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WASHINGTON - CIT Group Inc.'s inability to get emergency government funding drew a muted reaction from investors, suggesting the commercial lender's possible failure won't have widespread economic consequences.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc , a lender to hundreds of thousands of small and mid-sized U.S. businesses, said bailout talks with the government had ended, a development that could ultimately drive the company into bankruptcy.

Amid all the pomposity surrounding discussions of the credit crisis ("capitalism is over!", "hang anyone with a pinstriped suit!") it is easy to forget what truly triggered the malaise. Simply put: A tiny bunch of guys (some gals, too) inside a handful of financial institutions made hugely leveraged, often complex, massively sized bets on the health of the (mostly U.S.) subprime housing market. As the latter inevitably turned sour, those bets inevitably sank the punters, and as these behemoths floundered, so did the financial system and thus the economy at large.

Gas prices and GDP woes may have Americans tightening our belts, but that doesn't mean we're happy about it.

Article highlights Mass residents trapped in the system.

WASHINGTON - Sharply higher prices for everyday goods in June reflected a surge at the gas pump, not the start of a dangerous bout of inflation. In fact, economists say falling prices are the bigger danger.

Homeowners worried about missing mortgage payments and entering foreclosure may have another option: a loan modification.

China has been blamed for a raft of dangerous exports to the U.S. -- lead-tainted toys, melamine-spiked pet food, and contaminated blood thinners. Now one of the biggest homebuilders in the U.S. says defective drywall from China is the culprit for fumes that have damaged 400 houses in Florida.

NEW YORK - The nation's big companies are giving investors a reason to restart Wall Street's spring rally.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc has evacuated staff in China involved in research of the iron ore and steel industry in response to the detention of some of its iron ore traders by state authorities, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve expects the economy this year will sink at a slower pace than it previously thought, but that unemployment will top 10 percent and remain high for the next few years, according to a new forecast released Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Wednesday filed civil charges for insider trading against 11 people, including a 26-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc investment banking analyst accused of leaking confidential merger information to his brother.

The admissions committees at top business schools want to meet the real you, the man or woman behind your GMAT scores, transcripts, and resume. They want to know who you are now -- what motivates you, what sets you apart from others, and who you'd like to become -- what career goals you have and how you'd like to achieve them. Revealing your inner self, your hopes and dreams, is the purpose of the business school application essays. "The essays are windows into who you are as a person, your heart," says Stacy Blackman, president of Stacy Blackman Consulting in Los Angeles. Your No. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, has sued the three largest credit rating agencies for giving perfect grades to securities that later suffered huge subprime mortgage losses.

Here's the scenario: You are suddenly given access to a mountain (or even just a molehill) of formerly off-limit money. What do you do?

BEIJING (AFP) - US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke Wednesday said China could play a pivotal role in bringing an end to the global economic crisis by further opening its domestic markets and easing currency controls.