Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp shareholders vote on Wednesday to approve the largest U.S. mortgage lender's purchase by Bank of America Corp, marking the demise of the company perhaps most closely associated with the nation's housing bubble and subsequent collapse.

Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Dow and the S&P 500 ended effectively unchanged on Monday in thin trade as renewed concerns about the outlook for financial shares offset gains in energy stocks and news of a $4.4 billion takeover in the agricultural sector.

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.