World economic growth will slow significantly in 2008, but the United States, whose housing downturn is rattling global financial markets, will avoid recession, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday. ...more

January 30, 2008

For the past few years, banks that issue credit cards have aggressively wooed affluent customers with lavish perks and fat credit lines. Now, that high-end strategy is coming back to bite the banks: There are growing signs some of those consumers are having a hard time paying their bills. ...more

January 15, 2008

In a career defined by blockbuster deals, Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis has taken his biggest gamble yet with an attempt to rescue the country's biggest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial. ...more

January 12, 2008

Countrywide Financial Corp., its stock pummeled this week by rumors of bankruptcy and lackluster housing market forecasts, said Wednesday the percentage of borrowers who missed payments on home loans rose last month, signaling worsening trouble for the nation's largest mortgage lender and the entire mortgage sector. ...more

January 10, 2008

Late payments on a cluster of consumer loans, including those for autos, home improvement and certain home equity loans, climbed in the summer to their highest point since the country's last recession in 2001. ...more

January 4, 2008

Support is growing on several fronts in Washington for mortgage-industry reforms and homeowner-assistance programs with broader potential impact than the Bush administration's plan to freeze interest rates on a small percentage of home loans. ...more

December 18, 2007

The chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday warned that their ailing mortgage-finance companies will suffer further in 2008 because of a weakening housing market and rising home-loan defaults. ...more

December 12, 2007

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, said Monday that problems in the mortgage and credit markets are forcing it to close offices, lay off more than 3,000 workers and set aside up to $1.6 billion for loan losses in its fourth quarter. ...more

December 11, 2007

Fannie Mae warned investors Wednesday that its losses would mount next year from bad home loans, even as the mortgage finance company took steps to stabilize its finances. ...more

December 6, 2007

Construction of single-family homes in October skidded to the lowest level in 16 years although the slide was cushioned somewhat by a rebound in apartment building. ...more

November 21, 2007