In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama on Tuesday night outlined an ambitious agenda to revive the economy, saying it’s time to act boldly “to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.” Declaring that the “day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here,” after years of financial irresponsibility, the President said: “we will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

The Irish Times said on Tuesday, that it had suspended supplies to Dunnes branches following the decision of the retailer to stop honouring standard terms and conditions relating to payment for newspapers which The Irish Times applies to all newsagents. The biggest Irish-owned retailer has reverted to “the cheque is in the post” system, which enables it to stretch credit through delaying payment.

St. Joe Co. swung to a loss as Florida’s largest private-property owner recorded $55.8 million in write-downs and write-offs on goodwill and the value of projects under development.

The Federal Reserve reported that banks have placed more than 2% of the value of commercial-real-estate loans in “charge-off,” the first time that has happened since 1992.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil:US Fed Chairman said today that “a full recovery of the economy from the current recession is likely to take more than two or three years.” In Dublin, the ISEQ fell blow 2,00o level for the first time in 14 years.

The US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased moderately in January, declined in February, reaching yet another all-time low. The Index now stands at 25.0 (1985=100), down from 37.4 in January. The Present Situation Index declined to 21.2 from 29.7 last month. The Expectations Index decreased to 27.5 from 42.5 in January.

General Growth Properties posted declining fourth-quarter results, showing that the recession is hampering the mall owner’s operations as it works to avoid bankruptcy.

S&P/Case-Shiller US Home Prices Indices: Data through December 2008, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of US home prices, show that the prices of existing single family homes across the United States continue to set record declines, a trend that prevailed throughout all of 2007 and 2008.  Phoenix was down 34.0%, Las Vegas reported -33.0% and San Francisco fell 31.2%.

Gardaí from the Bureau of Fraud Investigation have launched a series of searches at the offices of Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin. Officers of the State-owned bank apparently be trusted.

The Obama Administration is on track to nationalize the nation’s largest banks, unless it alters policy and creates a Bad Bank to absorb commercial banks’ mortgage-backed securities.