Business Experts Discuss Effects of Market Swings (The Online NewsHour)
Large financial institutions have shouldered much of the impact of the rattled stock market and housing numbers, but there are new concerns about the effects on the economy. Four business writers from around the country explain how the instability is hitting home.

Wachovia Names New Leader for Affluent Credit Services (FinanzNachrichten)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wachovia Wealth Management announced today that Adam D. Holtzschue, a 21-year industry veteran in delivering credit and deposit products to affluent and commercial banking clients, has been named managing executive of Affluent Credit Services.

U.S. Consumers Keep Shelling Out Money (Forbes)
July retail sales beat forecasts.

Turning around distressed firms complex business (The News Journal)
"What you don't know will kill you" when it comes to investing in distressed companies, according to Joyce Johnson-Miller, senior managing director at The Relativity Fund, based in New York City.

Consumer Credit Usage Spikes In June: A Sign Of Consumer Spending Strength? (Seeking Alpha via Yahoo! Finance)
Markham Lee submits: In an earlier article on Bank of America , I noted that if the trend of increased consumer credit usage continued, it could be a sign that debt losses at the retail banks will continue to accelerate.

Is Economy Facing Widening Credit Squeeze? (MSNBC)
With the home-mortgage crunch roiling stock markets, economists are beginning to worry about America’s credit-card debt.

Watch List (Aug. 5-11): Ah Contraire (CoStar Group)
In this week's issue we report that: while U.S. homebuilders are still writing down land holdings, others are starting to look at the opportunities that may be coming; U.S. newspapers are taking big hits on troubles in residential real estate; Prudential...

Tales, tools and trinkets conjure up a Depression-era America (Las Cruces Sun-News)
LAS CRUCES — The Great Depression was a time of major challenges and sacrifices, but Americans also demonstrated their resourcefulness and creativity during a time of economic hardship.

Banco Itau's Profit Climbs 41% on Rise in Lending (Update2) (Bloomberg.com)
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA, Brazil's biggest non-government bank, said second-quarter profit rose 41 percent as the country's lower interest rates encouraged demand for credit. The lender also announced a stock split.

E-LOAN Announces Individual Tenancy-in-Common Financing (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
PLEASANTON, Calif.----E-LOAN®, an online consumer financial services company, today announced the launch of its individual Tenancy-In-Common financing to help those consumers living in high rent markets more fully participate in the American Dream.