Stacey Vanek Smith

The new program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development is in an effort to stabilize communities and real estate prices across the nation.

It's a tough time to be young and thinking about your retirement. The recession made lots of investors wary of the stock market, but the big returns are key for a comfortable retirement. Marketplace's Stacey Vanek Smith reports.

Media companies making political donations may seem taboo, but it's hardly anything new. Stacey Vanek Smith looks into how media companies donate to political interests.

The Los Angeles Times will be releasing rankings of 6,000 school teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Many agree that the American education system needs revamping, but many also find the rankings unfair.

American Apparel hasn't submitted their second quarter profits report yet, but they did submit a preliminary report -- and it doesn't look good.

"Eat Pray Love" is open in theaters, though I probably don't have to tell you that because the movie's being promoted like crazy. Oh, and there are the products: travel packages, clothing, prayer beads. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports on how a book about one woman's quest to de-clutter her life has spawned a mega-marketing blitz.

GM has plans to go public. Pretty soon, you could be buying shares of the automaker, which is a little strange, since taxpayers already essentially own GM. So what does Uncle Sam's involvement in a company mean for investors? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

Consumers might be suffering from a massive case of low self-esteem. But does confidence need to rise to boost the economy, or does the economy need to get better before consumer moods improve?

Online travel agency Orbitz announced it's stepping up its hotel search options, so you really check out potential vacation digs. Actually, the whole industry is innovating like mad because the online travel business is taking off. Stacey Vanek Smith has more.

The latest jobs report shows the economy lost more jobs than expected and added fewer. Only about 71,000 jobs were created in the private sector last month. Meanwhile, 143,000 temporary census workers were let go. And state and local governments slashed 48,000 jobs in July. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.