Provo considers restrictions on payday loan stores. City officials in Provo are considering clamping down on payday lending stores. City councilwoman Cindy Richards said she's seen a rapid growth of fash-cash loan operations in her district, some within blocks..

Wescom to close 11 of 55 offices. The global crisis in the financial markets is now affecting a local credit union.

Getting Smarter on School Loans. BusinessWeek Online - For years, college students and their parents have relied heavily on credit cards, home equity, and private loans to pay for school, according to a recent survey provided exclusively to BusinessWeek. But those sources of cash are drying up. On Aug. 6, Wachovia joined the more than 150 financial firms that have fled the private student-loan business. And Morgan Stanley froze home-equity lines for some clients.

W.Va. AG sues Countrywide over home foreclosures. West Virginias attorney general accuses a national mortgage lender of making risky and unconscionable loans in a lawsuit thats similar to challenges filed in several other states.

London shares close lower. Leading shares closed lower Friday as commodity stocks dragged down the FTSE despite better-than-expected US data.

BofA buy may not rescue Countrywide. Countrywide's acquisition by Bank of America Corp. was supposed to help keep the troubled mortgage lender from collapse.

Wall Street heads for higher open as oil slips. Stock futures pointed to a moderately higher open Monday as investors remained cautiously upbeat about the recent downturn in oil prices, which dipped further below $114 a barrel even as Tropical Storm Fay..

Graduates' Job Hunts: Majorly Frustrating. Thomas Rumeau already had a bachelor's degree in economics but decided that a master's in public policy would make him more marketable.

AP IMPACT: Weak rules cripple appraiser oversight. As soaring home prices set the stage for Americas great housing meltdown, a critical step in making sure those home sales were a fair deal -- the real estate appraisal -- was undermined from within.

How to Side Step Some Charges When Renting or Buying a Car. Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

China shares end down 5.34 pct. Chinese share prices closed down 5.34 percent Monday amid renewed worries about an economic slowdown and a share supply glut as selling restrictions were due to be lifted on billions of shares, dealers said.

A Helping Hand for Harried Homeowners. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is doing something that should have been done a long time ago.

Stock futures point to Wall St rise; Wal-Mart, data eyed. Stock futures point to a higher opening on Wall Street on Thursday, reversing some of the previous session's losses while investors await for key inflation data, as well as earnings from Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer.

Huntington: No fallout from latest Franklin losses. With a big second-quarter loss coming for Franklin Credit Management Corp., Huntington Bancshares Inc.

Mortgage-Finance Flops. How bad has it been for mortgage-finance firms and thrifts? Of 168 publicly traded companies, 95 percent suffered stock declines in the past year through Tuesday, which was before last week's bounce. Nine of the stocks were trading at less than $1. Among the worst hit: Radian, a provider of..

U.S. economy: Consumer sentiment, manufacturing gain. Confidence among American consumers gained this month and manufacturing grew the most since January as a slide in gasoline, oil, metals and grain prices eased cost pressures on households and companies.

Betting Against Wall Street's Bears. Short sellers sometimes elicit strong opinions among investors. The practice, in a nutshell, involves selling borrowed shares, which the short seller hopes to replace later at a lower price. Because short sellers profit when stocks fall, critics often demonize them as nothing more than nattering..

Wall Street pulls back as financials fall. Wall Street pulled back sharply Monday following more reports that the financial sector remains under stress. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 120 points, or about 1 percent.

Credit jitters, surging oil hurt stocks. Stocks fell on Wednesday, as persistent concerns about the credit crisis hurt bank shares while a rebound in oil prices and weak outlooks at some retailers raised anxieties about consumer spending.

Wall St slides as credit worries rattle financials. Stocks fell on Monday as investors fretted about the prospect of more losses from the mortgage crisis, bruising shares of the two big U.S. home finance providers and other financial companies.