The impact of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations around the country is difficult to see in raw numbers. But the way in which the national discourse has been moved, and how individual lives have been changed tells another compelling story of the movement's potential. The families in millions of households across the nation who are fighting to hold onto their homes against banks, authority, and the much reviled "1 percent" may have a powerful new ally. Occupy Our Homes, the latest incarnation of the OWS, is seizing foreclosed homes and claiming them for families in need.

Standard and Poor's announced on Monday that it is considering a credit rating downgrade for both Germany and France, the euro zone's two biggest economies. The move takes place as euro zone countries meet in Brussels in an attempt to stop the ongoing crisis. The two countries currently have a top-notch AAA rating from the agency. Standard and Poor's said that 13 additional euro zone countries are also vulnerable to downgrade as a result of the continent’s economic crisis. 

A federal judge rejected a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission, objecting to the practice of allowing banks to settle fraud cases without admitting guilt. Citi may now face a trial over the sale of toxic mortgages which cost investors millions but made the bank profit. The judge said the public has a right to "the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives."

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Wall Street executives tried to deflect the blame onto various culprits — government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie May and Freddie Mac for keeping interest rates low, consumers who lied about their credit history, or annual income. But Michael Lewis, former CEO of failed bank IndyMAC, isn't blaming consumers or investors. Lewis, who has been accussed of fraud and misleading investors, is pointing the finger at regulators.

Earlier this morning, The Takeaway reported on Bank of America's reversal on its plan to charge customers a $5 monthly fee for using debit cards. Public outrage coupled with over 300,000 signatures to a Change.org petition calling for Bank of America to drop the fee led to the reversal. Molly Katchpole, the woman who spearheaded the public effort to get B of A to reverse their position, talks about her victory.

Remember the $5 monthly fee Bank of America planned to roll out for all its debit card customers? In a complete reversal, the bank now — one month later — says it's dropping plans to introduce that fee. It’s a big victory for the 200,000 customers who signed a petition on Change.org calling for Bank of America to drop this fee.

Banks were in dire trouble back in 2008, when the financial crisis hit. Stalwarts like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers kicked the bucket and other banks like Citigroup still haven't fully recovered. It appears though that banks may have a new problem: too much money. Many people, with no safe alternatives, are depositing their money into banks, but the banks have no where to invest it, so they are trying to deter consumers from giving them their money.

European officials were meeting all weekend long to discuss bailout plans — not only for debt-ridden nations in the euro zone but also for specific banks affected by the debt crisis. The European taxpayers paying for these bailouts are concerned about how this money will be used. Perhaps American tax payers should be too.

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are scheduled to release their earnings reports for the third quarter today. Yesterday, Citigroup reported a 74 percent rise in their earnings and Wells Fargo reported a 21 percent increase, and last week JP Morgan reported a 4 percent fall in profits. Morgan Stanley and U.S. Bancorp are expected to release their reports on Wednesday.

After weeks of silence about the demonstrations in downtown New York and across the country, some of Wall Street biggest bankers are speaking up about the protests and the criticisms being leveled at them. The reaction comes just days after the protestors marched to the houses of J.P. Morgan's Jamie Dimon and hedge fund manager John Paulson.

A great deal of anger has been directed at the profits of the banking industry since the onset of the recession. One of the focal points of Occupy Wall Street, and of the like-minded protests that have emerged throughout the country, is precisely this discontent with the earnings of banks, particularly during a period of such economic duress for the rest of the country. But the quarterly reports from the banks have been showing that they've taken considerable losses over the past three months.

Protesters affiliated with Occupy Boston, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, are outraged after police arrested over 100 people early Tuesday morning. Boston city officials have defended the raid, saying protesters were warned, but Occupy Boston contends that the police "made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers." Among the protesters was Nadeem Mazen. A graduate of MIT and an owner of two small businesses, Mazen rejects the narrative that the protesters are "anti-capitalist." Among the issues he's protesting is the lack of liquidity available to small businesses after American taxpayers bailed out the banks.

Bank of America's decision to charge customers $5 per month to use debit cards has prompted many, including President Obama, to criticize the banking giant. Other large banks, including Chase, Wells Fargo, SunTrust, and HSBC, are following suit, with plans to charge their customers varying monthly debit card fees. This leaves many Americans wondering what steps they should take next, and where they should do their banking.

Last week, Bank of America announced that it would begin imposing a $5 monthly fee for checking accounts that use debit cards. Other large banks are expected to follow suit. We asked listeners for their reactions to these new charges, and received many responses, including this from J.B. from Massachusetts:

I am a BofA customer and I am not happy about the fee. I use my debit card all the time instead of a credit card, but that will change based on principle. I wonder, how big were bonuses last year and how big will they be this year? I wish they would look inside BofA for ways to save. Maybe cutting back $1 million from the CFO would help the bottom line as well!

For years we've been moving away from using paper and coins to pay for goods, and toward a cashless society. Now many people use debit cards as a convenient way to shop. But news from the Bank of America yesterday could change the way people feel about that. The banking giant announced it would impose a new monthly fee of $5 for checking accounts that use debit cards. Other banks are likely to follow suit. Why are we seeing increased banking charges and what can consumers do about it?

You can bail out the banks, or you can sing out about them. Catchy songs about passbook savings accounts are not the idea behind the latest from the unmistakable musical voice of Ry Cooder. As far as Ry Cooder's music is concerned bankers can't be choosers. The legendary performer-composer behind the politically astute Buena Vista Social Club spoke to Nicola Standbridge of the BBC about his new album, "Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down."

The European Central Bank announced yesterday it will work with the Federal Reserve to open new lines of credit to banks in the 17 nations that use the euro. The Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank are also pitching in to help. The ECB says it will allow banks in the euro zone to borrow money for three months — rather than the previous rule of a week — which injects dollar liquidity into European banks. The news comes as European banks are suffering from chronic financial squeezes.

President Barack Obama continues his jobs tour this week, with stops in Columbus, Ohio and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., rallying support for his jobs plan. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to speak at a conference on regulation of systemic risk on Thursday, five days before the Federal Open Market Committee begins its meetings next week. Tonight, is the first Tea Party debate, which GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are expected to attend. And Anthony Weiner's old Congressional seat in New York's ninth district is up for grabs in a special election tomorrow.

Since the beginning of the year, Bank of America has lost more than half of its stock market value. Earlier this month, AIG sued the bank behemoth for alleged mortgage securities fraud, and just this past week the company laid off 3,500 workers. With more in mortgage holdings than any other bank, its future success is essentially tied to the state of the faltering housing market. But yesterday, Warren Buffett announced he's investing $5 billion in Bank of America. What's in store for the beleaguered company?

The banking industry, like basically all commercial industry, is always looking for ways to innovate their products and services. Take ATMs or the kind of innovation that allows customers to view the image of their check right on their banking receipt - those cost money to develop. And the banking industry has been lobbying to change the patent laws tied to these sorts of business innovations.