Business and Finance

• Fed Takes Over Troubled Mortgage Giants
  U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be put into conservatorship and their top executives will be removed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said. The intervention comes after the companies lost billions in the housing market turmoil, with no sign things are getting better.
• Federal Mortgage Takeover Plan Prompts Questions
  The U.S. Treasury Department has announced the government is taking over troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As details of the plan emerge, the possible impact on the economy and individual borrowers remain in question.
• Fed To Take Over Mortgage Giants Fannie, Freddie
  The Treasury Department is poised to announce it will takeover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together back roughly half of all outstanding U.S. mortgages. The government intervention comes after the companies lost billions in the housing market turmoil, with no sign things are getting better.
• Effects Of The Fannie/Freddie Takeover
  Host Liane Hansen speaks with Nariman Behravesh, Chief Economist at Global Insight. Behravesh says that without major action, chances of the housing crunch and credit crisis dragging on for another year are very high. But early action will probably save taxpayers in the long run, because the damage to the economy will be less.
• Bill Failed To Boost Confidence In Fannie, Freddie
  Jeffrey Birnbaum, a managing editor at <em>The Washington Times</em> talks about how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got to this point.
• Government To Bail Out Mortgage Giants
  The U.S. government is poised to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a number of reports published on Saturday. The reports, quoting unidentified officials, say the government will take the companies into conservatorship in an effort to shore up the battered housing and mortgage markets.
• Boeing Machinists Reject Offer, Strike
  Picket lines went up early Saturday at Boeing airplane factories. As many as 27,000 machinists are on strike. With many airlines desperate to update their fleets, Boeing can ill-afford a protracted walkout.
• Boeing Workers Vote To Strike
  Boeing's machinists have voted to strike, but also to return to the bargaining table for one last try. Boeing and the International Association of Machinists will have 48 hours to see if they can close the gap on pay, benefits and job security.
• Overbooking Blues: Stuck In The Middle Seat
  With more flights filled to capacity, airline passengers are rediscovering the middle seat. Airplanes are now typically more than 80 percent full, and that can translate into a host of problems for travelers &mdash; including the possibility of getting bumped.
• Why Politicians Like To Talk About Scranton
  The gritty Pennsylvania city has emerged as a symbolic battleground this election season. We talk with the Obama campaign and a neighborhood organization about how a slumping economy is affecting Scranton.
• What Detroit Wants From Candidates
  As the auto industry struggles, people in Detroit are growing increasingly worried. We find out why some think that Michigan may be the true Ohio this election season.
• 'Marketplace' Report: Unemployment Soars
  August was a bad month. Employers slashed 84,000 jobs and the unemployment rate hit a five-year high. We explore why this is particularly bad for female workers.
• Summary Judgment: A Record Summer For Movies
  Despite economic woes, domestic ticket sales topped a record $4 billion this summer. <em>Slate.com</em>'s Mark Jordan Legan caught up with a few movie-goers to see what they enjoyed about their cinematic experience. Food prices weren't part of it.
• Voting Technology Evolves In Electronic World
  Officials in many states are concerned about the reliability of electronic voting and are now moving toward systems that can provide a voter-verified paper trail. Larry Norden, author of <em>The Machinery of Democracy</em>, discusses the latest advances in voting technology.
• Google Launches 'Chrome' Web Browser
  Internet search giant Google unveiled Chrome, a new piece of Web browser software on Tuesday. Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand.com, explains what Google's open-source browser can do, and why a search engine leader wants to get into the Web software market.

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