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WASHINGTON - Federal regulators are working on a stronger label for a widely used diabetes drug marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. after deaths were reported with the medication despite earlier government warnings.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks pared losses on Thursday as resurgent crude oil prices spurred buying into energy shares, including Exxon Mobil Corp , offsetting fears about possible credit losses in the financial sector.

LOS ANGELES - California homebuyers sprung to life in July, pouncing on foreclosed homes and deeply discounted properties but largely ignoring pricier homes that have been languishing on the market, a research firm said Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The outlook for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc darkened further on Thursday as a newspaper reported that an intended asset sale had collapsed and a Citigroup analyst forecast big losses for the group.

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will intensify his probe into auction-rate securities by focusing on Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, a person close to the investigation said Wednesday.

(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Dick Fuld nearly struck a deal to raise almost $5 billion from South Korean wealth funds and institutions but the pact disintegrated, the New York Post said citing sources familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON - Wholesale inflation soared in July, leaving prices rising at the fastest pace in nearly three decades. While recent declines in oil and other commodity prices raise hopes inflation may have peaked, some economists worry about the widespread nature of the July price surge and caution it will take more time for that pressure to ease on Wall Street and Main Street.

In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" — mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."

WASHINGTON - Two giant mortgage companies get into hot water over risky investments. The government steps in to throw them a lifeline should they need it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale prices shot up in July at the fastest annual rate in 27 years, while home builders cut back on construction as they worked through a glut of unsold homes, government data showed on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac slid at the open on Thursday, on mounting fears that the two mortgage finance companies may need a government bailout, which would wipe out shareholder value.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Four national associations of real estate appraisers have asked Congress for major regulatory reforms in the wake of an Associated Press investigation that identified key failings within the existing system.

NEW YORK - Media coverage of the economic downturn in the U.S. has lagged behind both economic activity and public interest, according to a study being released Monday by a Washington, D.C.-based research group.

ASPEN, Colo. (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve must be ready to take action if slowing economic growth fails to curb inflation stemming from higher food and energy prices, two top Fed policy-makers said on Tuesday, indicating that higher interest rates may be needed.

WASHINGTON - Construction of homes and apartments fell in July to the lowest level in more than 17 years, the government reported Tuesday.

NEW YORK - Mortgage application volume fell last week to its lowest levels in nearly eight years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

ZURICH (AFP) - The United States is likely to slip into recession in the coming months as the cushioning impact of sharp interest rate cuts and tax rebates wears out, UBS bank economists said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A pair of troubling US economic reports released Tuesday showed a sharp uptick in wholesale prices and a heavy slump in new home construction are continuing to plague the world's largest economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors dumped shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.

WASHINGTON - Shares of troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued their freefall Thursday, as market expectations grew that the government would intervene and eliminate common stockholders' investment.