Reuters - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing the now-bankrupt mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc of inflating the appraised values of homes and misleading borrowers into paying higher closing and financing costs. Read more…

Reuters - Merrill Lynch said it was premature to consider a recapitalization sponsored by the U.S Treasury for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae , the two biggest U.S. mortgage finance giants, as capital depletion would not likely occur for several quarters. Read more…

AFP - The FTSE 100 was lower on Wednesday, pulled down by the property sector which was hit by news that housebuilder Taylor Wimpey saw its profits evaporate in the first half of the year. Read more…

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in three weeks as interest rates edged lower, an industry group said on Wednesday. Read more…

FT.com - Even as another embattled British builder, Bovis, pleads for greater intervention to support the UK mortgage market, where new loan approvals are down 65 per cent versus a year ago, the European Central Bank is looking nervously at the support it has provided the sector. Read more…

AP - Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac climbed for a second day Tuesday amid expectations in some Wall Street quarters that the mortgage finance giants will be able to weather the housing storm without a government rescue. Read more…

Reuters - Thornburg Mortgage Inc , a specialist in jumbo home loans, said its survival remained in doubt following additional margin calls, but it is on track to complete a restructuring and avoid collapse. Read more…

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , the two biggest U.S. mortgage finance giants, have enough capital to absorb probable losses through the end of the year, according to Citigroup equity research. Read more…

BusinessWeek Online - On Wall Street, the yearlong credit crunch continues to hog headlines. For example, the future is still in question for investment banks like Lehman Brothers and mortgage financiers (BusinessWeek.com, 8/22/08) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Read more…

AP - Consumer confidence in Europe's biggest economy declined for a fourth month in a row, sliding to another five-year low as lower energy prices failed to bolster Germans' likelihood of buying new goods, a report released Tuesday found. Read more…

AP - Reported incidents of mortgage fraud jumped 42 percent nationwide, with Florida reporting the highest number of cases, according to industry data released Monday. Read more…

Reuters - Two of the biggest U.S. bond investors said they would get involved in a capital raising by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as long as the U.S. Treasury participates in the new deals. Read more…

AP - Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soared Monday after Freddie completed a $2 billion debt sale and a Wall Street analyst said a government bailout of the mortgage finance giants may not be inevitable. Read more…

Reuters - The International Monetary Fund has trimmed its forecasts for 2008 and 2009 world economic growth, largely due to a marked worsening in the outlook for the euro zone, a G20 finance official told Reuters on Monday. Read more…

Reuters - Ailing mortgage finance company Freddie Mac easily sold $2 billion of debt on Monday, reassuring investors that it and rival Fannie Mae can fund operations without a government takeover. Read more…

AFP - German bank IKB, a casualty of the subprime mortgage crisis, was sold to US private equity group Lone Star for 150 million euros, German media reported Saturday. Read more…

AP - Do Washington policymakers listen too much to Wall Street? A possible bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on the heels of similar action involving investment firm Bear Stearns, seems to send a loud signal to financial companies that the government will clean up their messes. Read more…

Reuters - Any effort by the U.S. Treasury Department to backstop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would seek to maintain the companies as shareholder-owned enterprises, a source familiar with Treasury thinking said on Friday. Read more…

AFP - The FTSE 100 index finished near its session high Friday as investors took heart from signs of more merger and acquisition activity in the banking sector. Read more…

Reuters - Panicked investors are dumping shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , but derivatives trading is likely to continue normally with two of the largest players in the market, a trade group official and a bank risk manager said. Read more…

AP - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday he believes mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are too big to fail, but shareholder equity in those companies could be wiped out. Read more…

AFP - Britain's economy stopped growing in the second quarter of 2008, recording the weakest quarterly growth rate for 16 years and leaving the country on the brink of recession, analysts said Friday. Read more…

AP - British economic growth ground to a halt between April and June, ending more than 15 years of continuous expansion, the government said Friday, as many fear the country is headed for recession. Read more…

Reuters - Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy is unlikely to improve before 2009, and that he expects the government to take action to support troubled mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Read more…

Reuters - Investors' growing belief in the likelihood of a federal bailout of home-funding giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac triggered a rally in the debt prices of the two companies on Thursday while a steep fall in their shares prices abated. Read more…