Topic: U.S. Federal Reserve

Ten US banks to repay TARP money

The Monitor's View: Reframing the jobs picture

Higher unemployment but slower layoffs hints at a need for Washington to switch from rescuer to reformer.

As interest rates rise, housing market groans

Higher rates led to a 16 percent drop in mortgage refinancing last week.

Fed chief calls for deficit control. Why now?

Bernanke warned Wednesday that federal debt as a share of GDP is approaching highest levels since the early 1950s, after the massive borrowing of World War II.

Bernanke: Exit strategy could take five years

Brace yourself: Interest rates likely to climb higher

Higher US rates signal an economy on the mend, but they could also extend the housing slump and add to the federal debt.

Top economists see the recession ending by fall

Unemployment, though, will continue to rise through the end of the year, they say.

Are investors in the US and abroad losing faith in the dollar?

This summer's gas price forecast better than last

The higher prices, linked to rising oil costs, are still lower compared with last Memorial Day.

Credit-card firms already trimming rewards

Congress moves to regulate credit cards

Lawmakers have been getting an earful from disgruntled consumers.

Belatedly, House votes to curb predatory lending

Backers of the legislation, which passed Thursday, say it will prevent any future wave of foreclosures like the one that has engulfed the US housing market.

The Monitor's View: Obama passes the stress test, too

His economic team forces a transparency on troubled banks that needs to be permanent.

Stress tests behind them, banks move to pay back TARP funds

Some firms, including Morgan Stanley, race to prove they can fund themselves by turning to private investors.

Opinion: A major investment risk: Congress at work

When Congress is in session, stock prices tend to stall or fall. When Congress is out of session, they tend to soar.

Four big banks need more capital to weather recession, US finds

'Stress tests' reveal that banks need to raise more than $65 billion to be able to keep lending if the recession drags on.

Five things the bank stress tests will and will not do

The tests will be the first clear look at which banks are doing better than others, for example, but they won't be the last word.

The Age of the Unthinkable

Keeping the US truly safe, argues a journalist, requires us to radically rethink our sense of safety.

Opinion: Stop feeding the loan sharks

Credit-card companies take unfair advantage of us. Let's revolt.

Today's briefing: Georgia shaking, economy mending,

Bernanke looking ahead to bailout 'exit strategy' as fears lessen

The Fed chief said he sees the economy beginning to revive by year-end.

Congress turns from bank bailouts to helping consumers

Targets include credit card companies, payday loans with exorbitant interest rates, and predatory mortgage lenders.

Dow's spring rally: Is it real (or like 1931)?

Where did all the bailout money go?

The government has pledged $11.3 trillion for economic rescue – and has spent one-quarter of that. On what?

Silver lining of shrinking economy: consumer spending up

Economic activity in the US plunged 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, but free-fall in consumer spending stopped.