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Stocks faltered again in New York Wednesday, as investors wrestled with viability plans from two of Detroit's automakers, digested the Commerce Department's latest report on the housing market and mulled the Obama administration's housing market plan.

After Tuesday's close, Chrysler and General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) filed restructuring updates with the Treasury Department. The reports were a condition of a $13.4 billion loan package that the carmakers received from the government late in 2008. Both companies said they are making progress, but will need additional loans to outlast the downturn in consumer spending that has crippled domestic auto sales. GM, which said it could need more than $30.0 billion by 2011 in order to remain on pace for sustainable profitability by 2012, gained 6 cents, or 2.8%, to $2.24 Wednesday. (See "Loans Can't Bridge Detroit Disconnect.")

The major averages opened higher on a reflex to a steep drop Tuesday, but less than an hour into the session stocks had slipped back into the red. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 60 points, or 0.8%, to 7,493; and the Nasdaq fell 11 points, or 0.8%, to 1,459; while the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 7 points, or 0.9%, to 782, threatening to test its Nov. 2008 lows.

The Treasury offered an outline of the housing plan Wednesday morning, which includes additional preferred stock purchase agreements with Fannie Mae (nyse: FNM - news - people ) and Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people ), help with refinancing and $75.0 billion for loan modifications that would include government subsidies for certain homeowners at risk of foreclosure. President Obama is due to explain the plan in Arizona later in the day. Earlier Wednesday, the Commerce Dept. said housing starts and completions were down sharply in January, as were permits for new building. (See "Fannie And Freddie Redux.")

Bond insurer MBIA (nyse: MBI - news - people ) announced it will split itself in two, establishing a separate public finance guarantee insurance company that will concentrate on municipal bonds. The move would shield the firm's muni bond business from its activities in structured finance and international bonds. Shares of MBIA gained $1.33, or 38.2%, to $4.81, early in the session.

Deere & Company (nyse: DE - news - people ) lost $1.66, or 5.0%, to $31.83, after the farm equipment maker's first-quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations. On an encouraging note, Deere said it has not had trouble accessing credit to fund its own needs and financing for customers.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will make a speech on the central bank's balance sheet in Washington Wednesday afternoon, and the Fed's minutes from its January monetary policy meeting will be released shortly afterward.

Thomson Reuters contributed to this article.

Mortgage rates are falling as this week's dramatic action by the Federal Reserve provides a boost to the dismal housing market, but the nation's unemployment rolls are stuck at historically high levels amid a deepening recession.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people ) on Thursday reported that rates had fallen to the lowest level on records dating back to 1971. Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 5.19 percent, down from the year's previous low of 5.47 percent, set last week.

Jobs data from the government, while better than expected, was still sobering. The Labor Department on Thursday said its tally of initial jobless benefit claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 575,000 the previous week. The new tally was slightly below economists' expectations of 558,000 claims.

Another slight improvement was seen in the number of people who continue to receive jobless benefits, which declined to 4.38 million from 4.43 million the previous week. Economists expected a slight increase to 4.45 million.

Still, claims remain near the highest level since 1982, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.

And the cuts continue. Water treatment and storage systems maker Pentair Inc. (nyse: PNR - news - people ) said Thursday that it will cut more than 10 percent of its work force, or about 1,600 jobs, due to a faster-than-expected drop-off in demand and consumer spending. One day earlier, hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. (nyse: WDC - news - people ), managed-care company Aetna Inc. (nyse: AET - news - people ), and Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (nyse: NWL - news - people ), maker of products including Rubbermaid storage containers and Sharpie pens, announced mass job cuts.

Meanwhile, President-elect Barack Obama is laying the groundwork for a giant economic stimulus package, worth possibly $850 billion over two years, which Democratic congressional leaders say could be passed within two weeks of Obama taking office.

Applications for mortgage refinancing tripled in early December on news that the Federal Reserve will buy up to $600 billion of mortgage debt. BusinessWeek's personal finance editor Lauren Young spoke to mortgage guru Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a financial publisher, about the current refinancing climate.

How easy is it to refinance now?
You generally need to have an equity stake of at least 20% in your home. In the most challenged markets, you need much more. You don't need a flawless credit record, but you need a credit score of 720 to access the lowest interest rates. You must fully document income and assets, which is very different from a couple of years ago. Back then, you could walk into a lender merely breathing and they would say, "Great, here is your loan." Your debt loads relative to income have to be smaller now. At the height of the boom, those ratios—which include housing payments and other debts longer than 10 months—were as high as 55%. Now, you can't have a debt ratio higher than 43%.

Is there relief in sight for borrowers who want to refinance jumbo adjustable-rate mortgages but have been shut out of the market?
People got paranoid about adjustable-rate jumbo mortgages&mortgages that exceed $417,000&about a year ago. So many people have them, and there were worries people wouldn't be able to cover mortgage payments if they reset at higher rates. But now there has been a 180-degree turnaround. The rates on adjustable-rate jumbo mortgages are actually lower than fixed-rate jumbo mortgages. For example, the popular 5/1 jumbo adjustable-rate, which has an initial interest rate for five years and then resets annually, is 6.72%. The traditional 30-year fixed rate is 7.49%. So even if you want to get out of a jumbo adjustable-rate mortgage into a fixed-rate mortgage, now is not the best time to refinance. Ride it out, and you will probably save a few bucks if rates go lower.

Have closing costs shifted, too?
The costs haven't changed too much, but you might find the appraisal for your home will come in below what you are expecting. If you wish to challenge it, your lender may let you get a second opinion, but you will have to pay for it.

Considering that so many lenders have gone out of business, how do you work the system to your advantage?
Some lenders are more capital impaired than others, and their rates may be higher. My advice is to look across your marketplace, and leave yourself a sufficient amount of time to shop around. If you've worked with a mortgage broker in the past, keep in mind that mortgage brokers rely heavily on wholesale lenders [such as major banks and specialty finance companies], and those lenders have basically shut their doors and gone away. As a result, there are fewer funding sources for brokers. If you have a mortgage broker you trust, certainly engage them.

Mortgage rates have already fallen. Should homeowners wait for a new government program to push rates even lower?
If we crack 5%&mdashwhich would be a 50-year historic low—and stay there long enough, there are many millions of mortgages that can be refinanced profitably. But the lenders' staffs are already very thin. If you have a target interest rate in your head, shop around now for a mortgage lender who will hold onto your application so the paperwork is ready to go if rates fall.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Furry signs of a down-trending economy peer dolefully from every kennel at the Broward County Humane Society shelter in Florida and hundreds of others across the country.

Bentley, a 3-year-old Lhasa apso, was given up by his owners because they just couldn't afford to keep him any more.

Tinkerbell, a sweet, docile house cat, was surrendered by her owners after they found out that they had lost their home.

With foreclosures disrupting life, from the family house down to the dog house, and as Americans toil through a tough economic landscape, some of their pets face an even bleaker future in the pound.

"People lose their homes and have to move to apartments that don't accept pets, so they give them up," says Cheryl McAuliffe, a spokeswoman for the Georgia State Humane Society.

Over the past eight months, shelters around the county have seen more animals turned in because their owners have lost their homes or jobs. The shelters are also straining to meet a sharp increase in requests from people who are struggling just to provide food for their pets, says Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Humane Society of the United States.

Although they no longer have loving homes, Tinkerbell and Bentley are lucky because their owners gave them up to the shelter. Not every pet gets that kind of treatment. Miami-Dade Animal Services says that on a regular basis, it is called to foreclosed properties where neighbors report seeing pets chained up in a backyard or locked inside an empty house.

"I understand they may be scared for themselves and their kids when they have to leave, but I just wish people would find a place for their pets, too," says Sherry Marks, a Miami-Dade County animal control specialist.

Marks and other county animal control specialists get calls from police when they find a foreclosed home with a pet left behind. And it's not always easy to deal with the abandoned pet, she says. Some dogs are frightened and run, and others become aggressive.

Responding to a call in North Miami, Marks found two dogs at a home abandoned by foreclosure. With their leashes and water bowls still in the backyard, the dogs lingered. They didn't know and couldn't understand why it wasn't their home anymore.

A spokesman for the Humane Society of Douglas County in Georgia said the abandonment rate is tenfold what it was two years ago, before waves of foreclosures started hitting neighborhoods around the county. With more animals coming in and fewer people with the resources to pay for a pet, nearly all shelters there are overrun.

The rapidly approaching holiday season is usually a very busy adoption time for shelters. Last year, the Broward County Humane Society sent 60 animals to new homes December 23. This year, they say, they'll be thrilled if they adopt out anywhere near that number.

But Humane Society officials say people can economize when getting a pet. They urge people to adopt instead of buying a cat or dog. Adopted pets cost less than animals from a pet store, and they will already be spayed or neutered and have their initial set of vaccinations.

Also, pet owners don't have to choose between taking care of their pets or taking care of themselves. Most local shelters offer vaccinations, spaying or neutering at a fraction of the cost of a private veterinarian's office.