AFP - HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, has reached a deal to merge with its rival Lloyds TSB, media reports said Wednesday, after the lender's shares plummeted for a third day running.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to buy rival HBOS Plc to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage company, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, making it the latest troubled bank to be forced into the arms of a better-funded rival.

Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc , the giant U.S. savings and loan beleaguered by mortgage losses, has put itself up for sale, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Britain's Lloyds TSB sealed a 12.2 billion pound ($21.7 billion) deal to buy HBOS Plc to create a dominant mortgage and savings bank, encouraged by the government amid fears turmoil in financial markets would claim another UK victim.

Reuters - Construction starts on new U.S. homes plummeted to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - Construction starts on new homes plunged to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB is in advanced talks to buy domestic rival HBOS Plc , HBOS said on Wednesday, to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage giant.

AFP - The global financial firestorm claimed a fresh victim Wednesday as top British mortgage lender HBOS said it was in takeover talks after a huge US bailout of insurer AIG helped underpin volatile share prices.

Reuters - Shares of Wall Street firms Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs plummeted on Wednesday and Britain's biggest mortgage lender neared a sale in the latest signs of extreme distress in the financial industry.

Reuters - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to link his Republican rival to the turmoil sweeping Wall Street, and John McCain fired back that Obama had close ties to the troubled mortgage industry.