Jill Barshay

When we heard about the latest Mattel recall of 800,000 imported Chinese toys, we asked some consumers to tell us their reactions. Their responses could be Mattel CEO Bob Eckert's worst nighmare.

How does an impoverished nation boost tourism? Nepal is putting its most famous mountain on seasonal clearance. It works for clothing retailers, but discount-seeking climbers might pay a different kind of price. Jill Barshay explains.

In exclusive resort towns from Aspen to the Hamptons, where the rich and powerful hobnob with... well, each other, something called Plum TV is all the rage. And advertisers for luxury products are plum tickled. Jill Barshay has the story.

Today's reports say new-home sales are up 2.8% and U.S. factory orders nearly 6%. But, wait. Those are the numbers from July -- before the subprime debacle and the credit squeeze. Jill Barshay has more.

Federal regulators are finally doing something about inaccuracies in the $22 billion vitamin and herbal supplement industry. New quality standards start today, but consumers shouldn't expect to see change right away. Jill Barshay explains.

The mortgage industry can't come up with cash. Mortgage companies are laying people off — or worse, going bankrupt. But investors are smiling on one slice of the mortgage market, the good, old-fashioned thrift. Jill Barshay reports.

Don't buy that new DVD player yet. Just when you thought Sony had won the hi-def home movie war and established Blu-ray as the dominant format, two major movie studios yesterday helped HD-DVD strike back. Jill Barshay has more.

The Fed today cut the discount rate -- what banks pay to borrow from the Fed -- by half a percentage point. Banks use it only when they're in a bind. Like the one they've been in the past couple of weeks. Jill Barshay reports.

Mortgage lenders are having trouble getting their hands on lots of cash right now, which has put a crimp in the business of making loans. So at least one lawmaker wants to raise the portfolio cap for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jill Barshay explains.

A new population report predicts the global population will grow by 50 percent to reach 9.3 billion by 2050. And very soon the number of people living in urban areas will outnumber rural folk. Jill Barshay has more.