INFLATION

Stocks rose on Friday, capping their third straight monthly advance, as rising commodity prices lifted shares of natural resource companies, while a sliding dollar boosted the allure of multinationals, including Coca-Cola Co .

Stocks rose on Friday as resurgent oil prices lifted energy shares, while a sliding dollar boosted the allure of multinationals like Coca-Cola Co and further signs of economic stabilization underpinned sentiment.

The U.S. recession is fading but the economy will not recover in a meaningful way before the end of this year and deflation remains a risk in this climate, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

The U.S. recession is set to end soon, but continued job losses and plunging house prices point to an economic recovery that will be more moderate than those experienced in previous downturns, a survey showed.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said there was no sign of a problem with U.S. inflation at the moment, and revealed that Chinese officials had quizzed him on the Fed's purchases of U.S. government bonds.

Euro zone inflation is forecast to have dropped to a new record low in May, dragged down by lower energy and food prices, preliminary data are expected to show next Friday.

World economic grouping OECD said on Monday the global economy had come out of free fall, offering hope of incipient recovery late this year to investors and markets unnerved by rising U.S. government debt.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it saw modest improvements in the U.S. economy last month, but it still saw big risks and left open the possibility of increasing its purchases of mortgage-related and government debt to keep credit flowing and spur recovery.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it saw modest improvements in the U.S. economy last month, but considered increasing purchases of mortgage-related and government debt to spur recovery.

The U.S. Federal Reserve saw modest improvements in the economic outlook at its April meeting, but mulled increasing purchases of mortgage agency and government securities to give the recovery an additional push, minutes of the meeting showed on Wednesday.

Most Asian stock markets fell on Monday on concerns about corporate profits and a still-uncertain outlook for the global economy, but Indian shares surged following the ruling coalition's sweeping election victory.

The Hong Kong government predicted Friday its gross domestic product (GDP) would contract by 6.5% this year as the government announced that its GDP fell 7.8% in the first quarter of 2009.

U.S. economic data offered more evidence on Friday that the recession's worst phase may be over, with April consumer prices unchanged and industrial output declining at a slower pace than in March.

The U.S. economy has pulled back from the edge of the abyss but the recovery will be very slow as Americans' find an equilibrium between the often voracious consumption of past years and a new-found focus on savings, Federal Reserve policy-makers said on Friday..

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged last month and industrial output declined at a slower pace, reports showed on Friday, providing more evidence that the worst phase of the recession may be over.

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in April from March as expected, but recorded their largest 12-month drop since 1955, government data showed on Friday, as sluggish consumer demand limited companies' pricing power.

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in April as expected, but recorded their largest 12-month drop since 1955, government data showed on Friday, as sluggish consumer demand limited companies' pricing power.

The world's richest nations will put recession behind them later this year, but when growth returns it will be sluggish, according to Reuters polls that pose a challenge to the vigorous rally in world stock markets.

America is more than a country; it is the ideal of liberty. In economic terms, liberty translates into the entrepreneurial spirit of hard work, risk taking and self-reliance.

The chief executive of Pacific Investment Management Company LLC expects “muted growth” in the next three to five years, in the wake of major changes to the world’s financial system and a shift to greater government regulation.

For all who claim that rampant inflation is up next, and home price deflation is over, I present the following charts for readers to ruminate on just how much higher existing home sales inventories are relative to some semblance of a trendline, in addition to a long-term chart comparing CPI with the median home price.