AP - Huge rebates and zero-percent loans couldn't overcome economic uncertainty as U.S. auto sales plunged 36 percent in December, capping a dismal year that saw sales free-fall by 2.9 million vehicles from 2007.

Reuters - Top economists at the Allied Social Sciences Association's annual meeting have been searching -- in some cases, in vain -- for signs of life in the U.S. housing market, a key element for busting the country out of a deep economic downturn.

AFP - US auto giant General Motors said Monday its sales growth in China slowed to 6.1 percent in 2008, less than a third of the rate seen the previous year as the economic slowdown affected demand.