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Two years ago, my wife and I sat at a long conference table in a mortgage-title office in Bethesda. Sitting next to us: our real estate agent, who drew up our bid on a townhouse in Germantown two days after showing it to us. We didn't get an inspection, and I don't recall going back for a second look. We had to act fast or someone else would get it. Our bid won the house -- our very own first home -- and now we had to close the deal. The owners sat across the table. They seemed more nervous...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Capital One's shuttered GreenPoint Mortgage is the latest mortgage banking explosion to bump Wall Street's panic meter up a notch, and industry insiders say it is just another indicator that retail banks will be stung by the credit mess they helped create. "Banks are not going to want to be in the mortgage business after all this is over," says Richard Wilkes, a mortgage industry veteran who ran First Nationwide Mortgage before it became a part of Citigroup. More from FORTUNE The Bear truth Where were the cops? Subprime on the Rhine FORTUNE 500 Current Issue...

After a welcome weekend respite from the market's turbulence, investors will quickly learn in the coming week whether Friday's Fed-induced rally was just short-term relief or something more sustainable. Much of that may depend on whether the Fed's move Friday to slice the rate charged at its discount lending window was enough to loosen the noose around normal lending operations around the world. The credit markets remain the lynchpin for any sustained stock market recovery. "We are certainly not out of the woods yet," says Mike Malone, trading analyst at Cowen & Co. "The markets will remain volatile ... until...

Hundreds of naked people formed a "living sculpture" on Switzerland's Aletsch glacier Saturday, hoping to raise awareness about climate change. The photo shoot by Spencer Tunick, the New York artist famous for his pictures of nude gatherings in public settings worldwide, was designed to draw attention to the effects of global warming on Switzerland's shrinking glaciers. "The melting of the glaciers is an indisputable sign of global climate change," said the environmental group Greenpeace, which co-organized the event...

Fed declares "downside risks" to economy have increased, OKs half percentage point cut in discount rate on loans to banks. (Breaking

Wall Street plunged again Thursday after problems at Countrywide Financial Corp. confirmed fears of widening credit woes and the Federal Reserve injected $17 billion into the banking system. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 250 points.

Many homebuyers in recent years took out exotic mortgages that ultimately backfired. This raises the question of why such booby-trapped financing was available at all. Fisher Investments Charles Schwab TD AMERITRADE Options House Zecco.com Fidelity Investments The answer, in part, stems from overaggressive marketing of what were once niche products intended only for the most financially sophisticated and creditworthy customers. During the housing boom in recent years, banks began offering such elaborate loans to huge numbers of average homebuyers, allowing them to get in over their heads and contributing to the current mortgage crisis, as many borrowers ended up defaulting....

Stocks extend slide on Countrywide news By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer 20 minutes ago Stocks fell sharply Thursday after a move by Countrywide Financial Corp. confirmed fears of widening problems with some mortgages and tighter access to credit. A sell-off overseas offered Wall Street little reason to try to stanch the bleeding a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed below the 13,000 mark for the first time since April and the Standard & Poor's 500 index moved into negative territory for the year. Investors' confidence took a drubbing Wednesday on concerns about potential trouble at Countrywide,...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The price of a typical home in the United States continues to drop but at a slower pace, according to a new survey. During the second quarter, the median single-family home price was $223,800, 1.5 percent less than a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). It was the fourth consecutive quarter of price declines. Condo prices rose 1 percent to a median of $226,800. Despite the continued drop, NAR's senior economist, Lawrence Yun called the results, "encouraging." "Although home prices are relatively flat, more metro areas are showing price gains with general...

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp. dropped as much as 19 percent Wednesday on market rumors the mortgage company has been unable to raise money from the commercial paper market. Countrywide officials were not immediately available for comment. "People are buying Countrywide puts very aggressively on Wednesday off of rumors that the commercial paper market could be closed to them," said William Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments. Puts are options that allow an investor to sell a stock at a preset price by a certain date. Another trader attributed the drop in the stock...

1. VMware IPO Debut Dazzles 2. Thornburg Postpones Dividend 3. Top 10 Potential Takeover Targets 4. The Top Buffett Value Stocks 5. The House That Won't Sell: Walk Away? Fidelity Investments E*TRADE FINANCIAL TD AMERITRADE Options House Zecco.com Charles Schwab The run on Countrywide (CFC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) stock intensified Thursday morning after the struggling mortgage lender said it drew down its $11.5 billion unsecured bank credit line. The Calabasas, Calif., lender said it made the move as it "supplemented its funding liquidity position." The announcement came just a day after Merrill Lynch cut its rating...

Stocks dropped sharply in Asia and sold off in Europe as well as the U.S. credit crunch continues to worry investors. 1. VMware IPO Debut Dazzles 2. Thornburg Postpones Dividend 3. Top 10 Potential Takeover Targets 4. The Top Buffett Value Stocks 5. The House That Won't Sell: Walk Away? TD AMERITRADE Charles Schwab Zecco.com Fidelity Investments E*TRADE FINANCIAL Options House Japan's Nikkei dropped 2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 3.3%, and those were some of the smaller drops. Stocks dropped 6.9% in Seoul, 5.9% in Jakarta, 4.6% in Taipei and 4.3% in Mumbai. Even China's highflying Shanghai...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Housing starts and permits both fell to the lowest levels in more than a decade, as the latest reading on the battered housing and home building markets both came in below expectations Thursday. Housing starts fell to an annual rate of 1.38 million in July from a revised 1.47 million rate in June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast starts would fall to a 1.41 million pace in June. Housing starts and permits are at the lowest level in more than a decade. The latest reading is the lowest level of starts since January 1997. Building...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Builders' confidence in the new home market fell to a 16-year low, according to a trade group survey conducted this month which reports buyers' problems finding financing spreading beyond the subprime sector. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell two more points to a reading of 22, the lowest level since January 1991, when the nation was struggling with a recession, an energy price shock and the start of the first Gulf War. Any reading below 50 indicates more builders view sales conditions as poor than as good. The index's various components...