U.S. credit card defaults fell more than expected in October, but delinquencies rose in a sign that consumers remain under stress and the sector can expect more pain ahead, credit card companies reported on Monday.

The company is in a position to start paying back taxpayer loans, but still lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter.

The Federal Housing Administration says its financial cushion has dipped to a dangerously low level but should remain above zero under "most economic scenarios."

The crisis is not over as unemployment is likely to continue rising for the next 10 to 11 months, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, told CNBC Thursday.

Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications higher last week as fixed borrowing costs fell further below 5 percent, but home purchase demand sank to a nine-year low, an industry group said on Thursday.

So far, much of the effort in Washington has focused on loosening credit conditions to make borrowing easier. But the bigger problem may be that credit-worthy companies simply do not want to borrow.

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday raised its rating on Nasdaq OMX to investment grade from junk status, citing success in diversifying revenues, integrating mergers and boosting profits.

Commercial real estate is somewhere between an orderly massacre and a disaster, William Mack, founder and chairman of Area Property Partners, told CNBC.

Just one in twenty Americans say they plan to buy a home within the next year, and they're most likely to be 34 years old or younger and living in the South or West, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Stubbornly high joblessness threatens to trigger loan defaults and drag on consumption next year, hobbling a U.S. economy struggling to rebound from recession, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Wednesday.

McGraw-Hill is committed to its Standard & Poor's unit, and welcomes tougher regulation aimed at further transparency and accountability in the credit ratings industry, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Banks are struggling to make money in the credit card business these days, and consumers are paying the price. Interest rates are going up, credit lines are being cut and a variety of new fees are being imposed on even the best cardholders. The New York Times reports.

The housing market has improved slightly and prices are starting to stabilize, but we could see another downswing this winter, James Lockhart, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co. and former director of the Federal Housing Financial Agency, told CNBC.

Some 650,000 borrowers have thus far  received a trial loan modification under the Obama administration plan.

About two-thirds of global corporates are not prepared to pay higher rents to take space at "green" buildings, even though 70 percent of them view sustainability as a critical business issue, a survey showed.