Wal-Mart, the worldÔÇÖs biggest retailer, has beaten forecasts with a ten percent increase in third-quarter profitsÔÇö and there are few retailers who can say that this year. ┬á If I can be excused for turning a popular saying inside out, itÔÇÖs a case of one storeÔÇÖs poison being another storeÔÇÖs meat.

Leaders of the US Democratic Party, which now has a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Sentate, have confirmed they are working on a plan to bail-out the auto industry despite a good deal of opposition from the administration. ┬á The call for help comes after the nationÔÇÖs three main automakers- Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler- all saw hefty third quarter losses in sales, and General Motors announced it would run out of cash early in 2009 if market conditions did not approve.

Oil prices dropped to their lowest level in 20 months accompanied by fears over lower energy demand, and as weak economic growth further reduced global consumption.  Decreased energy prices are providing some much appreciated relief for struggling consumers, but a 59 percent drop in oil prices since their record price of $147.27 a barrel in July, gives an idea of how drastic the outlook of the global economy has darkened as of late.  Yesterday, oil fell almost 5 percent to $59.33 a barrel, the lowest since March of 2007.

General Motors Corp. is getting closer and closer to bankruptcy as it waits on whether the auto industry will receive a new round of government loans.   In the beginning of October, President George W. Bush gave GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC access to $25 billion in cheap government-backed loans to help them develop less polluting cars. Now, with GM burning through cash as US sales fall, and GM shares plunging to a 60-year low, it is speculated that the company may need extra federal funding to avoid bankruptcy.

Insurance company American International Group Inc. will receive additional financial aid from the government, bringing the total rescue package for the firm to about $150 billion.  The US plans to buy $40 billion of preferred shares and reduce the original loan that was given to bail-out AIG from $85 billion to $60 billion. The Federal Reserve said today that the government will also purchase $52.5 billion of mortgage securities owned or backed by the company.   The news of the aid comes after AIG recorded a fourth straight quarterly loss.

The economic slowdown has filtered through to all sectors of the economy, with entertainment company Walt Disney reporting a 13 percent decline in profits for the fourth quarter.  Disney reported net earnings of $760 million, down from $870 million in the same quarter a year ago. "Consumer confidence is the lowest we've seen in over three decades," said chief executive Robert Iger. ┬á┬á Disney reported a sharp drop in hotel bookings and the tougher advertising climate hit its television networks.

The advertising alliance between Google and Yahoo! has collapsed after the Justice Department indicated its intention to try to block the deal. ┬á┬á Earlier this year the Yahoo! board rejected a takeover offer of $33 a share from Microsoft, in a deal worth $47.5 billion, claiming it undervalued the company and that Yahoo! shareholders would be better served by the company following its own strategy.┬á┬á Part of that strategy was to hook up with Google in an arrangement where paid search ads from Google would appear alongside Yahoo!

Only now that itÔÇÖs happened is it safe to say that the┬áonly surprise about Barack ObamaÔÇÖs victory in the US Presidential election was the size of his winning margin.  Most people, even Republicans who dared not contemplate such a thing, most likely knew in their heart of hearts that yesterday belonged to Obama, long before the figures were added up.┬á┬á  At his victory rally, president-elect Obama said he had received an "extraordinarily gracious" call from his rival Senator John McCain, and praised the former Vietnam prisoner-of-war as a "brave and selfless leader,

Hedge funds have taken some stick in the current economic climate, but when hedging pays off it can pay big-time, with Chesapeake Energy recently recording a $2.85 billion gain from hedges on its natural gas and oil sales.   Chesapeake returned third quarter earnings of $3.25 billion at the end of October, almost ten times the $346 million earned in the same quarter last year.

Breaking new ground┬áThe Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago, the new state-of-the-art childrenÔÇÖs hospital soon to replace ChildrenÔÇÖs Memorial Hospital, will set new standards in pediatric healthcare, Ruari McCallion reports. The feet that stood on the shovel that broke the ground for the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie ChildrenÔÇÖs Hospital of Chicago on April 21, 2008, may have been just regular-sized but they represented a huge step forward in child health in the whole of North America.