The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday said the US budget outlook is “bleak,” in a forecast that reduces the chances for extending tax cuts, which were proposed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and also raises pressure for fiscal belt-tightening. Also on Tuesday, ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address, a poll showed that 51% of Americans believe Obama has paid “too little attention” to the economy.

Luxury hotels have enlisted a new tool to attract business meetings in lean times: For the sake of appearances, they are dropping the word “resort” from their names.

Irish GDP (gross domestic product) will expand by +0.6% and GNP (gross national product)* will contract by -0.5% in 2010, according to NCB stockbrokers. Exports will perform strongly in the face of the global recovery while domestic demand will remain subdued. In 2011, NCB says GNP will expand by 2.8% and GDP will grow 3.3%.

Tenant talks remain a wild card for the complex—and potentially its next owner.

The average cap rate for office properties in central business districts jumped to 8.8% in December from 8.56% in November.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil; Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s today cut the ratings on several Irish banks, saying that it has concluded that their asset quality and earnings will likely remain under significant pressure over the medium term. Meanwhile, Tullow Oil plc today announced that its subsidiary, Tullow Uganda Limited has entered into a Sale and Purchase agreement (SPA) with Heritage Oil & Gas Limited (HOGL) and Heritage Oil Plc (Heritage) to purchase their entire interest in Block 1 and Block 3A in Uganda. This follows Tullow exercising its right of pre-emption on 17 January 2010 and the approval of the transaction by Heritage shareholders yesterday.

The Conference Board’s US Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in December, improved further in January. The Index now stands at 55.9 (1985=100), up from 53.6 in December. The Present Situation Index increased to 25.0 from 20.2.  The Expectations Index increased to 76.5 from 75.9 last month.

The global economy, battered by two years of crisis, is recovering faster than previously anticipated, with world growth bouncing back from negative territory in 2009 to a forecast 3.9 percent in 2010 and 4.3 percent in 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest forecast, published today.

Standard & Poor’s S&P/Case-Shiller US Home Price Indices through November 2009, released today provide mixes signals. Annual rates of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites continue to improve, in spite of price declines being measured across many markets during November. This marks approximately 10 months of improved readings in the annual statistics, beginning in early 2009, and is the third consecutive month these statistics have registered single digit declines, after 20 consecutive months of double digit declines.

The UK economy exited recession in the fourth quarterly of 2009 but the quarterly growth rate of 0.1 per cent was very weak, Nevertheless, the economy has resumed growth after the longest recession on record.