Earlier this year, Honest Abe's look was updated with the revamp of the five-dollar bill. Now the penny, the other currency that features Abraham Lincoln's face, is getting a redesign. In fact, it's getting four of them.

Oil prices spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday -- the biggest one-day price jump ever -- as anxiety over the government's $700 billion bailout plan battered the dollar and touched off frenzied buying of safe-haven investments including crude.

The percentage of U.S. adults in a daily poll who indicated the economy is getting worse increased sharply in three days last week, Gallup researchers said. The three-day rolling average of respondents indicating the economy is declining was 77 percent on Sunday, Sept. 14, Gallup said. On Thursday, Sept. 18, the number had jumped to 86 percent, Gallup reported.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent in the next six years to 4.3 million, with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence. Spurred by growing entrepreneurial trends and affluence among the nation's largest minority population, the increase is expected to come at a robust rate of 8.5 and 8.7 percent, respectfully, over the next couple years.

For more than two decades, the annual Hispanic Business 500 directory has served as a barometer of the U.S. Hispanic economy. A purchase of the 2007 directory provides the top 500 Hispanic-owned companies list in Excel format including: CEO names; company addresses and telephone numbers; e-mail addresses for 375 companies and Web addresses for 430 companies; and company revenue and employees numbers for 2005 and 2006.

While Toyota currently dominates the hybrid automobile market, having manufactured 82 percent of the hybrids sold in April, at least three major automakers are entering the competition in a big way. Toyota's Prius now accounts for more than 54 percent of all the hybrids sold, but Chevrolet, BMW and Honda are leading the way toward the next generation of 'green' cars, which go beyond hybrids.

Competition for the Diversity Elite 60 list was stiff this year. The point spread on which our research division's rankings are based showed that the gap between first place and 60th was closer than ever before. It's a sign that corporations are continuing to grow their diversity programs as understanding increases about the importance of workplace multiculturalism.

Even as U.S. Hispanics fight to gain access to academia, universities and colleges are being challenged to reach out to the Hispanic community to achieve their diversity goals. Some of these schools have higher goals than others. To some, achieving diversity is about more than talk, it is about taking action. Some are aggressive, creative, and highly successful in their outreach to Hispanics. Each year, we celebrate these schools and their mission in our September issue. These are among the most progressive and laudable institutions of higher learning in the world.