Comerica Bank has decided to offer its small business customers their own version of a stimulus package, by giving them the opportunity to earn up to $400 in Comerica business checking account bonuses.

Comerica Bank's preliminary September Michigan Business Activity Index fell 1 point, to a level of 85. The Index is currently 1 point below August's revised level of 86. September's advanced figure is the lowest level in 14 years. Compared to a year earlier, the September Index is down 9 points on balance. Over the first nine months of 2008, the Index has averaged 4 percent below the average for all of 2007. "Even before the worst of the credit crunch slammed the national economy, our index shows the Michigan economy contracting again in September," said Dana Johnson, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "With most national numbers worsening dramatically in October, the drag on the Michigan economy almost certainly will get more intense over the next several months, particularly given the emerging cutbacks in the Michigan-based auto sector." The Michigan Business Activity Index equally weights nine, seasonally-adjusted coincident indicators of real economic activity. These indicators reflect activity in the construction, manufacturing, and service sectors as well as job growth and consumer outlays.

"We're not heading toward a depression," the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Olivier Blanchard said in an interview for washington post. "We've learned a few things in 80 years." "What we are witnessing is mass selling on a global scale due to a combination of sheer panic and fear, combined with complete uncertainty over the future of the world's major economies," GTF Global Market U.K.'s Head of Derivatives Martin Slaney tells AHN.

-From now until December 31, 2008, get a $50 gift card or $100 towards a charity of your choosing, when you open a personal or business account with SunTrust Bank. This is in line with SunTrust's commitment to building community involvement. To enroll, go to SunTrust Bank. -Choose from a number of qualified checking accounts or business checking from Comerica Bank, and receive a $100 Cash and Care Card towards any local charity of your choice from now until August 29, 2008. Click here for details. Current customers can also qualify.