Hot finance topics

Stocks rallied Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at the highest point in nine months, after the July jobs report showed the smallest number of job cuts in nearly a year, adding to recovery hopes.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 114 points, or 1.2%, according to early tallies. The S&P 500 […]

Consumers paid down their credit cards and cut other debt in June for the fifth straight month as they rebuild savings battered by the recession.
Outstanding U.S. consumer debt fell by $10.3 billion, or 4.9 percent at an annual rate, to $2.5 trillion, the Federal Reserve said. That’s a much steeper cut than […]

or tried to turn in — to get their Cash for Clunkers deal.
View photos

Is stimulus helping you?

CNNMoney.com readers describe how President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package has helped them — or hasn’t.
View photos

DETROIT’S DOWNFALL

Cash for Clunkers: Real stimulus
Hunger hits Detroit’s middle class
Toyota struggles to get back on track
[…]

especially those who are medical professionals — to weigh in on who can help solve the problem. Here are some responses:
View photos

FIXING HEALTH CARE

Health reform follies: How to keep up
Free medical school for 40 lucky students
Digital health: Struggle or a pipedream?
Holdouts move forward on health care […]

Is the Chinese economy in the same state as the American economy was in the summer of 2007? In other words, all pumped up and ready to pop?
If so, it might be time to learn how to say bubble in Mandarin. And that could be bad news for those hoping for a sustainable […]

Mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, driven by a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
Applications for loans to buy a home, an early indicator of sales, were flat. Lack of interest for purchase loans does not bode […]