Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday that the government would end the $700 billion bailout program "as soon as we can," and that part of it would be used to lower the soaring federal debt. During a sometimes contentious Joint Economic Committee hearing that included one lawmaker calling on him to resign, Mr. Geithner was pressed to disclose the administration's plan for dealing with the unpopular financial rescue program. Mr. Geithner said "substantial resources" remaining in the fund would be used to pay down the national debt, which is being pushed higher by record deficits including a $1.42 billion imbalance for the budget year that ended Sept. 30. Even hundreds of billions of dollars would be a tiny fraction of the $12 trillion debt, but it could lessen political unhappiness if portions of the bailout program are allowed to continue.

Rates on 30-year mortgages stayed below 5 percent this week but remained above the record set earlier this year, Freddie Mac said yesterday. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.83 percent, down from 4.91 percent last week, the mortgage company said. Last year at this time, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.04 percent. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.32 percent.

AOL Inc., the struggling Internet company, plans to cut about a third of its workers if its planned spinoff from Time Warner Inc. goes through. That would amount to nearly 2,300 of the roughly 6,900 total employees. In a securities filing yesterday, AOL said it would impose the cuts on a voluntary and involuntary basis, hoping to trim annual costs by about $300 million. The cuts still need approval from the new AOL board. Time Warner, the New York media conglomerate, said this week that it would spin AOL off to investors Dec. 9.

Sears Holdings lost money for the second consecutive quarter as customers spent elsewhere despite a series of early holiday season promotions designed to bring them back to the retailer's brands. The owner of Sears and Kmart stores lost $127 million, or $1.09 per share, for the period ended Oct. 31. That compares with a loss of $146 million, or $1.16 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Sears lost 81 cents per share. Analysts predicted a loss of $1.09 per share.

A new Big Lots discount store is scheduled to open today along McKnight Road, filling the spot that long housed a Kuhn's supermarket. ... Packaged foods company Pinnacle Foods Group said yesterday that it was buying frozen-vegetable company Birds Eye Foods for $1.3 billion. ... T.G.I. Friday's said yesterday that most of its 600 U.S. restaurants would be open on Thanksgiving, most starting at 4 p.m. ... Bon-Ton Stores Inc. yesterday reported a net loss of $4.2 million, or 24 cents per share, in the third quarter, vs. a loss of $14.3 million, or 85 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Sales were $703.9 million, vs. $724.9 million in the same period a year ago.

"Money Q&A" and "Company Town" are featured exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.