Denver Post Real Estate/Business

A storefront in Centennial's Foxridge Shopping Center might not come to mind as the first place to find a state-of- the-art vault. But Colorado Vault & Safe Deposit Co. is banking that enough consumers will think outside the box when it comes to storing their valuables.

The Colorado ski industry experienced a slight uptick in skier visits despite what an industry leader described as a "strange" snow season.

Investors sent the Dow Jones industrials back above 10,000 on Thursday after a stream of upbeat economic news convinced them that things might not be so bad after all.

In a surprise move, NASA has told the major contractors working on its troubled Constellation moon rocket program that they are in violation of federal spending rules — and must immediately cut back work by almost $1 billion to get into compliance.

One sign of better economic times is when more people start finding jobs. Another is when they feel confident enough to quit them. More people quit their jobs in the past three months than were laid off — a sharp reversal after 15 straight months in which layoffs exceeded voluntary departures.

Travel to Colorado rose for the sixth straight year to a record 51.7 million domestic visitors in 2009, a 1.1 percent increase considered a victory over other states that saw double-digit declines from the recession.

Europe's economic picture darkened Monday as Britain's prime minister declared the nation's finances to be worse than feared — requiring sacrifices that will affect "our very way of life" — and the euro slid further toward parity with the dollar.

Ford will cease production of its 72-year-old Mercury brand by the end of this year, after years of declining sales.

Depressed wheat prices are taking the bloom off Colorado farmers' outlook for a bountiful crop this year.

So few things routinely sell for their listed price that it's always a challenge to land a better deal than someone else who bought the same item.

Last Memorial Day, Ronald Dolly spent the long weekend in Miami Beach with two friends. This year, the destination is the same, but the quarters are closer: 11 people, two cars, one hotel room.

The stock market had another tumultuous ride this week as disarray in Europe heightened fears of a global economic slowdown. Despite a late-day comeback Friday, major stock indexes are down about 10 percent from the peak they reached in late April.

Colorado job hunters are still waiting at the train station as the national recovery gains steam, the latest employment numbers show.