BusinessWeek Online - More than five years ago, in April 2003, the attorneys general of two small states traveled to Washington with a stern warning for the nation's top bank regulator. Sitting in the spacious Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, with its panoramic view of the capital, the AGs from North Carolina and Iowa said lenders were pushing increasingly risky mortgages. Their host, John D. Hawke Jr., expressed skepticism.

AFP - Japan's Yamato Life Insurance is in the process of filing for bankruptcy protection, Jiji Press reported Friday.

AFP - Barack Obama slammed John McCain's plan to buy up 300 billion dollars in bad mortgages as "risky" on Thursday, and warned his White House rival was offering "erratic" leadership at a time of crisis.

Reuters - Down in opinion polls, Republican presidential nominee John McCain pressed his effort to raise doubts about Barack Obama's character on Thursday with a fresh attack on his Democratic rival's contacts with a former left-wing radical who became a college professor.

Reuters - BlackRock Inc and Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco) are bidding to manage mortgage-backed assets in the U.S.'s $700 billion financial bailout, Bloomberg news agency said, citing people familiar with the matter.

BusinessWeek Online - Financial advisers are usually an unflappable bunch. When the markets are wild, investors turn to their financial planners for calm, consistent advice: Stick to the plan, think long term, don't do anything rash. Advisers have studied their history and know that markets go up, down, and sideways; proper investing requires patience.

AP - Ordering the government to buy up bad mortgages to cut homeowners' monthly payments might sound good, but experts are skeptical. They say the plan John McCain is promoting is unlikely to solve the housing crisis that's pushing the economy toward recession.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc will cut 500 mortgage-related jobs and slash by 90 percent the number of independent mortgage brokers it works with, the company said, as the U.S. mortgage industry broadly shrinks amid the housing crisis.

Reuters - UBS AG is halting its widely read weekly mortgage strategy report after more than 15 years of publication as the bank broadly scales down in the home loan business, including the closure of its asset-backed securities group, sources said.

Reuters - American International Group Inc could get nearly $38 billion in fresh cash under a program announced by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, as the insurer tried to fend off criticism of a lavish event held days after getting an initial $85 billion government loan.