"Wall Street investment companies have reduced borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program, a sign that credit problems may be easing a bit," the Associated Press reports. "A Federal Reserve report Thursday said those firms averaged $16.5 billion in daily borrowing over the past week. That compared with $18.6 billion the previous week. It marked the fifth week in a row where investment firms borrowed less from the central bank. To help shore up the shaky student loan market, the Fed agreed last week to let financial institutions put up bonds backed by federally guaranteed student loans as collateral. Thursday's auction was the first where that option was available."