Wall Street investors are still anxious to hear which direction the Fed might turn next in its attempts to calm the financial markets, but Bernanke's doing everything he can to keep the "real economy" purring. Bob Moon reports.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came together today to reassure everyone that they're on top of any changes to the subprime-riddled economy. Bob Moon reports.

Now that the Federal Reserve has stepped in to calm credit-crunch fears, we figured it was time to assess where the markets and the economy might be headed. Kai Ryssdal talked with Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James.

The Fed today cut the discount rate — what banks pay to borrow from the Fed — by half a percentage point. Banks use it only when they're in a bind. Like the one they've been in the past couple of weeks. Jill Barshay reports.

The Japanese yen is fast gaining strength against the dollar, but that could be bad for Japan's heavily export-dependent economy. Really bad. Economist Andrew Hilton explains.

Mortgage lenders are having trouble getting their hands on lots of cash right now, which has put a crimp in the business of making loans. So at least one lawmaker wants to raise the portfolio cap for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jill Barshay explains.

The Federal Reserve has given the credit markets a big dose of a medicine. In a surprise move, it cut the discount lending rate by half a point. It's meant to relax the credit squeeze and that's giving the markets a healthy boost.

European banks tied into subprime debt are now rushing to buy U.S. dollars to pay back those loans, which is raising the value of the flailing currency. But Ashley Milne-Tyte reports it may just be a short-term fix.