Mortgage ads show no sign of credit woes (Boston Globe)

Home Depot shares slipped on Friday as plans to sell its wholesale supply unit to private equity hung in the balance amid doubts over the willingness of investment banks to fund the deal, even at a lower price.

What Credit Crunch? (Washington Post)

On AOL.com this week, the Internet-based loan company LendingTree offered "Bad credit options" and a $425,000 loan for only $1,376 a month. And Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, declared, "Bad Credit? Call Today. Refinance or Tap into Your Home's Equity" in an online ad from its Full Spectrum Lending Division.

No credit crunch in mortgage ads (Bradenton Herald)

On aol.com this week, the Internet-based loan company Lending Tree offered "bad credit options" and a $425,000 loan for only $1,376 a month. And Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest lender, declared "Bad Credit? Call Today. Refinance or Tap into Your Home's Equity" in an online ad from its Full Spectrum Lending Division.

Oil prices slightly lower in Asian trade (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Oil prices were slightly lower in Asian trade Friday as investors kept an eye on global financial and equity markets shaken by a crisis in US lending to risky home loan borrowers, dealers said.

Praising Private Equity (New York Times)

Maybe the conventional wisdom about private equity firms is wrong; more than half of all Americans receive their income from the government and more.