Gasoline prices continued to rise on Wednesday, as many analysts expressed concerns that a continued rise could derail a recovery from the recession. This is the longest continued upsurge in records dating to 1996, although benchmark crude fell for the fourth straight day.

Good news and bad news, with respect to the unemployment numbers for May released today by the U.S. Labor Department. First, the bad news: unemployment has reached 9.4%. Now, the good news: the pace of layoffs slowed, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September.

For the first time in 20 weeks, the number of those still seeking unemployment benefits (as opposed to new claims) dropped, albeit slightly. This also broke a string of 17 consecutive weeks with record new highs in this number.

Americans are sick of being lied to. Politicians, bureaucrats, Wall Street CEO's, we can't trust a word that comes out of any of their mouths. As a nation we're stuck in an endless skeptical limbo. We're like a plane-load of passengers held captive on a red-eye circling high above La Guardia desperately wanting to land but the pilot keeps coming up with excuses blaming the delay on everyone from the flight attendants to the ground crew.

An industry report by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that a record 12% of those with a mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure.

On Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped unexpectedly to a seasonally adjusted 623,000, from a revised figure of 636,000 in the previous week. It was below analysts' estimates of 635,000.

Chrysler, in a motion filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, indicated that the company wants to eliminate nearly 25% of its dealerships by early next month. The reason given by the company about Chrysler dealership closings is low sales at those dealerships on the closure list. The company noted that 50% of its dealers provide nearly 90% of its sales.

RealtyTrac’s monthly report released Wednesday threw cold water on anyone thinking the recession is over, or even easing, as the report indicated foreclosure filings hit another monthly record in April.

Is General Motors headed for bankruptcy, much like fellow automaker Chrysler? If you ask the experts, they will say yes.

Mars (yes, the candy makers) feels that Americans are looking for reasons to smile. Undoubtedly true, in this recession, they are looking to stimulate your taste buds with what they are calling the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act (http://www.realchocolate.com). This promotion runs from now until September.

The government released the full results of their bank "stress tests" today, some of which have been leaked gradually. The results indicate that of the 19 largest banks, 10 will require additional capital in the event of a deepening of the recession, for a total of $75 billion.