AP - With the developer forced into bankruptcy, Hugh Smith worries about the $1 million he and a partner sunk into bare lots at Promontory, a half-built, sprawling residence club in a post-Olympic town saturated with second homes for wealthy Boomers.

Reuters - The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 edged up on Monday as higher oil prices lifted energy shares, but financial companies' outlook kept investors cautious and overshadowed news of a $4.4 billion takeover in the agricultural sector.

BusinessWeek Online - Hardly anyone disagrees with this statement: The nation's tax system is a mess. The U.S. tax code is riddled with far too many deductions, credits, exemptions, exclusions, phase-ins, and phase-outs. Nobel laureate Milton Friedman noted half a century ago that constant changes in the tax code discourage long-term planning by households and businesses. He was right, but that hasn't stopped Democrats and Republicans from tinkering with taxes ever since the income tax was imposed in 1913.

AP - With the developer forced into bankruptcy, Hugh Smith worries about the $1 million he and a partner sunk into bare lots at Promontory, a half-built, sprawling residence club in a post-Olympic town saturated with second homes for wealthy Boomers.

Reuters - Stocks fell sharply on Friday with the Dow closing below 12,000 for the first time since mid-March as rising oil prices and warnings of more mortgage-related write-downs at banks reignited investor fears of worse to come.

Reuters - Stocks fell sharply on Friday with the Dow closing below 12,000 for the first time since mid-March as rising oil prices and warnings of more mortgage-related write-downs at banks reignited investor fears of worse to come.

AP - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were hauled into jail Thursday and charged with lying to investors about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, perhaps signaling the start of a wave of prosecutions arising from the housing meltdown.

Reuters - Merrill Lynch & Co shares fell 5.5 percent Friday on rumors that the investment bank may issue a profit warning and take additional write-downs on its mortgage holdings, traders said.

Reuters - Stocks extended their losses on Friday after Standard and Poor's said it may cut the credit rating of the Big Three automakers, compounding banking-related jitters also driving the market lower.

Reuters - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a drop in oil prices fueled investor optimism about consumer spending, driving shares of transportation and retailers sharply higher.

Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc said on Thursday it eliminated 1,200 jobs, following mortgage losses that some analysts have said will keep the largest U.S. savings and loan from turning a profit before 2010.

AP - More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March — including dozens over the last two days — in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that stem from the country's housing crisis.

Reuters - Bank of America expects to complete its acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp by July 1, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Reuters - A Congressional ethics panel is examining allegations that two Senate Democrats, including the sponsor of a major housing bill, received preferential loans by troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, a member of Congress said on Thursday.

Reuters - The U.S. housing crisis produced its first high-profile Wall Street arrests on Thursday, while the Bush administration called for broadening the Federal Reserve's powers over investment banks and said it has charged hundreds of people in a mortgage fraud probe.