William Sluis

DURABLE GOODS Rusty progress Those searching for beacons of light in a somewhat murky economy can point to robust consumer spending, the seemingly never-ending boom in new housing and a...

HOUSING STARTS Still sweet Computers may be gathering dust on shelves and manufacturing may have slowed to a crawl, but the economy's darling, the housing industry, remains in blooming health....

PRODUCER PRICES Energy concerns While the Federal Reserve has poured forth money to forestall recession, central bankers have turned their attention away from inflation. But new inflation concerns may be...

EMPLOYMENT REPORT Creeping up Layoffs, layoffs and more layoffs: The drumbeat of corporate job cutbacks hardly provides a formula for building Americans' confidence about their future. Indeed, despite interest rate...

The sputtering of the nation's economic engines in midflight means there is less talk of a soft landing. If anything, there has been concern that the economy could swoop lower....

As the nation's construction industry continues to run full-tilt, analysts express dismay, adding that a slowdown is inevitable. But the same experts were predicting a setback last year. Why the...

AT RETAIL Buyers hit limits Revolving charges, credit cards, car and truck payments, home equity loans--the list of ways cash-strapped Americans can put off paying for purchases stretches on and...

It was last year's worst April fool's joke--namely, that the business cycle has been repealed. No sooner had the laughter died down than an unexpected economic slowdown killed off dot-coms...

Americans aren't much for dwelling on negatives. As other countries, especially in Asia, reeled from financial crises in the late 1990s, optimism in this country approached a 30-year high. But...

INTEREST RATES How far will Fed go? It hasn't been all that long since global media, more than half seriously, were proclaiming that Alan Greenspan should be named emperor of...