Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress clashed on Tuesday over the best use for the $700-billion financial bailout fund, with lawmakers demanding money to stem a national wave of mortgage foreclosures.

AP - Faced with exasperated lawmakers upset by shifts in bailout strategy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson launched a spirited defense Tuesday of his handling of the $700 billion program and expressed fresh reservations about tapping the pool for mortgage guarantees to relieve skyrocketing home foreclosures.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said on Tuesday it is "pretty clear" the U.S. economy is in a recession, and forecast no recovery until the housing market stabilizes around the middle of 2009.

AP - Homebuilders' confidence in a near-term housing recovery sank to a new all-time low this month, reflecting growing worries over the U.S. financial crisis, rising unemployment and weakening consumer confidence, an industry trade association said Tuesday.

AP - Home prices fell in a record four out of five U.S. cities in the third quarter as low-cost foreclosures flooded the market and the U.S. housing market's decline spread throughout the country.

Reuters - Freddie Mac could post losses totaling $20 billion to $40 billion in 2009, hurt by higher credit costs and write-downs in mortgage assets, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey said.

AFP - UBS said on Monday it would not pay a bonus to its chairman and board of directors for 2008 after the bank was bailed out by the Swiss government amid billions of dollars in losses from the subprime crisis.

AP - The Postal Service is investigating whether the nation's postmaster general improperly received a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial Corp., the chairman of the service's governing board said.