Reuters - Fear the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies are in such poor health that they need a government bailout pushed financial markets lower on Friday, although stocks pared losses as officials began to talk of safety-net moves for the ailing sector.

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Friday that their finances were sufficiently sound to withstand the housing crisis as government officials scrambled to restore confidence in the country's two largest mortgage finance companies.

Reuters - Shares of Lehman Brothers plunged to nine-year lows and stock in other Wall Street firms declined as new signs of distress in financial markets spooked investors.

Reuters - U.S. banking regulators swooped in to seize mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc on Friday after withdrawals by panicked depositors led to the third-largest banking failure in U.S. history.

AP - Industrial and financial conglomerate General Electric Co. said Friday its profit fell 6 percent in the second quarter, and has agreed to sell its Japanese consumer finance business for $5.4 billion.

Reuters - Stocks fell sharply on Friday on worry about the financial stability of the top two home financing providers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, while oil prices hit an all-time high, clouding the outlook for the economy.

AFP - US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are facing growing pressure as fears intensify about a potential calamity at the firms, which underpin trillions of dollars in home loans.