AP - Wall Street retreated Thursday after weekly unemployment claims jumped to a six-year high and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers reported disappointing sales, touching off renewed fears that a pullback in consumer spending will damage the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell about 120 points.

Reuters - American International Group Inc said on Thursday potential cash losses on its portfolio of credit default swaps tied to risky mortgage debt could be as high as $8.5 billion, much more than previously disclosed.

AP - Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss that was more than three-times larger than Wall Street expected as a huge number of borrowers with good credit fell behind on their exotic and risky mortgages.

AP - Wall Street logged another winning day Wednesday as a drop in oil prices and a better-than-expected profit report from technology bellwether Cisco Systems Inc. helped corral the market's worries about the financial sector.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday, building on the previous day's big gains, as a further drop in oil prices and a reassuring outlook from Cisco Systems overshadowed persistent credit concerns.

Reuters - Freddie Mac , one of the major players in the U.S. mortgage market, on Wednesday posted its fourth straight quarterly loss as it braced for a prolonged housing market slump by setting aside twice as much money for bad loans and cutting its dividend by at least 80 percent.

Reuters - American International Group Inc posted its third consecutive quarterly net loss of more than $5 billion on Wednesday as it wrote down bad mortgage-related investments, sending its shares down almost 8 percent.

AFP - Troubled mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac reported a shocking loss in the second quarter that bodes ill for the US taxpayer after the government's huge rescue package.

Reuters - Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted its fourth straight quarterly loss as it braced for a prolonged housing crisis by setting aside twice as much money for bad loans and plans to slash its dividend by at least 80 percent.

AP - NEW YORK (AP) — Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss that was more than three-times larger than Wall Street expected as a huge number of borrowers with good credit fell behind on their exotic and risky mortgages.

AP - Stocks traded narrowly mixed Wednesday as a drop in oil prices helped corral the market's fresh worries about the financial sector.

AFP - Troubled mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac on Wednesday reported a market-shocking loss in the second quarter as the US housing slump deepened and slashed its dividend at least 80 percent.