Financial Outlook

May 1 — India’s Communists plan to spend an additional 10 percent of gross domestic product to protect the economy from the global recession if an alliance they support is voted to power.

On a road trip of a few days in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio youll find the burial mounds of long-vanished civilization. In Columbus, Ind., the Frugal Traveler saves money on lodging by staying with a family he found through CouchSurfing.com.

Mexico’s economy shrank nearly 7.0 percent in the first quarter, as manufacturing exports plunged 22.8 percent from a year earlier, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

The recent audit report for the City of Port Lavaca revealed a pleasant surprise. The audit revealed that the city had more than it needed in its emergency operation fund and finally it could take on a much-needed project that had been put on hold for four years because there was no money.

Mexico says its economy shrank nearly 7.0 percent in the first quarter from the previous year, as manufacturing exports plunged 22.8 percent.

Americans spent less than expected in March, pulling back after a burst of buying in the first two months of the year. The reversal was tied to a larger-than-anticipated decline in income and is a stark reminder of a fragile economy trying to rise out of a deep recession.

May 1 — Japan’s economy may return to growth as soon as this quarter as companies increase production in response to inventory cuts and consumer demand shows signs of picking up in some markets.

NEW YORK — April was Wall Street’s best month in nine years _ offering some of the most powerful evidence yet that maybe, just maybe, the economy is about to begin a turnaround.

April was Wall Street’s best month in nine years — offering some of the most powerful evidence yet that maybe, just maybe, the economy is about to begin a turnaround.

April 30 — Mexico’s peso fell for the first time in three days after Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said the economy will drop for the next two or three months, reviving concerns the swine-flu outbreak will deepen a slump.