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Consumer confidence is at a 7½ -year low, according to a Conference Board report released Tuesday.

"Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently," wrote Publius Syrus in the 1st century B.C. Some years later, John Heywood updated the proverb to "Haste maketh waste."

Large discounts and worries about shortages of popular gifts lured consumers to stores this holiday weekend, but early returns show it will not be the shot in the arm that many retailers were hoping for, news services reported..

Snow Finally Reaches Plains States • Air Cargo at LAX Declines in October • Energy Industry on Alert for Attack • Boeing, Isuzu Announce Job Cuts • Washington Remains Deadlocked Over Stimulus • And more...

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The average price of diesel fuel across the United States fell 2.9 cents per gallon last week to $1.223, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Cell Phone Firms Battle Dead Zones • Wireless Delivery Drives Forward • Mobile Phone Sales Dive in 3Q • And more...

Two economic reports released on Wednesday offered a glimmer of hope heading into the start of the holiday shopping season, as the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose while new claims for state unemployment benefits fell.

One week after Russia declined to substantially trim its daily oil output in cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the No. 2 oil exporter said it has not ruled out cutting oil production to help prop up sagging prices, Bloomberg reported.