Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co results beat Wall Street targets as net profit rose 14 percent, subduing fears that slowing economies and a stronger dollar would weaken the world's biggest computer and printer maker and its rivals.

Reuters - U.S. wholesale prices shot up in July at the fastest annual rate in 27 years, while home builders cut back on construction as they worked through a glut of unsold homes, government data showed on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell for a second straight session on Tuesday as credit worries hit bank shares and a report showing inflation remains a threat despite slower growth stoked the market's anxiety.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve must be ready to take action if slowing economic growth fails to curb inflation stemming from higher food and energy prices, two top Fed policy-makers said on Tuesday, indicating that higher interest rates may be needed.

AFP - Investments in the bonds of struggling US home-loan financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have earned Russia more than a billion dollars in the past six months, press reports said Tuesday.

AP - From affluent shoppers at Saks to bargain-hunters at Target, from Home Depot to office supplier Staples, consumers are pulling back and that's hurting retailers and raising more concerns about how they'll do the rest of the year.

AFP - Investments in the bonds of struggling US home-loan financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have earned Russia more than a billion dollars in the past six months, press reports said Tuesday.

Reuters - Home building projects started in July fell 11 percent to the lowest annual rate in more than 17 years, while building permits tumbled 17.7 percent, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

AFP - The euro rebounded from six-month lows against the dollar after weak US housing market figures stoked fresh concerns over the outlook for the US economy.

AP - Whether or not the government is actually on the verge of taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investor fears that a bailout is imminent could turn such a worst-case scenario into reality.

AP - Wall Street fell sharply for a second straight session Tuesday after a hefty jump in wholesale inflation and a drop in new home construction gave investors more reason to believe an economic recovery is far off. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 130 points.

AP - In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" — mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."

Reuters - Investors dumped shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.

Reuters - U.S. stocks sank on Monday as the prospect of more losses from the mortgage crisis hurt the shares of banks and the two biggest home finance providers, pushing all three major indexes down about 1.5 percent.

AFP - The US Treasury swiftly played down a media report Monday that suggested the government could be poised to extend significant financial aid to the struggling mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

AP - Two giant mortgage companies get into hot water over risky investments. The government steps in to throw them a lifeline should they need it.

AP - As soaring home prices set the stage for America's great housing meltdown, a critical step in making sure those home sales were a fair deal — the real estate appraisal — was undermined from within.

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages remained at the same level for a third week while rates on other types of home loans posted small declines.

AP - New Hampshire securities regulators on Thursday accused banking giant UBS of defrauding the state's leading issuer of student loans.

Reuters - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicts U.S. house prices will begin to stabilize in the first half of next year, even as he faulted the government's rescue of mortgage market giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

AP - JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares tumbled nearly 10 percent Tuesday as the bank's disclosure about escalating losses in its mortgage portfolio set off new concerns about the health of the overall financial sector. An analyst's lowering of the bank's earnings estimates and price target contributed to the decline.