Consumers bought fewer big-ticket items such as cars, appliances and office equipment last month, the Commerce Department reported today.

NCUA Vice Chairman Rodney Hood may not be an Olympic athlete, but today he became a gold medalist.

The Obama administration's regulatory reform agenda hit another bump in the road last week when a key House panel delayed consideration of a measure to create a new agency to regulate consumer products.

Credit unions and banks lost a key round in the fight over control of student loans last week when a House committee voted for an Obama administration plan to replace the Federal Family Education Loan Program with direct student lending

WASHINGTON -- In a 23-minute hearing that was part love fest and part survey of the challenges facing the credit union movement, Deborah Matz, NCUA chair-nominee, promised lawmakers she'd take a balanced approach to regulating credit unions.

Ten days after the government took over U.S. Central, the corporate's political action committee sent checks to the campaigns of Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Although some data-especially in the housing sector-show that the economy is picking up, consumers continue to have their doubts.

Due to the absence of a quorum, the Senate Banking Committee today did not vote on the nomination of Deborah Matz as chairman of the NCUA.