Yes, the sales numbers from Detroit are pitiful. But as usual, I look elsewhere for signs of a deteriorating economy.

In a sign of the times, the mighty Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is in retreat. The iconic coffee company will be closing 600 U.S. stores and laying off as many as 12,000 employees.

Editor’s Note: Crude oil prices are still above $140 a barrel, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has told us all to get used to high prices. But Mike Burnick — senior analyst at The Sovereign Society — says the black goo is ‘pretty cheap.’ When you compare it to other products consumed heavily by Americans, oil actually seems pretty good value.

Gas Fuels Factory Orders; Borders Cuts Jobs to Cut Costs; Starbucks Serves Up Free Wi-Fi; Kenya Inflation Soars 32%; Chevron to Invest $5 Billion in Africa; Staples Raises Bid for Corporate Express; Lehman Looking for Cash Infusion; Oil Slides

This is the fifth installment of a new Money Morning series highlighting investment opportunities in the global bull market in commodities. Soaring prices of grains, dairy and meat have been grabbing global headlines. But other commodities have been on the rise as well.

This is one Bank Holiday that retailers won’t be looking forward to. Rising mortgage bills, fuel costs, and food bills are really starting to bite out there on the High Street.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers will likely cut its key interest rate to 2.0% from 2.25% this, which would mark the seventh such move since the central bank launched its rate-reduction campaign in mid-September.

Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz recently announced that the company would start offering energy drinks in its stores. He also mentioned that Starbucks would be getting into the “health and wellness business.” Yep, you read that correctly. A coffee chain wants to break into the health business.

Citi Settles Suit Over Enron; Vale Fails to Acquire Xstrata; Morgan Stanley Struggles to Move CICC Stake; Motorola to Split Amid Falling Sales; Huaneng Power Pumps $8.9 Bln into Expansion; Senate Probes Bear Stearns Deal; Starbucks Sued Again; Important Rambus Ruling