AP - President-elect Barack Obama picked a national security team headed by former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush administration holdover Robert Gates on Monday, and said he wants to consult with military commanders before settling on a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

AP - The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The NBER — a private, nonprofit research organization — said its group of academic economists who determine business cycles met and decided that the U.S. recession began last December.

Reuters - Stocks tumbled on Monday as economic reports showing further evidence of the worsening global economic climate were backed up in comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday urged decisive action to protect the U.S. economy and said the Fed could directly buy securities and backstop markets as interest rates approach zero.