AFP - Europe's main stock markets fell Wednesday, while Wall Street rose, as ailing US investment bank Lehman Brothers unveiled huge write-downs linked to the subprime mortgage crisis.

AP - Stocks rose Wednesday, a day after a steep sell-off, as investors digested Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s plans to try to sell a majority stake in its investment management business and spin off its troubled mortgage assets.

Reuters - Stocks plunged on Tuesday, driving the benchmark S&P 500 to its worst day in one and a half years, as concern about Lehman Brothers' ability to raise much-needed capital reignited fears about the broader financial sector.

Reuters - U.S. Democrats on Tuesday criticized the multimillion-dollar pay packages awarded to the former chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a time when taxpayers could foot a massive bill for the companies' bailout.

Reuters - The Bush administration's bailout of U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac frustrated many voters who worried it would set a bad precedent and that well-paid executives would go scot-free.

Reuters - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Tuesday denounced the possibility of rich exit pay packets for the outgoing chiefs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as lawmakers weighed how to restructure the seized mortgage finance companies.

AFP - The dollar weakened against other major currencies Tuesday as investors worried about the health of the US economy after the nationalization of two mortgage finance giants over the weekend.

AFP - European stock markets held steady at the opening of trade on Tuesday following surges the day before caused by the US bailout of former mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Reuters - The U.S. government's move to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help shore up the housing market, the banking system and the wider economy, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday.

AFP - The world's largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, is out of danger from major exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis, the group's chief executive Jacques Aigrain said in remarks published Tuesday.

AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress should view the next few months as a "time out" in the highly charged debate over what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.