World stocks fell today, Friday, after a disappointing U.S. jobs report and a sluggish euro zone services sector survey reinforced expectations that the process of recovery in the global economy would be long and slow.

World trade experiencing a “huge drop”, according to the World Trade Organization.  Rather than the gloomy 9% predicted earlier this year, volume will likely contract by 10%.

Ten More to Be Charged in Madoff Case; British GDP Suffers Highest Drop in Half a Century; Housing Price Drops Slowing; GM Attempts to Emerge From Bankruptcy; Corn & Soybean Planting Up; AIG Gets Government-Backed Board; Japanese Memory Maker Gets Bailout

Fed Holds Funds Rate; Buffett: U.S. May Need More Stimulus; Jobs’ Liver Transplant Confirmed; Fewer Americans Traveling on 4th Despite Lower Gas Prices; Monsanto Profits Drop 14%; SEC Proposes New Rules for Money Market Funds; Recession Yields Fewer Millionaires

The World Bank yesterday (Monday) lowered its growth forecast for the global economy and warned about a long and painful recovery in developed economies, underscoring the recent supposition by many analysts that a three-month rally in U.S. stocks has been overdone.

For the millions of Americans right now looking for a job, the latest batch of employment statistics paint a rather grim picture.  As bleak as this all may sound, jobseekers (both employed and unemployed) shouldn’t be deterred: With a sound strategy, and four simple secrets, it’s still possible to survive – and even thrive – in a jobless recovery.

More range trading…  Eurozone doesn’t need more stimulus…  A$’s outperform on rate outlook…  A double whammy for the dollar… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

How did it get here, and where is it going? What a difference a year makes. While March lions and April showers were at work in 2008, so were these factors in the U.S. and global economies:

Employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, the lowest total in six months, but the Labor Department said the unemployment rate still soared to 8.9%, from 8.5% in March. While some analysts viewed the latest report as a sign of a nascent economic recovery, the unemployment numbers are almost certain to head higher before the recession is declared over.