets are braced for deflation and perhaps depression.

ATLANTA, Georgia (PNN) - August 18, 2011 - Thousands of unemployed waited overnight, camping out in their business suits and office heels and braving the tormenting heat in Atlanta to stand in line for a job fair Thursday. Authorities treated 20 people for heat exhaustion as they struggled to keep the line moving and get people moved inside.

NEW YORK - August 18, 2011 - Gold prices are again marching in record territory, nearing $1,830 an ounce, as the global economic picture gets uglier by the minute.

Gold jumped 2% to hit an all-time high (not adjusted for inflation) of $1,829.70 an ounce Thursday morning, as jittery investors dumped risky assets like stocks and rushed into traditional safe havens, including gold and U.S. Treasuries. Gold closed at $1822, up 1.6% for the day.

WASHINGTON - August 18, 2011 - The bipartisan "super committee" created by the debt ceiling deal is comprised of lawmakers who have received big bucks from special interest groups, according to a report by MapLight.

NEW YORK - August 18, 2011 - European equities suffered their biggest daily fall in two and a half years on Thursday, as a slew of data reinforces that the United States remains firmly mired in the Second Greatest Depression.

German shares lost most, with traders citing the effects of a short-selling ban on financial stocks in other parts of Europe and intensifying worries about politicians' lack of a plan to address the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

NEW YORK - August 18, 2011 - Morgan Stanley slashed its global growth forecast for 2011 and 2012, saying the U.S. and euro zone were "dangerously close to a (Depr)ession", and criticized policymakers in Washington and Europe for not acting more decisively to contain the sovereign debt crisis.

NEW YORK - August 16, 2011 - Walmart, the biggest U.S. retailer by revenues, warned on Tuesday that persistent weakness in the U.S. economy was putting pressure on its low income consumers who are increasingly worried about unemployment and becoming more reliant on government assistance.