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.

AFP - The US government is considering a plan to take over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if their finance problems deepen, US media reported on Friday.

AP - Fears that the government will be forced to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Reuters - The Dow and the S&P 500 turned negative on Thursday as the price of oil jumped more than $5 and financial stocks fell on worries about more credit losses.

AP - Rupert Murdoch expects the capital markets to lurch through the next 12 months as Wall Street banks sift through mountains of bad debt related to the mortgage crisis, the News Corp. chairman said Wednesday.

Reuters - Wachovia Corp , the fourth-largest U.S. bank, named senior Treasury Department official Robert Steel chief executive, and said mortgage and legal problems would result in a $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion second-quarter loss, much larger than many analysts expected.