Reuters - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to a request from banks that could allow them to delay write-downs on certain securities that have dropped in value due to the credit crisis. -- read full article
Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:42:03 GMT - Yahoo! News: Business
Reuters - U.S. industrial output posted its biggest drop since 1974 in September, while a regional factory index slumped this month and labor markets showed softness, suggesting the economy has fallen into recession.
Reuters - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said a Web search advertising deal with Yahoo Inc makes economic sense and may still be possible, though the two sides are not in any discussions.
Reuters - Turmoil in housing and credit markets drove Citigroup Inc to its fourth straight quarterly loss, reflecting more than $13 billion of loan losses and write-downs for complex and risky debt.
Reuters - General Motors Corp will lay off 1,500 hourly workers at plants in Michigan and Delaware where it builds pickup trucks, large cars and a two-seat roadster due to slowing demand, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Reuters - The Dow and the S&P 500 slipped in a choppy session on Thursday, pressured by nervousness that the economy might be sliding into a recession.
Reuters - U.S. shoppers will spend more on holiday-related purchases this year, but that spending will increase by the lowest level in at least six years, according to a survey released by an industry trade group on Thursday.
AP - With October auto sales expected to fall short of September's 15-year low, General Motors Corp. is launching a campaign this week to reach people who have stopped looking for cars out of fear that they can't get a loan. -- read full article
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:48:40 GMT - Yahoo! News: Business
Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday gave a dour assessment of the U.S. economy, citing a "significant threat" from shuttered credit markets in remarks that indicated he was open to cutting interest rates further.
Reuters - Insurance giant American International Group Inc is spending money to lobby states to soften new controls on the mortgage industry, the Wall Street Journal said.
Reuters - Switzerland's two largest banks will receive billions of francs of emergency funding from the country's government and other investors to shore them up against the financial crisis, they said on Thursday.
Reuters - Asian stocks plummeted, led by an 11 percent drop on Japan's Nikkei, and oil prices dropped to a one-year low on Thursday as fears grew of a more protracted and sharp global slowdown than initially expected.
Reuters - The global financial crisis shifted gears on Thursday with fears of recession battering financial markets even as governments sought yet more action to pull the world economy from the brink of collapse.
AFP - US retail sales slumped 1.2 percent in September, government data showed Wednesday in a sign of deeper troubles for an economy ailing from a financial market firestorm and tight credit.
AP - JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s profit tumbled 84 percent in the third quarter after it took big hits from souring mortgage investments, leveraged loans and home loans.
