Markets shrugged off a steady barrage of grim U.S. economic news to push oil prices above $35 a barrel Thursday, with a drop in the dollar encouraging investors to buy crude.

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flu epidemic are pressuring stocks, increasing options volatility, and depressing commodity prices.

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(CNNMoney.com) — Prices paid by consumers rose as a faster pace in February, as higher gas prices in the month fed into the highest inflation reading since July, the government said Wednesday.

* Developer selection secures jobs at Honeywell (Kevin Collison, Kansas City Star)

developer has been chosen for the new Honeywell weapons plant in south Kansas City, capping a lengthy struggle to keep its 2,100 well-paid jobs in the area.A venture between Zimmer Real Estate Services of Kansas City and CenterPoint of Oak Brook, Ill., will develop the $500 million project, the federal General Services Administration is announcing today.Work sho…

* Local foods lead to local eating (Dan Evans, Times-Plain Dealer)

For decades area farmers have produced many crops, but for the most part its been corn and soybeans as the main commodities.

• US corn acreage expected to drop slightly (Blake Nicholson, The Pantagraph)

The nation’s farmers are expected to plant fewer acres of corn and wheat – staple ingredients in a wide variety of foods. But industry experts say consumers should not expect a big jump in prices at the grocery store.

• Bank Shares Slip, Commodities Rise (V. Phani Kumar, Barron’s)

Asian markets headed into the weekend on a mixed note Friday, with financial stocks sagging after a pullback on Wall Street, while a surge in commodity prices overnight boosted resource stocks across the region.

• Land Minds: Open, accessible elections needed (Kevin Schulz, Land)

It seems like all weve been doing recently is voting, hearing about voting or hearing about lawsuits over votes.

The U.S. dollar last week appeared mercifully to end its plunge. World markets cheered, and the immediate financial crisis in the U.S. abated. But this week the dollar is retesting all-time lows versus the euro and yen, and commodity prices, capital flows, and trade remain vulnerable to its movements. Inflation in dollar-linked China is rising fast, and an over-strong yen could thwart Japan’s …

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LAGOS, Nigeria — In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and biggest oil producer, low crude prices are dragging down growth expectations, foreshadowing a dramatic slowdown in an economy that was teetering even in the good years.

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Oil prices staged a rebound on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session while base metals managed a modest recovery but gold retreated below the $930 level. Risk aversion remained at elevated levels due to renewed weakness across global equity markets.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) — Oil prices settled down 1% on Friday, pulled lower by U.S. data showing the economy of the world’s largest energy consumer shrank more than expected in the final three months of 2008.

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Anglo American, the mining group, is to cut 19,000 jobs this year and scrap its dividend after a collapse in commodity prices. It is to bring in a $2 billion (�1.4 billion) cost-saving programme to meet the global downturn.

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EDMONTON — Alberta’s economy has slowed rapidly in recent months and will be in a recession this year due to the fallout from weak commodity prices and the global economic downturn, Finance Minister Iris Evans said Thursday.

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