Category: Marketplace

The United States Postal Service could be forced to shut down this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize … Read More

The economy failed to add any new jobs for the month of August—the first time since 1945 that the U.S. … Read More

Fewer Americans believe the economy will turn around in the near future, according to the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. … Read More

Amid fears of a global economic recession, recent reports show that billions of dollars are fruitlessly being spent on war. … Read More

Despite the housing slump, reports from spending in July could mean the economy is heading in a good direction. The … Read More

New home sales fell for the third straight month in July, another sign that the housing industry remains weak and … Read More

The Holy Spirit is on the move in the small town of Brooksville, Fla., observers say. With the local economy … Read More

Asian stocks dropped Friday over growing concerns of a possible U.S. recession and the growing debt crisis in Europe.

This news followed Thursday’s rough tumble on Wall Street where new jobs numbers spurred another sell-off.

Nearly 408,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, up 9,000 from the week before.

Consumers annually buy about $4.63 billion in Christian products. Christian retail sales account for more than 52 percent of these sales. That means Christian stores sell more Christian products than all the general market stores, discounters, warehouse clubs, and direct sales, according to the CBA.

As industry transition and opportunity collide, Christian Retailing magazine is repeating its popular Retailing ReBoot event this fall.

Retailing ReBoot West is set for Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 17-18 at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos, Calif. The event will include presentations, discussions, networking sessions and business meetings to help stores deal with the changes the industry is facing and prepare for the important Christmas season.

Retailers and suppliers have welcomed a Christian Retailing initiative to promote support for and unity in the industry.

They have signed rallying point pledges committing to the ministry of Christian bookselling and helping to ensure that it continues. The effort has spread overseas, with store and publisher representatives in the U.K. promoting the pledges there.

The drive was launched in July by Christian Retailing Publisher Steve Strang, as part of a move to help stores in the face of ongoing changes in the industry, “to encourage and equip and support them as they renew their faith and vision.”

So much for stabilizing the markets with a Federal Reserve promise to keep interest rates low. Europe’s debt problems are sending a ripple effect through U.S. stock markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial average declined 519 points, or 4.6 percent, on Wednesday. The dip marks the third time in the last five trading days that the Dow has lost more than 500 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq dropped 101 points, or 4.1 percent, and the S&P 500 is down 51 points, or 4.4 percent.

But now is no time to panic. So says Dave Ramsey, a nationally syndicated radio show host discussing personal finance topics. Ramsey has launched what he calls “The Great Recovery,” a grassroots movement spread by people who are tired of looking to Washington for answers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday saw its worst day since Dec. 2008, with the day’s final numbers dropping 600 points.

As the U.S. national debt continues its climb past $14.5 trillion, Charismatic and evangelical Christian leaders are responding from various perspectives. Some take a prophetic look. Others take a pragmatic look. But all agree that something has to change.

International evangelist Perry Stone, known for his end-time prophetic ministry, addressed the economic collapse in his Aug. 8 “Prophecy Update.” In his update, he notes that the federal government couldn’t even begin to cover its debt—even if the richest of Americans were taxed 100 percent of their earnings.

U.S. stocks swung upward in early trading Tuesday after their worst drop since 2008.

Despite the Dow’s 193-point rise, economists are still concerned the world may soon fall into a recession.

Earlier Tuesday, Asian markets plummeted a second time after briefly stabilizing.

“It’s a complete meltdown. It’s like the financial crisis or the financial tsunami. There is a complete loss of confidence,” said Francis Lun, managing director at Lyncean Holdings Ltd., an investment holding company in Hong Kong.

“China’s leaders want their voice to be heard more by policymakers in the U.S.,” said James Roy, Senior Analyst of China Market Research.

Industry leaders have paid tribute to longtime Christian publisher and CBA founding member Robert L. Kregel, who died Sunday (June 24) after a brief illness. Regarded as a pioneering giant in the Christian product industry, the former president of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Kregel Inc. was 92.

After his father died in 1939, Kregel took over the family’s used book business at age 20 and expanded the company into a publishing house and bookstore chain. In 1949, he began publishing classic reprints under the Kregel Publications name. Kregel Inc. now includes Kregel Publications, its Spanish imprint, Editorial Portavoz, and two Kregel Parable Christian Stores in the Grand Rapids area.

Kregel, who served a two-year term as CBA’s president from 1960-1962, attended the association’s first meeting at Chicago’s LaSalle Hotel in 1950.