The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index used to gauge the performance of American stock exchanges, fell 344.65 at the close of trading Thursday. A string of dismal economic news has all but dashed investors' hopes for a late-year recovery. The Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 350 points.

The increase in March retail sales of 0.2 isn't much, but again we are left with alleged experts scratching their heads as despite a daily dose of nonstop gloom and doom, the U.S. economy manages to stay afloat and in this particular case the stores are improving sales.

Ford's new product onslaught attracted more private new car buyers last month – boosting retail sales by 20 per cent compared with January 2007.

Sales of Ford’s all-new and redesigned crossovers spiked 96 percent in September; year-to-date sales were up 52 percent. Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX post highest retail sales to date.

Dell’s direct advantage and industry-leading technology will reach millions of in-store computer buyers across China thanks to a new partnership to sell the company’s latest products through Gome, China’s largest consumer electronics retailer.

"Extreme cherry pickers," grocery shoppers who buy only sale items and nothing else, do not harm retailer profits significantly as generally is believed, according to a forthcoming study in the Journal of Marketing Research.