ashley morrison is here in new york with more. good morning ashley. >> good morning to you, betty.t asian markets saw losses today. japan's nikkei lost half a percentage point while hong kong's hang seng was off a fraction. today wall street gets the latest on trades. stocks fell thursday after fed chair ben bernanke offered no clues about what the federal reserve plans to do. the dow slid 119 points while the nasdaq fell nearly 20. >>> mortgage rates are at their lowest in six decades. freddie mac says the average on the 30-year fixed mortgage is down to 4.12%. the 15-year is at 3.3 prt but the low rates still aren't helping the housing market. high unemployment rates are keeping many away, and many can't even qualify for a loan as lenders tighten their standards. >>> america's biggest retailer is bringing back its layaway plan, after ditching the pay as you go program back in 2006, walmart is restoring it for the holiday season and may be longer. demand has been growing since the economic downturn and walmart was feeling the pressure as competitors like sears began offering it du

ashley morrison here in new york. >> good morning, terrell. most asian markets rebounded as bargain hunters moved in. japan's nikkei gained 2% while hong kong's hang seng added more than 1%. >>> the dow lost 101 points on tuesday while the nasdaq gave back 6. >>> yahoo! fired its ceo carol parts. it was not unexpected. investors liked the move. shares jumped 6% after she was dismissed. the company's cfo will fill in on an interim basis. yahoo! is still one of the most popular spots on the internet but faces increased competition from facebook and google. >>> saab will file for bankruptcy today. the company has to make the short term move to raise capital. gm sold the brand to a swedish company last year. >>> groupon may delay its plans to go public, according to the "wall street journal" the daily deals website is reconsidering its initial public offering of stock due to concerns about the stock market stability. earlier this summer groupon was hoping for an ipo valued near $30 billion. >>> one of the biggest hassles at the airport could end e

ashley morrison here in new york with that and more. ning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. most asian markets saw gains today. tokyo's nikkei up a fraction and hong kong's hang seng lost about 1%. >>> on tuesday, stocks finished mixed. the dow edged up almost 8 points while the nasdaq lost 22. >>> republican leaders on capitol hill want the federal reserve to sit tight. tuesday, they sent a letter to fed chair ben bernanke warning against any further attempts to lower interest rates. we have serious concerns, they said, that further intervention could exacerbate problems or could harm the economy. they expect some kind of action from the fed today at the close of its two-day meeting. >>> google chairman eric schmidt could be in for a rough day on capitol hill. a senate committee is looking into whether the company uses its power to unfairly compete with smaller internet rivals. google controls roughly two-thirds of the internet search market. >>> this might be described as a unique marketing technique. like a lot of homeowners, th

ashley morrison has that and more in new york. morning to you, ashley. >> reporter: good morning, terrell. asian market took a beating today on more fears about u.s.'s debt crisis. hang seng lost 3% while japan's hand sending was closed. today the wall street gets the latest on the housing markets. for the week, dow gained almost 5%, while the nasdaq was up more than 6%. >>> a break at the gas pump for drivers this morning. aaa says the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.59. that's down almost 7 cents from a week ago, but it's still more than 80 cents higher than the price was a year ago. >>> citigroup will start charging a monthly fee, $10 on accounts with low balances. the fee will be waived if a customer completes one direct deposit and one online bill payment per month through an account or maintains a combined balance of $1,500 in checking and savings accounts. the change takes effect in december. >>> at the movies, it was 1994 all over again. the release of "the lion king" reigned supreme. the animated

ashley morrison in new york, thank you. >>> new england patriots quarterback tom brady has complainedor years that patriots fans are just too quiet. but brady's idea to get the crowd pumped up this weekend raised some eyebrows. >> start drinking early! get nice and rowdy. it's 4:15 game. a lot of time to get lubed up and come out here and cheer for their home team. >> patriots officials tried to paper over the joke by saying, brady meant for fans to drink plenty of water, that is! >>> straight ahead, your thursday morning weather. >>> and in sports, hold on, honey. i have to grab this. a fan multitask flashing some leather in texas! >> he knows the cameras are on. >> he knows the cameras are i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means, i can feel better and do mo

>> ashley morrison in new york, thanks very much.preciate it. >>> swimmer diane nyad stopped her swim friday. without a shark cage or other protection. after stung multiple times by a jellyfish, she had to quit. >> i pictured it and i really pictured and i knew i could do it but i couldn't get there! i wanted that feeling to be on the beach so badly. it's just not going to happen. >> nyad says she is devastated but will not make another attempt at completing the marathon swim. >>> still to come, your monday morning weather. in sports, a stunning last-second upset in the nfl. of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ...could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you... ...with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra,... ...humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, blood, liver, and nervous system prob

ashley morrison is here with more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, terrell.s the global economy is heading for another downturn. tokyo's nikkei lost more than 2% and hong kong dropped more than 4%. >>> wall street fresh readouts on retail sales and consumer sentiment. trades are trying to stop the beating after a brutal session on friday. the dow plunged 303 points to close below the 11,000 mark and the nasdaq fell 61. investors bracing for another rough week. the fears over europe's debt crisis intensified sunday as new doubts emerged about the health of the banking system. financial officials, especially in france, are increasingly worried that grace's problems will spread. french banks are expecting ratings downgrades as early as today. >>> still no relief at the gas pump. prices up six cents the past couple of weeks to a national average $3.67 a gallon. still insist. analysts insist prices will come down soon as supply starts catching up with demand. >>> when the next iphone is released, consumers will have a new carrier option. sprint is widely expected

ashley morrison here in new york with that and more. ashley, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. big losses on the asian markets today. japan's nikkei fell more than 2%. most other markets were down. but hong kong's hang seng gained a fraction. global markets have largely tumbled since friday's u.s. jobs report showing no jobs were added in august. >>> today, wall street is back open for business, after the long holiday weekend. traders are bracing for more losses over fears we're headed back into a recession. last week the dow lost about half a percentage point. the blue chips have now fallen five of the past six weeks. while the nasdaq was up a fraction. >>> the senate banking committee holds a confirmation hearing today for richard cordray, the former ohio attorney general is the president's pick as head of the new consumer financial protection bureau. the new office, created in the wake of the financial crisis, is meant to protect consumers taking out loans, using credit cards, and making other financial transactions. >>>

while cbs money watch doesn't have sunken treasure, we do have ashley morrison. ey, good to see you this morning. >> good morning. thank you. >>> european markets rebounded today. tokyo's nikkei gained 3%. hong kong's hang seng jumped 3.5%. the dollar slipped against the euro and the yen. today, wall street gets the latest on home prices and consumer confidence. on monday, stocks had their best day in three weeks. the dow showed up 272 points to close back above 11,000 while the nasdaq rose 33. uncle sam is taking his first step out of the housing market. within a week, the federal government will lower the size of its home loans it will guarantee. it will mean higher costs and bigger down payments for many home buyers. the government currently supports a staggering 90% of all new mortgages. >>> s&p could be in the cross hairs of the s.e.c. the securities and exchange commission is considering civil action against the firm for 2007 ratings of mortgage investments that turned out to be worthless. s&p consistently gave good bargains to the mortgage backed securities

ashley morrison is here in new york with that and so much more. orning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. an up and down day for the asian markets. japan's nikkei edged up a fraction and hong kong's hang seng edge down. today wall street gets a look at the weekly jobless claim numbers. the dow shot up 275 points and the nasdaq gained 75. >>> wall street will be listening when federal reserve chairman ben bernanke speaks later today. the head of the central bank could give clues what steps the government may take to jumpstart the economy. >>> united, continental and delta have raised some air fares on some round fare trips. the hikes mainly affect business travelers who buy at the last minute. others carriers have not followed suit yet. >>> and facebook is on track for $1 billion in profits this year with overall revenues doubling in the first half of the year compared to last. the increase is mostly due to how the social networking giant cashes in on advertising. many analysts expect the company to go public next year. >>> and here is a man wi

ashley morrison is here with more. >> reporter: asian markets fell today over more worries about thet crisis after moody's downgraded big french banks. japan's nikkei down a little over 1%, while hong kong's hang seng gained a fraction. >>> on tuesday, stocks finished higher for the second straight day. the dow gained 44 points, while the nasdaq was up 37. >>> toyota says it is finally back to its normal production levels in north america after a six-month slowdown. the automaker had big supply problems following the march earthquake and tsunami in japan. they build 12 model in japan accounting for nearly 70% of its u.s. sales. >>> google jumped into the travel business. the search giant unfailed its new google flight section of the site on tuesday and google says it will make it easier and quicker to find the best prices being offered. the new feature has raised feature google will trample the competition in the fast growing online travel marketplace. >>> meanwhile, good luck getting a seat. airlines are putting new growth plans on fuel. high fuel prices and sluggish economy. analys

ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. good morning. >> good morning, betty. >> reporter: a decision by european central banks to support the financial system sent most asian markets higher. tokyo's nikkei gained 2 1/4% and hang seng up 1 1/2%. on thursday, stocks finished higher for the fourth day in a row. the dow shot up 186 points, while the nasdaq tacked on 34. >>> as stocks go, precious metals are going down. gold has dropped to its lowest level in almost three weeks. but investors should still be happy. gold is up 25% this year and remains in the 11th year of a bull market. many see the commodity as a safe haven when stocks are shaky. >>> 62,000 grocery workers in southern california are getting ready to go on strike. their union issued a 72-hour notice last night, setting the stage for a mass job action. negotiations for a new contract have dragged on for eight months. the main sticking point is health care benefits. >>> red lobster, olive garden, and four other chain restaurants are pledging to serve healthier foo