AP - European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Wednesday welcomed the U.S. government's decision to rescue mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more…

Reuters - Euro zone economic growth will halve in 2008 from 2007 and inflation will be much higher because of financial turmoil, soaring commodity prices and housing market shocks, the European Commission said on Wednesday. Read more…

AFP - Share prices in London slid in early trading on Wednesday as oil prices rebounded back above 100 dollars after OPEC decided to cut its crude production. Read more…

AFP - European economic heavyweights Britain, Germany and Spain are headed for recession this year, the European Commission forecast on Wednesday. Read more…

AFP - European stock markets mainly fell at the start of trading on Wednesday as oil prices rebounded back above 100 dollars after OPEC decided to cut its crude production. Read more…

Reuters - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Tuesday denounced the possibility of rich exit pay packets for the outgoing chiefs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as lawmakers weighed how to restructure the seized mortgage finance companies. Read more…

Reuters - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama warned U.S. regulators on Tuesday it would be "a gross violation of the public trust" if they did not use their power to block excessive severance payments to executives leaving Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Read more…

Reuters - The Bush administration's bailout of U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac frustrated many voters who worried it would set a bad precedent and that well-paid executives would go scot-free. Read more…

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are slated to testify at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on September 16, a source familiar with the hearing said on Tuesday. Read more…

Reuters - Shares of American International Group Inc , the world's biggest insurer, fell sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that the company's large exposure to the mortgage markets could trigger the need to raise fresh capital. Read more…

Reuters - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was dismayed by reports that the ousted chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could receive multimillion-dollar severance packages. Read more…

FT.com - Turning points in bear markets are more often than not signposted by big U-turns in government policy. The de facto nationalisation of Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac by a pro-market Republican administration is a U-turn of huge proportions. The question, nonetheless, is whether it will be enough to put a floor under both credit and equity markets. Read more…

Reuters - Two U.S. Democratic senators on Tuesday called on regulators to revise severance packages for the outgoing chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, calling them lavish. Read more…

Reuters - The U.S. budget deficit will swell to record levels in 2009 as the "turbulent" economy cuts revenues and hikes government spending, a congressional report said on Tuesday in an assessment that does not include the possible costs of rescuing two gigantic mortgage companies. Read more…

AP - The New York state attorney general says eight student loan companies have agreed to pay $1.4 million and adopt broad reforms as part of a settlement over deceptive marketing practices. Read more…

Reuters - The operations of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were placed into a federal conservatorship, should now be treated as part of the federal budget, the head of the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. Read more…

BusinessWeek Online - It wasn't hard to find skeptics on Wall Street on Sept. 8, the day after the federal government's weekend takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Read more…

AFP - The dollar fell versus the euro and yen Tuesday on profit-taking following strong gains on the back of a US government takeover of two beleaguered mortgage groups, dealers said. Read more…

AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress should view the next few months as a "time out" in the highly charged debate over what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more…

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, adding to the previous session's sharp gains in the wake of the bailout of troubled mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and as a drop in oil prices eases worries over inflation and corporate costs. Read more…

AFP - The world's largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, is out of danger from major exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis, the group's chief executive Jacques Aigrain said in remarks published Tuesday. Read more…

Reuters - The U.S. government's move to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help shore up the housing market, the banking system and the wider economy, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday. Read more…

AFP - European stock markets held steady at the opening of trade on Tuesday following surges the day before caused by the US bailout of former mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more…

AFP - Foreign firms are keeping a close watch on the fate of Coca-Cola's bid for Chinese juice producer Huiyuan, as suspicions about economic nationalism are on the rise, a European business group said Tuesday. Read more…

Reuters - Republican White House nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin would ensure mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were permanently restructured and downsized, the pair wrote in The Wall Street Journal. Read more…