AP - Executives and employees at the major credit ratings agencies were often aware of problems in the AAA grades awarded to thousands of mortgage-related securities whose downgrades helped plunge the nation into a financial meltdown.

--- AP ...

Reuters - Demand for applications to buy U.S. homes and refinance mortgages sank to the lowest level in nearly eight years, a trade group said on Wednesday, in the heart of a financial crisis that has sapped consumer confidence.

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AFP - The financial crisis has provided a needed culling of weak US financial institutions and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should bow out in turn, a top New York banker said Tuesday.

--- AFP ...