Derivatives - we've all heard the word. They are one of the causes of the current economic crisis around the world.

But what in the hell are they - we found this informative report on 60 minutes.

You knew this had to be coming - The leader of Hamas says the current world economic meltdown is "punishment from God"

I guess his God had a sub-prime mortgage and had to let it foreclose.

Beat the recession - Apple cut the price of its entry level laptop, and unveiled a new line of aluminum clad machines

From the pages of Pravda - Russias national news source.

Word that the US is about to fall over and crumple.

In fact Pravda Says every US Citizen now holds$86,000 of national debt.

Richard Fuld - the former CEO of Lehman brothers, was in Washington, trying to talk his way out of how he and other top execs and the failing investment bank, where raking in Hundreds of Millions in Bonuses as lehman brothers was asking the US Feds for a bailout package.

Wealthy financial institutions don't have enough of your money yet.

Bailing out Wall St. is going to cost around 1 trillion dollars...if you can comprehend that.

America's biggest mortgage guarantors - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are temporarily taken over by the U.S. government.

The move comes after the biggest surge in mortgage defaults in at least three decades threatened to bring down the failing firms. Between them, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make up almost half the U.S. home loan market.

The U.S. economy grew in the second quarter thanks to economic stimulus checks given to consumers.

Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, rose 1.9 percent and defied expectations the economy was on the brink of a recession. The outlook, however, remains cautious as rising unemployment, high gasoline prices, and a slump in the housing market threatens future growth.

Crude oil prices dropped roughly $2.50 on fear of further demand reduction in the U.S., the world's largest energy consuming nation.

Bush shows how he really feels when the cameras are off.

Inflation hits consumers hard

A new report finds inflation growing at its fastest pace since 1991 thanks to high energy and food costs.

Airlines clipped by high fuel costs

AMR, parent of American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines announced big quarterly losses as surging jet fuel costs threatened to ground the entire industry.

Toyota cuts sales target - media

Amid a weak U.S. economy and soaring fuel prices, world No.1 Toyota will cut its sales target, Japan's NHK reported.