AP - Wall Street shot higher Tuesday, gaining back the previous session's sharp losses and then some, after a drop in oil prices and a rise in consumer confidence gave investors some hope for a letup in Americans' financial woes. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 266 points.

Reuters - Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged at a record pace in May from a year earlier, with each of the 20 regions monitored showing annual declines for a second month, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes reported on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will meet with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the U.S. economy and Obama's proposals to bolster it, a campaign aide said.

AFP - US consumer confidence showed slender gains in July but still reflected a "grim" assessment of economic conditions, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Reuters - Stocks rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday as a drop of over $3 in the price of oil and data showing a rise in consumer confidence reduced worry about inflation and consumer spending.

AP - Amid the gloom of higher gas and food prices and a slumping housing market, Americans appear to be looking for a bit of hope.

Reuters - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will meet with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the U.S. economy and how to bolster it, his campaign said.

Reuters - Consumer confidence halted a six-month slide in July, but barely climbed from its lowest level in more than a decade, while home prices continued their record decline in May.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama agreed on Tuesday that Washington must restore confidence in mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Obama's spokesman said.

AP - Stocks rebounded Tuesday after the previous session's steep tumble, as a drop in oil prices and a rise in consumer confidence gave investors hope for a possible letup in Americans' financial woes. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 190 points.

AP - The Bush administration and federal banking regulators joined with the nation's four largest banks Monday to endorse a new way to pump money into the battered U.S. mortgage market.

Reuters - The Treasury and the nation's four biggest banks on Monday said they will kick-start a market for an investment product to support home financing in the latest effort to spur a slumping housing market.

Reuters - The Bush administration on Monday projected the U.S. budget deficit will soar to a record of nearly half a trillion dollars in fiscal 2009 as a housing-led economic slowdown cuts into government revenues.

AP - A national survey shows gas prices have dropped a fraction below the $4-dollar mark.