The Dow Jones industrial average lost 419 points Thursday, driven by a barrage of bad economic data including a drop in existing home sales in July for the third time in four months. Ray Suarez discusses the U.S. and global…

Daily U.S. Government Income and Expenditures: Use the slide bar to see how Treasury's cash deficit is projected to grow if the debt ceiling is reached, starting with Aug. 3. Mouse over the red points to see the running…

Question: Who pays the rating agencies, like Moody’s? What is the source of their income? Paul Solman: That’s been the scandal. They’re paid by the issuers of the bonds and stocks they rate. They thus have a huge incentive not…