Reuters - The U.S. Congress gave a new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stronger oversight powers too late to help steer the companies away from a government takeover, the chief regulator for the mortgage finance companies said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Resentment is growing on both sides of the U.S. political divide over a plan to use $700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street firms with bad mortgage debt.

Reuters - New York Senator Hillary Clinton said the federal government should establish a special entity that would buy mortgages from Americans and later sell them just as it did during the Great Depression.

AP - Volatility swept the financial markets again Monday as investors grew nervous about an amorphous government plan to buy $700 billion in banks' mortgage debt. Stocks fell sharply, taking the Dow Jones industrials down more than 370 points, while investors sought safety in hard assets such as gold and oil, which at one point shot up more than $25 a barrel.

AP - Scrambling for a swift deal on the $700 billion bailout for failing financial firms, key Democrats and Bush administration officials agreed Monday to include mortgage help for beleaguered homeowners but wrangled over other issues, including "golden parachutes" for executives who benefit from the unprecedented rescue.

AP - Oil prices fell below $108 a barrel Tuesday in Asia in a choppy market driven by uncertainty about whether a $700 billion U.S. plan to buy bad mortgage debt will stabilize the financial system.

AP - Judges could rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners' monthly payments as part of congressional Democrats' proposal for a $700 billion financial system bailout.

AP - Oil prices spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday — the biggest one-day price jump ever — as anxiety over the government's $700 billion bailout plan battered the dollar and touched off frenzied buying of safe-haven investments including crude.

AP - Asian and European stock markets rose Monday as the U.S. government worked on a proposed $700 billion plan to ease the world financial crisis by rescuing banks from billions of dollars in risky mortgage debt.

AP - Volatility swept through the financial markets Monday as investors awaited details of the government's plan to buy $700 billion in banks' mortgage debt and as oil shot higher. Stocks fell sharply, taking the Dow Jones industrials down about 220 points, while investors sought safety in hard assets, such as oil, which shot up by more than $20 a barrel.

Reuters - The Bush administration and Congress on Sunday ramped up talks on an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout as they battled the clock to prevent further financial market turmoil that risks hurtling the economy into a deep and damaging recession.

AP - The Bush administration and the Federal Reserve are moving on multiple fronts in an effort to calm financial markets that have been roiled by the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the Great Depression.

AP - Oil prices rose Monday in Asia as investors grappled with the possible impact on crude demand of a $700 billion U.S. proposal to buy bad mortgage debt.