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Despite reports of a well-publicized and well-funded anti-ethanol misinformation campaign, an overwhelming majority of consumers still believe the U.S. is too dependent on foreign sources of oil.

The number of U.S. workers expressing confidence in the economy and in their personal employment situation continued its decline in November, according to a recent survey from Spherion Corporation of 3,014 working adults.

AT&T has announced that although the majority of small businesses secure its computer systems, one-fourth (24 percent) are unconcerned about computer and online data security, and one in 10 (10 percent) has taken no action to secure their data.

According to Robert F. Vickery, a Principal in DSG's Retirement Practice, "As we predicted in last year's study, variable annuities with
guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (GMWBs), particularly those with lifetime income options, have continued with their amazing growth and
innovation."

For a number of years no one paid much attention to Canadian B2C e-commerce. There simply wasn’t much of a market there.

Although the holiday season has arrived, U.S. consumers are not feeling very merry, according to the most recent results of the RBC CASH (Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household) Index. The survey, which measured the attitudes of 1,009 Americans earlier this week, found that consumer sentiment remained low, but stable, following a significant drop in November. While Americans' expectations for future prospects and their confidence in jobs improved slightly, their evaluations about current conditions and investments continued to decline. As a result of these mixed sentiments, the RBC CASH Index for December 2007 stands at 65.9, compared to 64.0 in November.

The open-end mutual fund, long the dominant investment product of choice by financial advisors, will suffer declines in its portion of the product mix by more than 10 percent by 2009, according to the Advisor Product Forecast™, a new study by Cogent Research. The Advisor Product Forecast is built upon a detailed channel-by-channel survey of advisors, providing data beginning with where advisors are currently directing assets under management and where they expect to be two years from now, along with a product map showing where they intend to allocate new money.

Global Insight, the world's leading company for economic and financial analysis and forecasting, released the third quarter 2007 update of House Prices in America, the U.S. housing-valuation analysis, showing that prices for single-family homes declined for the first time since 1994, with California, Florida and Michigan accounting for the steepest losses. Prices fell at a 1% annualized rate during the quarter, though they were still up 1.8% year-over-year.

Fixed mortgage rates fell to the lowest level since Sept. 2005, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 6 percent. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.35 discount and origination points.

Based on the findings of a new survey, Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services believes that American consumers' spending will grow during this Holiday season, albeit at a slower pace than seen over the past 10 years, despite their overall economic concerns.