Mortgage rates in some markets came down today, with banks offering certain jumbo loans at a little above 6% — a lot cheaper than last week. Banks are loosening up on lending again because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a new strategy. Jill Barshay reports.
In Haiti, the price of rice, the country's main staple, has risen nearly 80 percent since September. In the poorest country in the world, that's especially painful. Reed Lindsay reports from Port-au-Prince.
Toyota reported a 28% drop in quarterly profit today. The Japanese car maker has steered clear of the auto industry's troubles so far. Now, Stacey Vanek-Smith reports, Toyota will hike the prices on some popular models.
Continuing our series on the worldwide food crisis, today we take a look at farmers who are taking advantage of the increased prices of commodities. Josephine Bennett reports from Georgia on the situation for peanut farmers.
U.S. worker productivity increased in the first quarter of 2008 at an annual rate of better than 2% — which is pretty good. But the underlying reason is that job cuts required the remaining employees to do more work. Dan Grech reports.
To start our special series called Food Fight, Host Scott Jagow talks to the head of research at Oxfam, an international group working on solutions to poverty, asking him why so many countries are fighting over food.
In addition to the human cost of the cyclone that has ravaged Myanmar, damage from the storm will continue sending ripples through rice markets across the world for some time to come. Steve Henn reports.
Chrysler has announced that customers who buy or lease one of its selected new cars in the next few weeks can lock in lower gas prices for three years. What is it thinking? Amy Scott reports.
Fannie Mae, the biggest mortgage underwriter in America, reported a loss of more than $2 billion last quarter. Investors are now bracing for more bad news when its federally-sponsored cousin Freddie Mac reports results later this week. Alisa Roth has the story.
Government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and its cousin Freddie Mac are buying up 80% of mortgage securities, giving lenders fresh money to make new home loans. They could lead us out of the housing crisis. Bob Moon reports.
