World stock markets rallied Thursday after better than expected U.S. retail sales figures for February generated hopes that consumer spending in the world’s largest economy may be stabilizing despite big rises in unemployment.

The Commerce Department report showed retail sales in the U.S. edged down only 0.1 percent last month _ less severe than the 0.5 percent drop expected _ and that January’s rise was even bigger than previously estimated at a three-year high of 1.8 .

“February’s retail effort suggests that consumers have returned to the shopping malls after the catastrophic holiday season,” said David Buik, a senior strategist at BGC Partners. (Read full AP report in Forbes)

By now, much of corporate America is hunkered down in economic uncertainty. Not IBM.

In a spirited message in the annual report sent to shareholders on Monday,  I.B.M.’s chief executive, writes:

“We entered this turbulent period strong, and we expect to exit it stronger. We will simply not ride out the storm. Rather, we will take a long-term view, and go on offense.”

Mr. Palmisano struck a similar tone when the company reported its strong quarterly results in late January.

In his lengthy “letter from the chairman,” Palmisano presents a detailed case for I.B.M.’s comparative optimism. It centers in good part on the assumption that countries — and large corporations — around the world are going to make investments in so-called smart infrastructure projects in transportation, electrical grids, health care information technology, telecommunications, food distribution and water systems. (Read full article in New York Times)

More than 2 million jobs openings now exist across a range of industries, in the US. There is other good economic news, too — in stocks and consumer spending:

Help wanted: pharmacists, engineers and nurses. Believe it or not, even some banks are hiring.

While the US recession has claimed 4.4 million jobs, the economy has created others, many of them for highly trained and specialized professionals. More than 2 million jobs openings now exist across a range of industries, according to government data. (Read the full AP story at MSNBC)

Investors have been clamoring for months for a bit of good news. On Thursday, they got a load of it. The Dow Jones industrials shot up 240 points, bringing its gains over the past three days to 622 points — up 8.2 percent so far for the week. (Read full report at WTOP News)

Better-than-expected retail sales figure: Retail sales in February edged down just 0.1 percent, much less than economists had expected. The government also revised January’s performance to show better than expected earnings, a 1.8 percent rise, the biggest increase in three years and stronger than the 1 percent gain that was originally reported.

There were a number of areas which showed gains ranging from department and other general merchandise stores, up 1.3 percent, to specialty clothing stores, up 2.8 percent, and furniture stores, which saw sales increase by 0.7 percent. (Read full report at WTOP News)

The Fairtrade movement hailed a major breakthrough last week with the announcement that Britain’s biggest-selling chocolate brand was switching to the ethical standard. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, which sells 300 million bars a year in the UK and Ireland, will source its cocoa from Fairtrade farmers in Ghana, the biggest brand of its kind to make the move.

“This is groundbreaking news for thousands of small farmers in Ghana, enabling all those who buy the bar to make a real difference,” said Cadbury’s chief executive. Forty thousand of Ghana’s 700,000 cocoa farmers will benefit.

(Read the full story in UK’s Independent)

Ciao Bella, American manufacturer of the sweet, creamy treat gelato (very much like ice cream) is looking foward to a strong year of sales in 2009 according to CEO Stan Fabian. They have a campaign going to gain a million new consumers to sample their product this year.

The company has lowered their prices slightly to give consumers a better value but Fabian looks forward to a sweet year with record profits. Fabian is willing to take the bold steps necessary to provide excellent value and a great product so when the economy comes surging back they are in a great place to grow even more.

(Watch the video interview below, or at CNN)

A former Woolworths manager has defied the recession by reopening the shop under the name Wellworths. Claire Robertson has handed 20 of her former colleagues their jobs back at the new store in Dorchester, England, already nicknamed “Wellies”.

“It gives people a bit of inspiration to go out and do something new or change direction, especially in these gloomy economic times when all the news is depressing.”

(Read the full report at SkyNews)

Most of the world’s stock markets rallied strongly Tuesday, with financial stocks enjoying a rare day of support after a leaked memo from Citigroup Inc. indicating that the troubled U.S. banking giant enjoyed its best financial performance in over a year during the first two months of 2009.

(Full report at NPR News)

When the owners of Chicago-area based Republic Window and Door closed their doors in December 2008 it looked like another casualty of the economy. But the 250 factory workers couldn’t have been more thrilled when a new owner negotiated with the union and agreed to hire back the workers at their former rate of pay.

Serious Materials, a manufacturer of high-efficiency, green windows came in and is purchasing the plant from the former owners, putting the former workers back into their jobs. 

(Full report at New York Times)

Photo courtesy of Sun Star