FT.com - Japan's large banks could have an aggregate exposure of Y1,000bn ($8.3bn) to the stricken US subprime mortgage market,highlighting the extent to which the problems of low-quality mortgages in the US are affecting investors globally.

British life insurers seek eight-billion-pound merger (AFP)

AFP - British life insurance groups Friends Provident and Resolution said on Monday that they were in advanced talks on a merger worth 8.31 billion pounds (12.4 billion euros, 17.1 billion dollars).

Retire Early
The Ultimate Dream: How to achieve financial freedom long before 65. Plus: Best Jobs in America. Full table of contents for the April issue.

Right investment, wrong time of life
Question: My wife and I are in our 30’s and have $380,000 invested in three annuities and $166,000 invested in 401(k)s, one of which I’m still funding with 6 percent of my paycheck. Do you think it makes sense to have so much invested in annuities at our age? - Craig, Clinton, Michigan

FT.com - The dollar fell to a two-month low against the yen on Tuesday as fears over the impact of turmoil in the US subprime mortgage and credit markets continued to put pressure on the US currency. More Info…

Whenever a popular investing argument starts to sound like a no-brainer, I know that lots of people will soon be losing lots of money. More Info…

Question: I’ve been hearing a lot about “equity harvesting,” or the practice of taking equity out of my home and investing it the markets. Do you think this is a good idea? What are the pros and cons? - Rich, Tampa, Florida More Info…

AFP - British life insurance groups Friends Provident and Resolution said on Monday that they were in advanced talks on a merger worth 8.31 billion pounds (12.4 billion euros, 17.1 billion dollars).

More Info…

The Ultimate Dream: How to achieve financial freedom long before 65. Plus: Best Jobs in America. Full table of contents for the April issue. More Info…

The Ultimate Dream: How to achieve financial freedom long before 65. Plus: Best Jobs in America. Full table of contents for the April issue.

Capturing a fare deal
Do you ever feel as though making airline reservations takes longer than the flight itself?

Wells Fargo pulls popular subprime loan from mix (Reuters)

Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co., the fifth-largest U.S. bank, on Monday said it stopped offering a popular subprime mortgage product in response to market and regulatory pressure.

Americans are flocking to places that offer big-city opportunities and amenities — with a lot more green space and a lot less stress. See the top 10 Great American Towns.

Americans are flocking to places that offer big-city opportunities and amenities — with a lot more green space and a lot less stress. See the top 10 Great American Towns.

Retire Early
The Ultimate Dream: How to achieve financial freedom long before 65. Plus: Best Jobs in America. Full table of contents for the April issue.

Win in real estate now

AP - Wall Street pulled back sharply Tuesday as investors dealt with disappointing earnings reports and rising concerns about the mortgage market. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 200 points.

S&P keeps "on hold" rating on struggling Basis Capital hedge funds (AFP)

AFP - Rating agency Standard & Poor's maintained its 'on hold' rating Tuesday for two hedge funds operated by Australia's Basis Capital that are exposed to the troubled US sub-prime mortgage market.

Earnings misses, subprime woes punish Wall Street (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, battered by disappointing results from such bellwethers as Caterpillar and Google, and more signals that fallout from the risky subprime mortgage market may spread.

Capturing a fare deal
Do you ever feel as though making airline reservations takes longer than the flight itself?