LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- CNN's Maribel Aber has your top business and financial news on this Tuesday, March 5.
Fannie, Freddie to create joint firm
The regulator overseeing Fannie Mae FNMA -0.68% and Freddie Mac FMCC +1.37% announced Monday one of the most concrete efforts to date for building a new infrastructure that could ultimately replace the government-controlled mortgage companies. Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said the agency would begin forming a company that would consolidate some of the "back-office" functions currently replicated individually by each firm.
Employer credit checks keep jobless out of workforce
Employer credit checks are preventing the nation's hardest hit job seekers from entering the workforce, a new study shows. One in four unemployed Americans have been required to go through a credit check when applying for a job, and one in ten have been denied jobs due to information in their credit report, according to a survey by liberal think-tank Demos of about 1,000 low- and middle-income households with credit card debt.
Pine Bluff's Torri Hunter pledges $100,000 to Razorback baseball project
Detroit Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter, a Pine Bluff native, has pledged $100,000 to help with the construction of an indoor baseball/track practice facility. Arkansas is expected to break ground on the 40,000 square foot project this year. Estimated cost is $7.75-9.6 million and it will take about eight months to complete. Hunter, one of the highest paid athletes from the state of Arkansas, never played college baseball, but signed with Arkansas out of Pine Bluff high school. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1993 and has played 16 seasons in the major leagues.
More people look for love at Wal-Mart
Romance isn't dead. It's just hiding at your local Wal-Mart. A study of "missed connection" posts on Craigslist, where love-struck hopefuls try to track down and win over a stranger who caught their eye, found that Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)is the most popular place for people to find love at first sight, according to Psychology Today magazine.