Reuters - The U.S. Congress approved a massive housing market rescue bill on Saturday, offering emergency financing to mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , and setting up a $300-billion fund to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners.
Reuters - U.S. regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch.
Reuters - Chrysler LLC said its financing arm would stop offering vehicle leases to U.S. consumers, a sharp break in strategy in response to tighter credit and the plunging resale prices for gas-guzzling trucks.
AP - Japanese stocks fell sharply Friday as Wall Street's overnight plunge renewed lingering concerns about the U.S. economy.
AP - Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy.
