Satellite television company DirecTV Group Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings rose 10.4% after it acquired a surprising number of new U.S. subscribers despite a housing meltdown.

An amendment to add a change in the bankruptcy law to a Senate bill addressing the housing meltdown fails. The Senate began debate Thursday on a bill that leaders have pitched as much-needed relief for distressed homeowners, but would give an estimated $6 billion in tax breaks to help the home-building industry.

Loan checkers say their warnings of risk were met with indifference They could see the meltdown coming.

Six months ago, it looked like New Hampshire was faring better than most states in the mortgage-industry meltdown. That's what experts were saying, and the numbers seemed to back it up. ... - By ASHLEY SMITH and DAVID BROOKS Telegraph Staff

WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures soared to an all-time high in the final quarter of last year and are likely to keep on rising, underscoring the suffering of distressed homeowners and the growing danger the housing meltdown poses for the economy.

California plans to spend up to $5.6 million in federal grant money to retrain mortgage industry workers who lost their jobs in the wake of the sub-prime lending meltdown, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures shot up to an all-time high in the third quarter, fresh evidence of the problems afflicting distressed homeowners amid the housing meltdown.

With effects reverberating throughout the economy, pressure grows for the Fed to cut interest rates further. But that wouldn't necessarily prevent a recession. The mortgage meltdown is taking a rising toll on the broader economy, increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates for a third time next month in hopes of averting a recession.

A giant loss at the government-chartered company may curb the Calabasas lender's ability to make loans. Countrywide Financial Corp. survived the first phase of the mortgage meltdown this summer thanks in part to a $2-billion investment from Bank of America.

F rom the mortgage meltdown to the plunge in home sales, dark clouds continue to threaten San Francisco's seemingly endless real estate summer. And yet remarkably, local Realtors I know seem as cheery as ever. "It doesn't look slow to me," says Bonnie...