Oil markets started 2009 with crude climbing above $46 a barrel, but prices are still roughly half those of a year ago.

Oil markets started 2009 with crude climbing above $46 a barrel, but prices are still roughly half those of a year ago.

Oil markets started 2009 with crude climbing above $46 a barrel, but prices are still roughly half those of a year ago.

Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Friday, starting 2009 on a weak note as Asian traders bet that Wednesday’s late-day rally that drove prices up 14 percent was overdone.

Dairy farmers have a dilemma: what to do with cows and a growing glut of milk as prices drop sharply.

Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, among others, says it might remove the channels from key markets on Jan. 1 if Time Warner Cable does not agree to an increase in rights fee.

Home values in 20 large metropolitan areas across the country dropped at an 18% annual pace in October.

Home values in 20 large metropolitan areas across the country dropped at an 18% annual pace in October.

A widely watched 20-city housing index fell by 18 percent in October from last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000.

A widely watched 20-city housing index fell by 18 percent in October from last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000.