The latest news from Wall Street, courtesy of the Associated Press and The News & Advance.

The calendar this year fated retailers to a short and not-so-sweet holiday shopping season.

CHICAGO (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to have an economic plan ready for action on the nation’s financial crisis on his first day in office. “Help is on the way,“ he declared.

WASHINGTON (AP)—New jobless claims fell more than expected last week from a 16-year high, the government said Wednesday, though they remain at elevated levels due to the slowing economy.

Do you have a gift card from a bankrupt retailer such as Linens ‘n Things?
Better spend it quick.

WASHINGTON (AP)—The government has introduced a pair of new programs that will provide $800 billion to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt which Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls vital to supporting the economy.

TAMPA - Lay off the lattes. Buy a house you can afford. Refrain from grabbing every electronic doodad that rolls off the Best Buy truck.

Nelson County’s second brewery — Devil’s Backbone Brewery in Glen Mary — had a “soft” opening recently , with five beers on tap ranging from pale ales to stouts, and the breweries operators are planning a grand opening for a later date.

To stay afloat in a struggling economy, Timberlake Trading Post is becoming a pawn shop as well as an outdoor sports store.

Detroit’s embattled automakers have two weeks to show a skeptical Congress how a multibillion-dollar lifeline will help them keep the industry from imploding.

Even though he might want to, a Mexican billionaire will not be allowed to serve as an officer of Circuit City Stores Inc. or sit on its board of directors for nearly three years. The reason is a 2005 run-in with the Security and Exchange Commission.

The trends for the Christmas economy of 2008 are not looking bright according to a national polling organization.

WASHINGTON (AP)—New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.

Frugality is making a comeback.

The owner of Latin America’s largest chain of consumer-electronics stores could be in line to buy Circuit City Stores Inc. out of bankruptcy.

Genworth Financial Inc. is trying to ride out an economic storm that is battering its stock value and forcing it to take painful steps, including likely layoffs, to stay afloat.

State investigators are still looking into accusations that gas stations broke the law in September by raising their prices suddenly two months ago.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Detroit’s Big Three auto makers are begging Congress for a $25 billion government rescue, while the legislation clings to life support on Capitol Hill and top lawmakers and the White House suffer from bailout fatigue.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announces that Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine, manufactured by Nestlé, is recalling about 879,565 pounds of frozen chicken meals.

The Transportation Security Administration showed off its new imaging body scanners at Richmond International Airport yesterday.

BOSTON (AP)—The music industry’s courtroom campaign against people who share songs online is coming under counterattack.

Genworth Financial Inc. said it has an agreement in principle to buy a Minnesota-based savings bank, a move that will let it tap into the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP)—Citigroup Inc. is cutting approximately 53,000 more jobs in the coming quarters as the banking giant struggles to steady itself after suffering massive losses from deteriorating debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The country is sinking deeper into the economic doldrums, and it’s likely to stay there for a while.

Clothing retailer Peebles plans to open a 12,500-square-foot store next spring at Ambriar Shopping Center in Amherst, the first such department store there since the Wailes store closed in 2002.

Wiley & Wilson is having its most successful year yet. It has outgrown its current headquarters in terms of space and in terms of ideology.

NEW YORK (AP) - Grim seemed an understatement for the retail sector on Friday, as J.C. Penney Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. both posted quarterly profits that fell by about half, and gave outlooks for the rest of the year that were far below Wall street expectations.

WASHINGTON (AP)—A bill to rescue the troubled auto industry with $25 billion in emergency loans inched forward Friday when Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will begin debate Monday and hold a test vote two days later. Supporters scrambled for votes to break an expected filibuster.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Consumers, taking a beating from the worst financial crisis in seven decades, cut back sharply on their spending in October, pushing retail sales down by a record amount.

Virginia should conserve energy better, rely more on nuclear power and increase protections for wild lands, according to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s panel on global warming.