Worries about the usually safe investment in "commercial paper" — short-term bonds companies float to run their operations — are trickling through the markets. Moody's chief economist John Lonski explains.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the head of the Federal Reserve bank in St. Louis had basically the same message today — despite the market unease, there's no plan for government intervention. Bob Moon has more.
Doing the numbers is starting to get downright gloomy. Markets in Asia and Europe are dropping by 2 and 3 percent after yesterday's Wall Street plunge on continuing subprime concerns. This time mortgage lender Countrywide was the biggest troublemaker.
There are lots of bogeymen in the subprime crisis — lenders, brokers, investors, even homeowners. And here's another one: credit rating agencies. Kim Clark of U.S. News and World Report explains their role.
Some in Congress and the mortgage industry want the government to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up bigger loans. So far, no deal. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports on how that's affecting potential homebuyers in some of the country's most expensive housing markets.
The world's biggest food company has reported a sweet increase in sales and profits, despite the fact that milk and sugar prices keep going up. Stephen Beard looks at how Nestle earned enough to plan a $21 billion stock buyback.
The increased demand for ethanol fuel has turned things around for some American farmers. Suddenly they've got more money to reinvest in better tractors, and that's meant a profitable year for John Deere. Gabriel Spitzer reports.
That's not as good as it sounds. Most hedge funds require a 45-day notice before investors can withdraw money, which makes today the deadline to pull out before quarter's end. And markets are waiting to see if inverstors have had enough. Jill Barshay reports.
Uncertainty continues to plague stock markets here and around the world. And after an unusual profit warning from Wal-Mart yesterday, overseas investors are particularly concerned that American consumers are out of spending money.
You didn't have to be Warren Buffet to know that giving people loans for houses they couldn't afford might come back to bite the economy. And, as Lisa Napoli reports, we all really should have known better this time around.
