Financial market turmoil underscores the need for "generous" capital cushions, and banks need to actively raise money as needed, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

The economy is continuing to slow, particularly in manufacturing,  though some areas are not quite as bad as expected, according to the latest reports out Thursday.

Retailer J.C. Penney reported a 50 percent drop in quarterly profit Thursday as weak demand forced it to cut prices to clear unsold merchandise, but the results were better than Wall Street expected.

CEO compensation at the biggest U.S. corporations dropped sharply last year, reflecting in part the rough business conditions at top-tier banks and other large financial firms, a study has found.

In Miami, Chicago and San Diego, condo owners are adjusting to the economic woes, sometimes by mowing themselves and working shifts for building security — all while lamenting their lost community, the New York Times reports.

The United States and China both need to fend off a troubling rise in economic nationalism in order to keep their economies strong, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Thursday.

Oil rose on Thursday, boosted partly by weakness in the dollar versus the euro after strong economic growth data from France and Germany.

The dollar fell against the euro Thursday after strong euro zone growth in the first quarter, but losses were capped as ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet warned growth might not be as flattering in the months ahead.

In the real world, gasoline prices surged 5.6% in April, but the government smooths out seasonal oddities so prices appeared lower in Wednesday's inflation report.

Bond fund leader Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian on Wednesday said the Federal Reserve does not have the tools to deal with the U.S. housing crisis and rapidly rising consumer prices, leaving it to lawmakers to avert a severe recession.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker Wednesday said the central bank's role in overseeing financial markets needs to be more clearly defined and the that of rating agencies, sovereign wealth funds and hedge funds in the financial crisis should be weighed.

Recent economic news hasn’t exactly been great, but it is starting to look like the economy has stabilized.

The U.S. economy is in a recession and stimulus from a government tax rebate later this quarter will only temporarily stem a fall in consumer spending, a Merrill Lynch economist said on Wednesday.

Consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April as energy prices held steady, a Labor Department report on Wednesday showed.

The Federal Reserve may start using regulation or even interest rates to fight asset-price bubbles, instead of trying to limit the damage once they burst, as it has done until now, the Financial Times reported on its Web site.