Subprime Bust Forces Families From Homes

Amid Subprime Bust, Some Families With Adjustable Rate Mortgages Lose Grip on Their Homes

The lights are still on inside Foreclosure No. A200642668 -- so while there's time, have a look around. Here's the living room, still covered in the worn blue shag Angela Sneary always intended to replace with the sheen of hardwood. And downstairs, through a curtain of plastic beads, is the basement where husband Tim was going to knock out a wall and put in a foosball table.
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How to Make Really 'Big Money'

When Shanghai and Hong Kong nose-dived a few weeks ago, they pulled American markets down with them. Instantly the media and press turned away from Britney's bizarre behavior and began blabbering breathlessly about the hot new topic du jour, "risk." Here's one of the best metaphors: "We view financial risk much like popcorn popping in a microwave. Until the first kernel pops, one tends to believe nothing's happening," said Merrill Lynch chief investment strategist Richard Bernstein in Time magazine. "The initial pop seems like a random event until the second occurs. A third. A fourth. Then the popping goes wild." Suddenly, an unpredictable, irrational mob takes over.
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Stocks Recover As Economy Worries Ease

Stocks Climb As Signs of Stability Cross Global Markets

Wall Street extended its recovery from last week's big plunge, rising Thursday after several stable sessions helped buttress investor sentiment and allay some concerns about the economy. Thursday's advance helped investors speed past lackluster retail sales figures and focus on more promising comments about March sales. Investors also grew more confident following gains in markets in Europe and Asia. The dollar was mixed against major currencies and fought its way higher against the yen, easing some concern about whether global liquidity would tighten.
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Stocks Have Worst Day Since 9/11 Attacks

Stocks Have Worst Day Since 9/11 Attacks: Dow Down 416, Nasdaq Drop 97 on Global Market Plunge

Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated. The steepness of the market's drop, as well as its global breadth, signaled a possible correction after a long period of stable and steadily rising stock markets that had not been shaken by such a volatile day of trading in several years.
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The Five Best Financial Moves for 2007

First things first: You won't find any stock or ETF recommendations in this column. There's no shortage of advice on the hot investments for the coming year during the holiday season. But as far as I'm concerned, the best financial moves you can make -- and need to make ASAP -- aren't about the outlook for corporate earnings growth or capitalizing on geopolitical trends. Far more important is how good a job you're doing at taking the best care possible of yourself and your family. Here's my checklist of must-do items for 2007.
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Maven: Ford Idling

We've all been waiting on the edge of our collective seat for the first bumptious, exciting and far-reaching strategic move from Alan Mulally, the airplane man who was appointed CEO of Ford (F) amid a business media pant-and-squeal attack.

And the move is? He created a post. That's right, folks, a post, a product of his sweeping "flatter management" approach. Holy '90s flashback, Batman. That sound you hear echoing from Michigan to Wall Street is expectations falling with a clank.
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Investment Banks Post Record 2006 Profit

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns sent a not-so-subtle message to Wall Street on Thursday when announcing 2006 results -- the word "record" appears a combined 37 times in their earnings reports.
Surging stock and bond markets, coupled with an unprecedented level of takeover activity, has turned the big investment houses into corporate cash machines. It is also delivering stratospheric bonuses to top employees, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. doling out a staggering $16 billion this year.
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Dow closes at new high; profit outlooks overshadow oil

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrials Average setting a record close, after positive forecasts from some household names helped investors shrug off an upcoming cut in oil output.

Gains in energy shares lent support, after crude spiked above $62 a barrel as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries confirmed it will cut output by another half a million a barrels a day starting Feb. 1. See full story.
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U.S. stocks close in the red after Fed decision

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve noted a "substantial cooling" in the housing market but also kept its emphasis on inflation fighting in the statement accompanying its decision to leave interest rates unchanged. While some market participants hoped the Fed might open the door for eventual rate cuts next year, policymakers maintained a bias towards more tightening as they still see inflation as a risk. See full story.
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