Joseph Lazzaro

President Barack Obama said Monday he is continuing to direct Hurricane Irene recovery and rebuilding efforts, as federal, state, and local officials assess damage in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, even as Northeast states like Vermont and New Jersey continue to get people out of harm's way of rising flood waters.

Hurricane Irene shut down the neon lights on Broadway, and substantially reduced commercial activity over the weekend -- including canceling thousands of flights, but the storm's economic damage will likely be far less than originally predicted. In particular, New Yorkers, for the most part, feel like they were spared.

Massachusetts residents were spared the bulk of the wrath of Hurricane Irene, as it was downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday morning as it entered the Bay State. Nevertheless, the storm uprooted hundreds if not thousands of trees and power lines, and caused extensive flooding.

Hurricane Irene roared in to Connecticut as a tropical storm Sunday, killing at least 1 person and leaving about 500,000 homes without power. Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy urged Connecticut's resident to remain at home and not travel, as dozens if not hundreds of downed power lines, trees, and other road hazards exist.

Hurricane Irene is expected to to make uninvited ports-of-call to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York this weekend. President Barack Obama is leading the federal response effort and says the U.S. Government is prepared to meet the enormous human, resource, and infrastructure needs that the storm is likely to trigger.

Maine residents, who are used to severe storms, are nevertheless in no way underestimating the power of Hurricane Irene, which packs damaging winds and torrential rain. However, if Saturday's forecast holds, Irene will enter Maine Sunday downgraded to a tropical storm.

Connecticut officials and residents scrambled Saturday to get residents of low-lying / flood prone areas out of harm’s away, as Hurricane Irene, a Category 1 storm packing 75 mile per hour winds and heavy rain. The outer bands of rain from Irene are expected to reach Connecticut by Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT.

In his Jackson Hole, Wyo. conference speech, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, in so many words, that headwinds -- some organic, some Capitol Hill-ish -- confronting the U.S. economy are strong, but the Fed is stronger.

Connecticut Friday braced for Hurricane Irene -- on track to hit the state with winds up to 75 miles per hour, and perhaps higher, and heavy rain that could dump more than 8 inches of rain on already soaked ground. Gov. Daniel Malloy has already declared a state of emergency, and urges residents to prepare storm kits and an evacuation plan.

As Hurricane Irene, currently a Category 3 hurricane, lurches up the East Coast, it's important to make a make and follow a disaster preparation plan, including an evacuation strategy.

The U.S. economy grew at a worse-than-expected 1.0 percent rate in the second quarter, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Friday, in its second estimate for the quarter, as lower export growth and a slowdown in inventory build-up braked the world's largest economy to near-stall speed.

Apple's Steve Jobs' inventions/projects have transformed how people work, live, and play.

Connecticut Thursday stepped-up preparation for what could be a once-removed or barrier eye-wall hit from Hurricane Irene -- barrier in that Irene's impact will be blunted by Long Island, N.Y. which lies roughly 15-20 miles to the south of Connecticut's shore line and separates it from the Atlantic Ocean.

The German DAX dropped 4 percent in about 15 minutes in Friday afternoon trading, on a rumor that the German Government's credit rating will be downgraded.

A U.S. Navy panel has ruled that the former commander of the USS Enterprise committed misconduct by broadcasting raunchy videos aboard the aircraft carrier, but that he should not be discharged.

U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 5,000 to 417,000 last week -- a total skewed higher by an irregular event, the Verizon strike. However, if claims remain above the 400,000 level in the weeks ahead, that would be another sign that the U.S. economic recovery continues to slow -- exactly what policy makers do not want.

Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple (AAPL), a visionary, and the driving force behind one of the United States' premiere and most trail-blazing companies in the modern/postmodern era, has had several medical leaves.

If U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke needs any more evidence regarding the slowdown in the U.S. economic recovery, he need look no further than U.S. housing prices, which have fallen for 17 consecutive quarters

As most New Yorkers and readers know, a hurricane is a dangerous storm Further, it goes without saying that the safest habit is to leave when government officials request that residents of a likely storm-affected area leave. Accordingly, here are three positive reasons to evacuate on time.

The much-maligned U.S. debt deal is not inconsequential, according to latest budget deficit and economic analysis report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) -- it slices next year's deficit to $973 billion from $1.28 trillion this year, and it will also lower interest rates.

The U.S. Federal Reserve used a non-competitive bid process when it secured middlemen services to maintain liquidity in the critical money-market fund market -- an emergency action necessitated by the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

You can’t blame investors for feeling slightly queasy about the U.S. stock market these days. One day of relatively positive data points is followed by a day with enough bad news to keep a stock investor up at night. But based on a condensed, cross-methodological analysis, in which direction is the Dow likely to head in the next six months?

No, you're not imagining it: East Coast earthquakes affect and can be felt by a wider region than West Coast earthquakes -- and there's a good geological reason for that.

An earthquake sent tremors from Washington to New York City Tuesday afternoon, and U.S. geological officials and other authorities said it was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake based in Virginia. As of 3 p.m. EDT, there were no reports of any casualties.

An earthquake sent tremors from Washington to New York City Tuesday afternoon, and U.S. geological officials and other authorities said it was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake based in Virginia.

Billionaire Investor/Philanthropist George Soros has provided more thought-provoking commentary on the markets, and he says a U.s. double-dip recession is more likely now.

Without further delay, here are The Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Michele Bachmann for President -- announced in Late Show with David Letterman-esque fashion, from number 10 to number 1.

New home sells fell in July to a 298,000-unit annual rate, the third straight monthly decline for the beleaguered sector. The slump means housing is likely to be a drag on U.S. GDP at least for the next two quarters, and perhaps for longer. New home prices are attractive, but potential buyers should traead carefully: they may drop in many markets.

You thought the U.S. debt deal ended the feud between Democrats and Republicans? Hardly. The U.S. Government's new fiscal year, fiscal 2012, starts Oct. 1 -- and a budget must be passed by Sept. 30. A key unknown is: will the Tea Party threaten to shut down the government again, if it doesn't get most of what it wants?