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Stocks Get Knocked Back - CNNMoney.com -- Stocks slumped Wednesday as a strong dollar and questions about China's lending practices slammed commodities, one of the leaders of the recent rally.

IBM dragged on the tech sector as investors picked apart the company's outlook one day after sending the stock higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 122 points, or 1.1%, after having fallen as much as 207 points in the morning. The S&P 500 index lost 12 points, or 1%. The Nasdaq composite gave back 29 points, or 1.3%.

Harder to Get a Government-Backed Mortgage From Now On - Looking to shore up its weakening finances, the Federal Housing Administration announced stricter standards on Wednesday.

The agency will increase its up-front mortgage insurance premium to 2.25%, from 1.75%. It will also ask Congress for the right to hike its ongoing premium, currently as much as .55% monthly. The agency will then shift some of the increase in the up-front premium to the ongoing charge.

The FHA will also require borrowers to have at least a credit score of 580 to qualify for the agency's 3.5% downpayment program. Those with lower scores will have to pay at least 10%.

The new policy also will reduce the amount of money sellers can provide to homebuyers at closing to 3%, down from 6%, of the home's price.

Finally, officials plan to clamp down on lenders offering FHA mortgages. The agency will more closely monitor their performance, as well as seek legislative authority to require mortgage firms to assume liability for all loans they originate and underwrite. It will also publicly report lender performance data.

One thing the agency did not do is to broadly increase the downpayment requirement. Many industry observers said such a step is necessary to reduce FHA loans' high delinquency rates. Borrowers with little equity in their homes are more likely to default or walk away.