The stock market is losing ground for a third straight day as investors grow uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt. A disappointing earnings report from computer maker Dell is putting a drag on technology shares and pulling down the Nasdaq.

• Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 15 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed many homeowners to leave the heat off. Retail prices for natural gas, or what many consumers will pay to heat their homes, are expected to be substantially lower this year.
• Refineries from New Mexico to New Jersey are under severe economic pressure because of falling demand for fuel, with a number of facilities shutting down in recent months.  Valero Energy, which closed a major refinery over the summer, now says it will permanently close its Delaware City oil refinery and layoff 550 workers.
• Investors claiming they were fleeced by a high-profile South Florida attorney have filed a $100 million lawsuit. The suit contends that the lawyer orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme with the help of a Canadian bank's U.S. subsidiary and several accomplices.
• Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey has told her studio audience she will end her show in 2011 after a
  quarter-century on the air. Winfrey told the audience that she loved "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and that prayer and careful thought led her to her decision.