[IMG]http://simplefeed.consumerreports.org/rsrc/i/1/_/consumer_reports_morning_update__562269144/4.gif?f=3dcb3160-01dc-11dc-32a2-0019bbc55f7f&s=AewyNia7NTvDvhaDemju5DEsbnVsbCwwLDA *[/IMG] Consumer Reports Morning Update
Good Tuesday morning, here are the top stories our editors are keeping an eye on today. Check back with ConsumerReports.org throughout the day for updates and analysis on these topics and many more.

This morning's focus shifts between Washington and Wall Street after the financial markets ended Monday at 12-year lows and investors seem to be panicking in the face of the world's economic plight.

Today in Washington:
  • British Prime Minister Gordon Brown meets with the president at the White House
  • Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner testifies for the House Ways and Means Committee on the budget

The Markets:
The stock slide that pushed indexes to new 12-year lows picked up speed in the afternoon on fears that economic recovery may still be a long way off. (Wall Street Journal)

If there ever was a symbol of investors' lack of confidence in the government's ability to stem the financial crisis, it was the Dow Jones industrials plunging below 7000 Monday and closing at levels not seen since April 1997. (USA Today)

Behind the sell-off: Continuing problems at the massive insurer AIG, distressing words from Warren Buffett, and a lack of confidence that governments around the globe are doing enough. (Washington Post)

In meetings today with President Obama, Gordon Brown is expected to push the outlines of a plan for what he is calling a "global new deal," a mix of stimulus spending and common regulations for the international financial system. (Los Angeles Times)


Budget Battles:
President Barack Obama is sending his Treasury secretary and budget director to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend his proposed tax increases, which are being met with misgivings by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. (Wall Street Journal)

President Obama's budget is so ambitious, with vast new spending on health care, energy independence, education and services for veterans, that experts say he probably will need to hire tens of thousands of new federal government workers to realize his goals. (Washington Post)

Health Care Reform:
The White House has begun a quest to reform health care in America, but the details of what the health care system will look like at the end of it are unclear. The president has declined to take specific positions, hoping instead to work with Congress to find consensus. (Wall Street Journal)

President Obama chose a Washington insider and a Washington outsider to lead his ambitious effort to reshape the nation's healthcare system. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will head the Department of Health and Human Services and Nancy-Ann DeParle, a Clinton-era health care warrior, will be the White House reform czar. (Los Angeles Times)

In picking DeParle to champion an overhaul of the nation?s health system, Obama selected someone with deep roots in the Washington bureaucracy, an intimate familiarity with health policy and respect on both sides of the political aisle?not to mention degrees from Harvard Law School and Oxford University. (New York Times)

The Housing Crisis:
The CEO of mortgage giant Freddie Mac announced his resignation on Monday. His announcement comes as a critical juncture, leaving the financially battered company ? a crucial segment of the beleaguered housing market ? with no foreseeable leader. (USA Today)

Despite assurances that the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be temporary, the giant mortgage companies will most likely never fully return to private hands, lawmakers and company executives are beginning to quietly acknowledge. (New York Times)

Bank Bailouts:
The CEO of Bank of America is having second thoughts about the bailout his company got from the federal government. Ken Lewis told the Financial Times that the $20 billion Bank of America took to prop up its acquisition of Merrill Lynch was a "tactical mistake." (Financial Times)
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