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Source: (rthk Englishnews) Dow Shares have gone into a freefall as part of a global rout after a bankruptcy at Lehman Brothers stoked fears about the stability of the American financial system. The demise of the venerable investment bank, coupled with a 50-billion-US-dollar takeover of brokerage Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, and growing concerns about insurer AIG, led to the worst day on Wall Street in six years. The Dow lost more than 500 points to end 4.4 percent down. Other indices were also hit hard — the Nasdaq shed 3.6 percent, while the S&P 500 tumbled 4.7 percent.

The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category. Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008. More

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Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years. The downbeat news came as investors received mixed news about the housing market. A closely tracked Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index showed that housing prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, indicating that the housing slump continues to deepen.

The outlook for the labor market remained pessimistic. The percent of consumers expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead declined moderately to 32.4 percent from 32.9 percnet, while those anticipating more jobs was virtually unchanged at 8.7 percent compared with 8.8 percent in April. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined to 13.4 percent from 15.5. More

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The current GI benefit covers just half the national average cost for tuition, room and board, veterans’ advocates say. “It falls dramatically short,” said Eric Hilleman of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Luke Stalcup, 27,…who served in Iraq and will attend Georgetown University for graduate study in the fall, said he paid his rent late every month after the GI bill check came in. Now he relies on loans and scholarships to cover the rest of the cost at Columbia University.
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