If there’s a silver lining to bear markets, it is that they make stocks cheap for the next wave of investors. But so far in this downturn, it isn’t working out that way.

Advisers poring over the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac concluded that Freddie’s accounting methods had overstated its cushion, officials said.

The union that represents 27,000 machinists in Washington State, Oregon and Kansas walked off the job as Boeing’s books are bulging with demand for its planes.

The University Small Business Patent Procedures Act is under increasing scrutiny by swelling ranks of critics, who charge that it has distorted the fundamental mission of universities.

As the economy sputters and consumers look to save money, the privately held supermarket chain Aldi is suddenly emerging as a major force in the grocery business.

Credit card issuers are scaling back on their direct-mail offers. The decline is expected to continue through the end of the year, as the credit crisis reverberates.

Faith Popcorn, the trend-spotter, personifies the trends she’s spotting these days.

The Long-Term Capital fiasco momentarily shocked Wall Street out of its complacent trust in financial models and was replete with lessons, but the lessons were ignored.

The decision to go public is the latest twist for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, a firm that helped invent an entire industry.

Lawmakers in some states are looking to sharply reduce the caps on annual interest rates for payday lenders, as the industry is attempting to put the issue on the ballot.