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“There is no logical reason for this fuel plant to be shut down. This is another example of Hamas orchestrating an artificial crisis for its own political aims.”

Palestinian militants bombarded southern Israel with rockets and mortars on Saturday, part of a new outburst of violence that threatens fragile Egyptian efforts to broker a truce in the Gaza Strip.

No one was hurt in the early morning attacks. The flareup in violence began Friday when Hamas militants fired mortar shells that killed a 48-year-old Israeli man while he was gardening at his home near the Gaza border. Three other people were wounded.

Israel retaliated by firing missiles at two Hamas police stations late Friday, killing five militants. Read more

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“House Democrats passed bills that they know will never become law. Most Americans understand that we shouldn't create a taxpayer-funded bailout for lenders and speculators”

Democrats' plans to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners struggling with rising subprime mortgage rates and plummeting house values could be sidetracked by President Bush's threatened veto and the ... via EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

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“High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy”

A government-backed mortgage bailout is needed, and it must be done right away. Before shouting about all the reasons why taxpayers shouldn't rescue the profligate who took on more debt than they could handle, ... via Daily Herald

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Federal regulators says they've closed ANB Financial National Association banks after discovering 'unsafe and unsound' business practices there.

David Barr, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says many customers served by the bank's nine locations had accounts under $100,000, which will be fully insured by the government. Barr says customers can continue to write checks and draw money from ATMs through the weekend.

Barr says Pulaski Bank and Trust Co. agreed to assume control over ANB Financial's bank locations, which will be open Monday. Read more

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“Taking into consideration strong net inflows and stable margins, the segment is poised for future growth as markets go back to normal.”

German insurer Allianz SE said Friday first-quarter net profit fell 65% due to difficult market conditions as it wrote down $1.3 billion tied to the U.S. subprime crisis. via CNN Money

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“A significant number of people have had to stretch themselves to the absolute limit to get into the housing market in recent times as prices soared. "This means that they are particularly vulnerable to any adverse shock to their finances.”

The figures show households facing the early stages of repossession The number of homeowners facing repossession orders after failing to keep up with mortgage payments is up, says the Ministry of Justice. via BBC

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“We believe the right model is a global universal bank.”

Citigroup Inc. said Friday it aims to shed about $500 billion in assets and grow revenue by 9 percent over the next few years, as it tries to rebound from massive losses tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets.

The plans are the most concrete yet by Vikram Pandit, nearing his five-month anniversary as the bank's CEO, to prove himself a capable turnaround specialist at a company that many claim was struggling long before the housing market collapse.

The bank's plans to wind down its $2.2 trillion in assets to approximately $1.7 trillion were part of an investor day presentation at one of Citigroup's Manhattan offices. Read more

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Families facing having their house repossessed because of the credit crunch will get free legal help to avoid losing their homes, the Government has announced. via Daily Express

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“While we anticipated a difficult trading environment, the severity of the unrealized valuation losses and decline in value of our investments were beyond our expectations”

By STEPHEN BERNARD The Associated Press Thursday, May 8, 2008; 5:32 PM NEW YORK -- American International Group Inc. via Washington Post

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The Federal Reserve has auctioned $28.77 billion in safe Treasury securities to big investment firms, part of an ongoing effort to ease credit problems. via ABC7News

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