Reuters - Home building projects started in July fell 11 percent to the lowest annual rate in more than 17 years, while building permits tumbled 17.7 percent, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

AFP - The US Treasury swiftly played down a media report Monday that suggested the government could be poised to extend significant financial aid to the struggling mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Reuters - U.S. stocks sank on Monday as the prospect of more losses from the mortgage crisis hurt the shares of banks and the two biggest home finance providers, pushing all three major indexes down about 1.5 percent.

Reuters - Investors dumped shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.

AP - Whether or not the government is actually on the verge of taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investor fears that a bailout is imminent could turn such a worst-case scenario into reality.

AP - In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" — mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."

AP - Wall Street retreated Monday after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years on concerns that the government might need to bail out the mortgage financiers. Weakness in the overall financial sector sent the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 175 points.

Reuters - Investors dumped shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after Barron's reported the increasing likelihood of a U.S. Treasury bailout that would approach nationalization of the two housing finance titans.

AP - Two giant mortgage companies get into hot water over risky investments. The government steps in to throw them a lifeline should they need it.

Reuters - Stocks tumbled on Monday as uneasiness about the prospect of more losses from the mortgage crisis bruised shares of banks and the two big U.S. home finance companies.

AP - In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" — mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."

AP - As soaring home prices set the stage for America's great housing meltdown, a critical step in making sure those home sales were a fair deal — the real estate appraisal — was undermined from within.