Fannie Mae to tighten lending rules

Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage finance company that helps shape lending guidelines, plans next month to raise minimum credit score requirements and limit the amount of overall debt borrowers can carry relative to their incomes.

Data show rise in consumer spending, drop in jobless claims

A new round of economic data released Wednesday offers evidence that the economic expansion has continued through the latter part of the year but raises questions about the strength of the industrial sector in the months ahead.

White House official's net neutrality comments irk AT&T

AT&T doesn't like the idea of new regulations mandating unfettered access to the Internet, and recent comments from the Obama administration that connected the issue to censorship in China have really gotten under its skin.

Home sales rebound to early-2007 level

Economists and policymakers got what they were looking for Monday: a clear uptick in the housing market. The catch is, few believe it's sustainable.

Sharp drop in lending largest since 1984

Lending by U.S. banks plunged by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, the largest drop since at least 1984 and the fifth consecutive quarter in which banks have reduced lending, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday.

Blacks hit hard by economy's punch

These days, 24-year-old Delonta Spriggs spends much of his time cooped up in his mother's one-bedroom apartment in Southwest Washington, the TV blaring soap operas hour after hour, trying to stay out of the streets and out of trouble, held captive by the economy. As a young black man, Spriggs bel...

Freddie Mac fears big hit from failed lender

Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage finance giant, said Monday it's trying to minimize losses on more than $1 billion in assets at risk because of the summer collapse of mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and a regional bank with which it did business.

Wizards owner helped transform D.C.

He arrived in Washington more than 75 years ago, the gangly son of a Russian metal worker named Morris Pollinovsky who came to America a poor man speaking no English. Through decades of hard work and a seemingly unstoppable will, Abe Pollin rose to the top of the worlds of business, philanthropy and...

Wizards owner helped transform D.C.

He arrived in Washington more than 75 years ago, the gangly son of a Russian metal worker named Morris Pollinovsky who came to America a poor man speaking no English. Through decades of hard work and a seemingly unstoppable will, Abe Pollin rose to the top of the worlds of business, philanthropy and...

Lead, dangerous chemicals found in toys despite law

Despite a new law that bans six chemicals from children's products and lowers the lead limit for them, a public interest group has found a number of toys at major retailers that contain the chemicals and illegal amounts of lead.

Some toys containing illegal levels of lead or chemicals

U.S. PIRG purchased 15 children's toys from national chain stores around the country and sent them to independent laboratories for chemical analysis. Among the purchases were these problem toys:

World Digest: Killings in southern Philippines spark warnings

PHILIPPINES The slaying of at least 46 people in the southern Philippines on Monday could herald a surge in political violence, with powerful clans exacting revenge on one another while stepping up the fight for next year's elections, local residents and analysts warned Tuesday.