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Kentucky.com: Economy
News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com

• Late-day sell-off is feverish
  DES MOINES, Iowa . There was a time when thresholds meant something. The Dow Jones average sinking below 8,000 must mean the bottom is near. The S.P 500 falling 50 percent from its high must signal the end of the freefall. Economists, money managers and traders who watch the markets closely say you can't assume previous bear market measures mean much. They acknowledge they don't know where the bottom is and anxiety remains high. So does the selling, which continued Thursday. Wall Street saw intense selling late in the session after hopes faded that lawmakers would quickly assemble an aid package for U.S. automakers, and as the Standard . Poor's 500 index broke through lows established in 2002. That breach of a key technical threshold sent a shudder through the market and touched off further selling. The S.P 500 index fell 6.7 percent to its lowest close since April 1997. The Dow Jones industrial average, meanwhile, fell 445 points, or 5.6 percent, to its lowest close since March 2003. The decline brings the Dow's two-day drop to 873 points, or 10.6 percent, its worst two-day percentage loss since October 1987.
• Thrifty at 50, 40 or 30: Scrimping is back in style
  Frugality is making a comeback. Fearful that economic conditions could get worse and stay that way, Americans are showing an enthusiasm for thriftiness not seen in decades. This behavioral shift isn't simply about spending less. The New Frugality emphasizes stretching every dollar. It means bypassing the fashion mall for the discount chain store, buying secondhand clothes and furniture, or trading down to store brands. There's more business for repairmen, and less for salesmen. Consumers are clipping more coupons and swiping their credit cards less.
• Big 3 blame economy, beg for $25 billion
  WASHINGTON . The CEOs of the nation's Big Three automakers didn't get much respect when they pulled up at the nation's money pump asking for a $25 billion fill-up. Senators weren't in much of a mood to talk about it Tuesday, at least not without a heavy dose of sarcasm. "No one can say that they didn't see this coming, "Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn, told the executives sitting in a row before him. The industry was "seeking treatments for wounds that I believe to a large extent were self-inflicted." And Dodd is actually a supporter of the new lifeline, like most Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama.
• Stocks likely to be volatile again this week
  Associated Press NEW YORK . The stock market is trying to form a bottom, but the economic landscape keeps changing. With the Treasury switching its financial bailout plans and Congress fighting over a potential rescue package for automakers, investors are having a tough time figuring out what the future will bring. And that will likely mean more wild swings in the market this week. "These are tremendous dollops of uncertainty, one after the other," said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist for The Hartford. "A market needs confidence that things are going to get better. And right now there is a marked, marked lack of confidence that things are going to get better."
• States want share of bailout
  WASHINGTON . Led by California with a $28 billion hole in its budget, 41 states are in financial trouble, and many of their leaders are looking to Congress to bail them out. State officials are hoping to join the ranks of the financial industry and auto manufacturers, who've found a sympathetic ear on Capitol Hill. They've found some key supporters: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats are promoting aid to states as part of a broad stimulus package that could inject more than $300 billion into the ailing economy. The idea is getting a strong bipartisan push from governors across the country, with California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Democratic Gov. David Paterson among the chief proponents. Both are blaming Washington for their states' mounting troubles. Testifying at a recent House of Representatives hearing, Paterson said that New York was "at the epicenter of a national emergency" after federal oversight bodies "utterly failed in their duty" to protect Americans' savings and the U.S. financial system. Speaking Wednesday before a Chamber of Commerce group in Fresno, Calif., Schwarzenegger said that "government is really at fault" and that Washington is obligated to "get us out of this mess."
• World leaders pledge action at financial summit
  WASHINGTON . World leaders, who gathered here to tackle the ongoing global financial crisis, agreed to a broad range of solutions Saturday but left the details to be worked out until the spring. The summit of the Group of 20, which represents 19 countries and the European Union, called for a range of new regulations of financial institutions, credit rating agencies and other bodies widely blamed for sparking the gravest global economic crisis in decades. The summit also demanded that large developing economies such as Brazil's and China's be given more say in the operation of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund that many complain are dominated by the United States and other industrial nations. Despite the event's hoopla, a joint declaration issued by the meeting's participants Saturday afternoon was heavy on generalities such as the need for more coordinated global action, financial transparency and tighter economic regulations. It gave leaders until the next summit to be held by April to fill in the blanks.
• Bad economy hurting horses too
  FRANKFORT . Animal control workers in some rural Kentucky communities have a larger problem than stray dogs and cats . much larger. Stray horses have been turning up, and animal advocates blame horse owners hurt by the faltering economy. "People who used to be able to afford their horses now can no longer afford their horses," said Ginny Grulke, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Council. "These are not people who are ruthless or inhumane. In general, it's an economic problem, and they have no options. They don't know what to do with their animals." Lancaster resident Connie Short said a small black horse showed up on her farm in August. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't find the owner of the hungry stray that she fed for about two months until animal control workers found a foster home. "Nobody wanted him," Short said. "It was like somebody had dropped off a dog or a cat."
• Global recession expected into '09
  LONDON . The world's developed countries, hard hit by the financial crisis, have probably tipped into a recession that will last at least through the first half of 2009, according to new projections issued Thursday. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast that economic output would shrink 1.4 percent this quarter for the 30 market democracies that make up its membership . and keep contracting until the middle of next year. That would mean the developed world has now entered a slump estimated to last at least three quarters; two consecutive quarters is a common definition of recession. For all of 2009, these countries' economies would contract by 0.3 percent. Additionally, the U.S. economy would fall by 2.8 percent in the last quarter, after a 0.3 percent drop in the third quarter and then shrink by a full 0.9 percent in 2009. Japan's economy would shrink by 0.1 percent next year and the euro area by 0.5 percent.
• Little chance seen for auto bailout
  WASHINGTON . The prospects of a government rescue for the nation's foundering auto makers dwindled Thursday as Democratic congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition during a lame-duck legislative session next week. At the same time, hope among many Democrats on Capitol Hill for an aggressive economic stimulus measure all but evaporated. Democratic leaders have been calling for a package that would include help for the auto companies as well as new spending on public works projects, an extension of unemployment benefits, increased food stamps and aid to states for rising Medicaid expenses. But while Democrats said the stimulus measure would wait until President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, some industry experts fear that one or more of the Big Three automakers will collapse before then. Despite hardening opposition at the White House and among Republicans on Capitol Hill, the Democrats said they would press ahead with efforts to provide $25 billion in emergency aid for the automakers. But they said the bill would need to be approved first in the Senate, which some Democrats said was hi