AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday the fragile economy is facing "numerous difficulties" despite the Fed's aggressive interest rate reductions and other fortifying steps.

Reuters - Discussion of persistent financial market turmoil is seen as likely to overshadow the Federal Reserve's semi-annual monetary policy outlook when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before Congress on Tuesday.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve Board on Monday approved new rules to ban misleading and deceptive practices in mortgage lending, including prepayment penalties for many subprime loans.

Reuters - U.S. retail sales excluding cars jumped in June and posted their biggest one-month rise in seven months, as consumers spent some of their government rebate checks, a private report released on Monday showed.

AP - The U.S. government is signaling it won't throw a lifeline to struggling financial companies — except for mortgage linchpins Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — marking a shift to a new and potentially more volatile phase of the credit crisis.

Reuters - Police officer James Denman gets a cup of coffee at a local convenience store as he prepares to swap his gas-guzzling squad car for a more energy-efficient patrol vehicle -- a bicycle.

Reuters - The bears have Wall Street cornered and they just won't let go.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is insisting that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need rescuing, the plan should not benefit shareholders of the giant mortgage finance firms, the Wall Street Journal said on Saturday.

Reuters - Stocks tumbled on Friday as fears about the stability of the top two home financing providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined with oil at a record above $147, clouded the economic outlook.

AP - Wall Street and Washington wrestled Friday with how to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two troubled pillars of the economy whose failure would deal a devastating blow to the already crippled housing market.

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Friday that their finances were sufficiently sound to withstand the housing crisis as government officials scrambled to restore confidence in the country's two largest mortgage finance companies.