By Chris Isidor

New home sales posted an unexpected gain in July, according to a government report Friday, a rare ray of good news in the stormy housing market but economists warn the glint of sunshine is likely to be short-lived.

New home sales rose 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 870,000 from a revised 846,000 rate in June, the Commerce Department reported. Economists had been looking for sales to fall to a rate of about 825,000, a level that would have been a seven-year low.

By David Trainer, New Constructs 08.23.07

Many investors have become jittery with recent market turbulence, but our most attractive stocks still earn a passing grade. We separate the A+ stocks from those that earn an F by studying what makes stocks succeed in the market and looking for stocks that meet those criteria.

In this month's most attractive stocks report, available at www.newconstructs.com, we have included 40 stocks, 20 large-caps and 20 small-caps, that should help an investor build an A+ portfolio. For the stocks that get an F grade, see our most dangerous stocks for August.

CALABASAS, Calif. (Aug 22, 2007) - Bank of America agreed Wednesday to pour $2 billion into Countrywide Financial Corp. to help bail out the nation's largest mortgage lender amid the subprime-loan crisis.

The investment by the nation's largest retail banker, which has $1.5 trillion in assets, came a week after Countrywide tapped an $11.5 billion line of credit to continue funding its operations. It could lead to a takeover by Bank of America at some point.

The Forex Market
By jr.schneider 

The currency exchange market is the largest market in the world with transactions worth $1.5 trillion taking place in a single day. Forex trading is the selling of a currency and simultaneously buying another currency. Trading is done in currency pairs such as Euro to the dollar or dollar to the yen. The most frequently traded currencies in the foreign exchange market are the US Dollar, the British pound, the Japanese Yen and the Euro.