As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. economy has turned in one of the worst performances in the last quarter century during the final months of 2008. Current indicators are exposing fears that future months could even be more grim. The report, issued on January 30th, 2009, indicated that in its preliminary estimates the real gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The World Economic Forum annual meeting, known familiarly as simply Davos, opens Tuesday, January 28th, 2009 and runs through February 1st, 2009 in Davos, Switzerland. This year, the majority of participants and, indeed, the focus of many of the topics is governmental. An unprecedented number of governments around the globe are involved in efforts […]

Despite the declining economic downturn throughout 2008, and the severity of financial news and losses of the fourth quarter of 2008, more than 1 million people visited the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh in the 2008 calendar year. According to museum officials who recently reported on their annual admissions statistics, 1,185,000 visitors toppled the previous 2001 admissions record of 1,013,000 for the four museums that include the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in Oakland, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum.

Citibank’s financial supermarket is not so super anymore with $10 billion in losses in its latest quarter, a stock price hovering at 3.2, representing a 16-year low. The U.S. Federal government is considering how to split up the largest banking giant as its losses continue to mount and it grows increasingly obvious that almost no amount of government assistance will be able to save the giant financial services firm. Citibank struck a deal on Tuesday to effectively sell control of its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley.

What will make you drink more coke? Coca-Cola is hoping that the tagline “Open Happiness” will do the trick. Reportedly, Coca-Cola will be starting a new world-wide ad campaign based around the phrase and a new smiling logo. This campaign will replace “The Coke Side of Life,” which was launched in 2006.
“It’s really […]

Wang Chuanfu is the founder and chairman of BYD Company Limited, a Chinese battery and, as of recently, automobile maker. In December of 2008, BYD began selling the F3DM, a plug-in electric hybrid car in China. BYD has been criticized for copying its competitor’s car designs—their logo, as well, bears a striking resemblance to that of BMW’s. The automobile plugs into a home outlet and comes with a small gasoline engine capable of recharging the battery on the go.

Crude oil prices fell by $3.24 on January 12, declining to $37.59 per barrel. This, marked against the peak of $147.27 in July of 2008, is a 75% decline in less than six months. The declines, spurred by slowed economies world wide and lessened demand, have caused major panic in oil producing countries to continue, amid fears of loss of long term revenues. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.79 on Monday, down from Sunday’s $1.792 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.