A suburban Virginia county ravaged by the mortgage crisis plans to buy up foreclosed properties and aid first-time homebuyers who want to purchase them as part of an effort to shore up the local housing market.

Standard & Poor's on Tuesday lowered its outlook on diversified banks and other diversified financial services companies to "Negative" from "Neutral," warning that some may need to cut dividends and raise additional capital to cover mounting loan losses.

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday it maintained its ratings on Countrywide Financial Corp. after Bank of America Corp. completed its acquisition of the mortgage lender.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Tuesday it raised its ratings on Countrywide Financial Corp. to match those of Bank of America Corp.

A unit of Swiss bank UBS AG spent $170,000 in the first quarter lobbying the U.S. government, according to a recent disclosure form.

Shares of CIT Group Inc. jumped sharply Tuesday after the company said it would sell its home-lending business to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion cash and $4.4 billion in assumed debt, news that an analyst said will help the balance sheet.

A Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. analyst upgraded Comerica Inc. Tuesday based on the regional bank's current price and despite an expectation for rising losses tied to defaulting loans.

Commercial lender CIT Group agreed to sell its home lending business to private equity firm Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion in cash to increase liquidity, and will take a related second-quarter charge of $2 billion.

Florida sued mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Monday for predatory lending practices, alleging the company at the center of the U.S. mortgage crisis made subprime loans to people who could not repay them.

President Bush on Tuesday will talk with clients who have sought help from a nonprofit agency that offers housing counseling as he visits Arkansas — a state that has seen an uptick in foreclosures but hasn't been hit as hard by the mortgage crisis as other states.

Shares of Freddie Mac fell to a 13-year low Monday amid continuing uncertainty about how much the housing market's troubles will slam the mortgage finance company.

Uncertainty about the scope and timing of credit losses at banks has led to widely divergent analyst earnings estimates, and recovery in the sector might not occur until 2010, analysts said Monday.

A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law.

Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. continued to climb for the third straight day Thursday after shares fell sharply Monday amid speculation the investment bank might be bought out at a discount price by Barclays PLC.

The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., which publishes textbooks, educational materials and BusinessWeek magazine and owns the Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, spent $360,000 in the first quarter to lobby the federal government, according to a recent disclosure form. on and other issues.