
Dec 14 - By Jean Chatzky, msnbc.com - Only on msnbc.com
For the fifth straight month retail sales have taken a hit. The Commerce Department released statistics Friday saying that in November, retail sales fell 1.8 percent. This is less than the 2.8 percent decrease in October, but still a significant decrease during the holiday season, which is a time when combined sales for November and December can add up to as much as 50 percent of a retailer's annual profits and sales. As job losses and concerns about the economy curb consumer spending this holiday season, retailers are feeling the pinch.

Feb 7 - By Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press Writer
More than 100,000 Himalayan goats — famed for their pashmina wool — or cashmere — face starvation after their desert habitat was blanketed with snow, while three people died during the region's worst storms in three decades, officials said Thursday.