As expected, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged. While it said the economy had "continued to pick up" since its last policy-setting meeting in September, the Fed maintained the rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent.

Halloween candy sales were expected to reach $5 billion, an increase in spite of the sour economy. The holiday is the number one holiday for candy sales.

Commercial lender CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York court on Sunday. CIT specializes in lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending in September dropped precipitously. Although statistics seem to indicate the recession is over, the American public, it seems, is not convinced.

The Commerce Department says the GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent last quarter, the first positive quarterly growth in a year, and the largest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2007. This unofficially marks the end of the worst recession in 70 years.

Someone watching old shows from the 1950's might recall the term "layaway," but it's not a term that's been used much lately. Popular during the Great Depression, Toys R Us announced on Monday they would begin offering the same type of layaway program, for big-ticket items, in time for the holidays.

The number of newly laid-off workers filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by an unexpectedly large amount, in weekly numbers released by the Labor Department on Thursday. With that, the numbers fell to the lowest level since early January.

As we've previously covered at HULIQ, mortgage rates are approaching all-time lows. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, an industry group, this has fueled huge demand in terms of mortage applications.

Freddi Mac's latest survy on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell below 5% this week. This is the first time since the end of May, according to Freddie Mac, and closing in on the all-time low set in April.

In this time of recession, when something like this arises, the question becomes: is this a demonstration of insensitivity or of advocacy? Or just pure greed? A limited-edition "American Girls" doll is causing controversy. The doll, "Gwen," is a homeless version of the popular doll series.

For an economy that, according to Ben Bernanke, is out of recession, it sure doesn't feel that way. Not only are there six jobless applicants for every job opening (much less those employed seeking work), now the news is that Fannie Mae mortgage defaults climbed to a record high in July.

While people like Ben Bernanke say the recession is over, ask someone unemployed and you may get a different answer. According to the Labor Department’s July numbers, only 2.4 million full-time permanent jobs were open, with 14.5 million people officially unemployed. Do the math: that's a 6:1 ratio in the wrong direction.