London

Some say hemlines and heels rise and fall with the state of the sharemarket. But for those who really want to know how bad things are there is only one item that counts: lipstick.

When times are tough, consumers stop spending on big-ticket items. Car sales are down by a third; the drop in demand for mortgages has taken its toll of spending on carpets and furniture.

But, according to one economist, rather than lose the spending habit consumers simply trade down to less extravagant items to cheer themselves up. What’s more, this effect has held good in recessions of the past and in countries with different cultural traditions.

By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — Chinese authorities have begun blocking access from mainland China to the Web site of The New York Times even while lifting some of the restrictions they had recently imposed on the Web sites of other media outlets.

When computer users in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou tried to connect on Friday morning to nytimes.com, they received a message that the site was not available; some users were cut off on Thursday as early as 8 p.m. The blocking was still in effect on Saturday morning.

I received this email with photographs of beautiful decorated Christmas trees round the World.

Before the ball drops in Times Square, the Big Apple turns on its
holiday charm with the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

The Capitol Christmas tree in Washington, D.C., is decorated with 3,000
ornaments that are the handiwork of U.S. schoolchildren. Encircling
evergreens in the ‘Pathway of Peace’ represent the 50 U.S. states.

The world’s largest Christmas tree display rises up the slopes
of Monte Ingino outside of Gubbio, in Italy’s Umbria region.
Composed of about 500 lights connected by 40,000 feet of wire,
the ‘tree’ is a modern marvel for an ancient city

It could have been just another upmarket Kensington fashion boutique.

By Mark Kleinman

The well-heeled are choosing to buy Jimmy Choos from home

In fact, the “shoppers” who converged on west London last week to snap up their favourite Jimmy Choo footwear and accessories were visitors to the home of Tamara Mellon, the company’s founder and president.

The event, the latest in a series of events dubbed “stealth fashion” sales, are becoming increasingly common among luxury goods-makers as wealthy consumers become more reluctant to be seen to be spending large sums of money during more austere economic times.

(Reuters) - Following are some key facts about Japan’s Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

* HISTORY:

– Canon’s predecessor, Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory, was founded in 1933. In 1934 the company produced a prototype of the Kwanon, Japan’s first 35mm focal-plane shutter camera and named after the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. In 1935 it filed to register the Canon trademark.

– In 1947 Japan’s government designated Canon cameras priority exports as the country resumed exports after World War Two. Its shares were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1949.

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Noriyuki Hirata

TOKYO (Reuters) - The global digital camera market may contract next year, the president of industry leader Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) warned, as sluggish economic conditions dampen consumer demand.

Tsuneji Uchida also told Reuters that Canon was aiming to cut $1 billion in costs with a new computer system to be completed by 2010 and that he was in no rush to join an acquisition spree by other cash-rich Japanese firms.