Nintendo's planned video-on-demand service--reportedly called "Wiinoma"--has some obvious disappointments. It is so far only slated for launch in Japan, potentially excluding a large chunk of Wii owners. Even if the service spreads to Europe and the United States later in 2009, don't expect to be watching favorites like Lost or The Wire straight away. Only videos exclusively made for the Wii will be available, with media firms like Fuji Television (other-otc: FJTNF - news - people ) and Nippon Television (other-otc: NPTVF - news - people ) reportedly planning cartoons, entertainment shows and other original programming for the launch.

The Wii console itself has its limitations when it comes to video playback, a sign that Nintendo (nasdaq: NTDOY - news - people ) never really intended to sell it as a mixed-media box. You can't play DVDs on the Wii, and its puny 512-megabyte storage memory is barely enough to store game downloads and save positions--let alone video footage. Trying to sell the Wii as a video-focused console will therefore be tough, no matter how many Japanese cartoons or cookery shows are available for streaming.

Compare this with the Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) Playstation 3 and Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people )'s Xbox 360, which have trailed the Wii in worldwide sales since 2007. Both consoles can play DVDs, both offer movie downloads and both have online video stores selling television shows from the likes of Fox and TimeWarner. Hard-drive space varies, but customers can upgrade at their leisure or fork out for a big-memory bundle: the Xbox 360 offers a 120-gigabyte model, while the Playstation 3 can be bought with 160 gigabytes of storage space. Wii users are stuck with their 512 megabytes.

But Nintendo is no fool, and the company might find a different kind of advantage in a stripped-down, exclusive-for-Wii video service. Advertisers are already interested by the Wii's success, given that advertising agency Dentsu is launching the channel with Nintendo, and free-to-watch videos may end up doing more for the Nintendo brand and its products than pay-per-view movies and television shows would.

"Nintendo could have an advertising advantage," said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner Research. "With the interactive nature of the games, you've got Wiis that are in homes and exercise classes, and that's a pretty interesting demographic."

The interest rate on six-month U.S. Treasury bills dropped to its lowest level on record at the weekly Treasury auction, the government said Monday.

The Treasury Department said it auctioned $27 billion in six-month bills at a yield of 0.25 percent, an all-time low. That's down from a rate of 0.285 percent last week.

Treasury rates have fallen to historic lows as the worst financial crisis in 70 years has triggered a rush by investors to the safety of government securities. Higher demand for such securities pushes their yield, or interest rate, down.

The lower rates make it cheaper for the government to borrow money, just as the federal deficit is set to balloon due to the rising cost of aid to banks, increased spending on unemployment insurance and lower tax revenues.

The department also auctioned $26 billion in three-month bills at a yield of 0.05 percent, up slightly from last week's 0.04 percent. That matches the rate from two weeks ago and is the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.15 percent on Nov. 24.

Earlier this month, rates on the three-month bill fell to a record low of 0.005 percent.

The rates are known as discount rates because the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.75 while a six-month bill sold for $9,987.43. That equals an annualized rate of 0.051 percent for three-month bills and 0.254 percent for the six-month securities.

With the country spiraling deeper into recession, the Federal Reserve is ready to slash its key interest rate -- perhaps to an all-time low-- in hopes of cushioning some of the economic fallout felt by many struggling Americans.

To battle the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues already have ratcheted down their main lever for influencing the economy -- the federal funds rate -- to 1 percent, a level seen only once before in the last half-century.

The Fed opens a two-day meeting Monday to assess to economy and decide its next move on rates. Another reduction to the funds rate, the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans, is all but certain to be announced Tuesday.

Many economists predict the Fed will cut its rate in half -- to just 0.50 percent. A few think the Fed could opt for an even more forceful action -- lowering rates by a whopping three-quarters percentage point or more. If that larger cut occurs, it would be the lowest on records that track the monthly average of the targeted funds rate going back to 1954.

Even an aggressive rate reduction won't turn the economy around, analysts said.

"It is not so much going to give the economy a big push forward. It's more a case of trying to help the economy from being pushed further backward by all these negative events," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

However deeply the Fed decides to cut rates, the prime rate -- now at 4 percent -- for many consumer and small-business loans would drop by a corresponding amount. The prime lending rate is used to peg rates on home equity loans, certain credit cards and other consumer loans. Cheaper rates could give pinched borrowers a dose of relief.

The goal of lower borrowing costs is to entice people and businesses to spend more, which would revive the flat-lined economy. So far, though, the Fed's aggressive rate reductions have failed to lift the country out of a recession that started last December.

Clobbered by the financial crisis, worried banks have hoarded their cash and been extremely reluctant to lend money to customers. Fearful consumers, watching jobs vanish and their investments tank, have sharply cut back their spending, including big-ticket purchases like homes and cars that typically involve financing.

The negative forces have fed off each other, creating a vicious cycle that Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have been desperately trying to break.

To unlock lending and get financial markets to operate more normally, the U.S. has resorted to a string of radical actions, including a $700 billion financial bailout where the government is making cash injections in banks in return for partial ownership stakes.

In terms of rate cuts, the Fed is getting ever closer to running out of ammunition.

It can lower the funds rate only so far -- to zero. Even if that were to happen -- a point of debate among economists -- the prime rate would fall to 3 percent but no lower.

Against that backdrop, Bernanke says the central bank is exploring other ways to stimulate the economy.

The Fed could buy longer-term Treasury or agency securities on the open market in substantial quantities, Bernanke says. This might lower rates on these securities and help spur buying appetites.

Another option the Fed has mulled: issuing its own debt, which would give the central bank cash and more flexibility to battle the financial crisis. To do that, however, the Fed would need new powers from Congress.

"The Fed wants to show that it has tools and options and is not out of tricks because interest rates are very low," said Michael Feroli, economist at JPMorgan Economics. "The problems holding back the economy are fairly long lived in nature."

To combat the financial crisis, the Fed already has created first-of-its-kind programs, such as getting cash directly to companies by buying up mounds of "commercial paper," the short-term debt firms use to pay everyday expenses such as payroll and supplies.

It also recently launched massive programs to boost the availability of consumer credit, including that for cars, student loans, homes and credit cards. The Fed also is making loans to banks, is providing a financial backstop to the mutual fund industry, and has injected billions of dollars in financial markets here and abroad.

The Fed could opt to expand programs by enlarging loans it's now making, providing loans to other types of companies, or buying more and different types of debt. The Fed's balance sheet has ballooned to $2.2 trillion, from close to $900 billion in September, reflecting some of those other activities to get credit flowing again.

Even with all the bold moves, the economy continues to sink deeper into despair.

Skittish employers axed 533,000 jobs in November alone. That drove the unemployment rate up to 6.7 percent, a 15-year high.

Since the start of the recession, the economy has shed nearly 2 million jobs. Analysts predict another 3 million more will be lost between now and the spring of 2010.

Last week alone, Bank of America Corp., tool maker Stanley Works and Sara Lee Corp., known for food brands such as Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm, announced job cuts.

General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, are fighting for their survival. GM and Chrysler have said they're in danger of running out of money within weeks. The White House is exploring new ways to help Detroit after rescue efforts collapsed in Congress.

With the employment market eroding and consumers retrenching, the economy could stagger backward at a shocking 6 percent rate in the current October-December quarter, analysts predict. It shrank at a 0.5 percent pace in the third quarter.

President-elect Barack Obama is advocating an economic recovery plan that includes spending on big public works projects to bolster jobs. His plan also includes tax cuts to spur consumers to spend more and businesses to step up investment and hiring.

Americans are sorely feeling the toll of the housing, credit and financial crises.

Households' net worth fell 4.7 percent in the third quarter to $56.5 trillion as people watched the value of their homes and investments tank. It marked the fourth straight quarterly decline, the Fed said.

Shares of Tiffany & Co. slipped to a multi-year low before rebounding on Friday, after an analyst warned that softening consumer spending and declining tourism will hurt the jeweler this year and in 2009.

Tiffany shares rose $1.62, or 9.1 percent, to close at $19.48, after setting a nine-year low of $16.75 earlier in the session.

Tiffany, which posts third-quarter results next week, is being hurt by a slowdown in luxury spending in the U.S. and declining tourism, according to Cowen & Co. analyst Laura Champine.

Champine, who rates the stock "Underperform," also expects a weak economy to hurt results in Japan, Europe and emerging markets.

Looking specifically at Japan, Champine said Tiffany's expectation for same-store sales in the country to decline in the mid-single digits "could be bullish," as Champine expects Japanese consumers will scale back on spending.

"We believe the company's outlook for a low-double-digit increase in total sales dollars for the entire Asia region, including Japan, is unlikely," Champine wrote in a client note.

Champine also said economic data in the U.K. has been weak, and this country accounts for about half of Europe's sales.

"We expect a deteriorating outlook for the company's fiscal 2009 European results," Champine wrote.

Champine said it's likely Tiffany will forecast an outlook for fiscal 2009 below Wall Street expectations next week when reporting quarterly results.

Shares of Tiffany have declined 61.2 percent so far this year.