December 18, 2007

the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to close at 1,455

2 news clips from this day

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Fed unveils subprime lending rules; housing starts hit 16-year low

CBS News

Transcript

[Music] the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan to protect subprime borrowers from Shady lending practices it includes new rules to force lenders to have proof of the borrower income before making a loan and force borrowers to set aside funds for taxes and insurance there would also be rules limiting penalties on borrowers who pay off their loans early fed Chief Ben banki said unfair and deceptive lending hurts communities Borrowers and the overall economy more bad news from the housing market construction of new homes and apartments dropped by nearly 4% in November to a 16-year low building permits a measure of future construction fell for the sixth straight month to the slowest Pace since 1993 we are becoming a truly mobile Society 2007 is seen as the first year us households spent more on cell phones than land lines there are an estimated 170 million land lines Nationwide and about 250 million in cell phones a market research firm says there's a huge move toward giving up landlines altogether and using cell phones exclusively that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more business headlines in New York I'm Alexis christopherus

Notebook: Food Banks

CBS News

Transcript

[Music] T the season for giving and if you're still stumped about what to give here's an idea food and I don't mean fruit cake or cookies all around the country food banks that help the hungry are struggling donations are down everywhere and there's simply not enough food to give the reasons are varied higher gas prices and an uncertain economy have forced many people to tighten their belts there's also less surplus food available from Farmers and a lot of cheap warehouse stores are snapping up inventory while supplies are smaller the need is greater a food bank director in New Hampshire said it's not just the homeless anymore a lot of working people are now relying on them for help so check with your local church Salvation Army or Regional Food Bank you could help give some of your neighbors what they really want for Christmas to not go to bed hungry that's a page from my notebook I'm Katie kurick CBS News