Archives: August 2007

ARM Wrestling

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 31, Categories: early

The Bush Administration will move today to address a ticking time bomb—the huge number of adjustable rate mortgages that will be reset—almost certainly at higher levels—in the next few...

Shakeup in Beijing

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 30, Categories: late

On the eve of a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, China’s leaders announced a major Cabinet shuffle. Finance Minister Jin Renqing and the boss of the secret police, Xu Yongyue,...

Mortgage Madness

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 30, Categories: early

Is it really just as risky to offer a mortgage to the buyer of an $800,000 home in Southern California as it is to lend money to Argentina, a...

For Sale: Philip Morris International

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 29, Categories: late

Altria Group, maker of Marlboro, finally bit the bullet and decided to spin off Philip Morris International, a move many shareholders have been demanding. It’ll reveal the timing and...

Global Stocks Fall

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 29, Categories: early

Stocks fell in Asia and Europe in the wake of Wall Street’s biggest one-day decline in three weeks. US stock index futures rose, however, suggesting the roller-coaster may be...

Housing: Where's the Bottom?

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 28, Categories: late

US home prices sank by 3.2% in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. That’s the biggest quarterly drop since S&P/Case-Schiller created its index in 1987....

Central Banks in Retreat

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 28, Categories: early

One by one, the world’s central banks are backing away from their earlier resolve to fight what many saw as a growing threat from accelerating inflation in the face...

After months of trench warfare, Washington-style, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced he’s steopping down on Sept. 17. He has been under fire for various alleged misdeeds, including his role...

Gonzalez Packs It In

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 27, Categories: late

Global Rally Keeps Rolling

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 27, Categories: early

Asian shares posted strong gains, with the benchmark MSCI regional index rising 0.9% to its highest in two weeks. European stocks followed suit, headed for their seventh straight gain....

First Casualty

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 24, Categories: early

The sale of Home Depot’s wholesale distribution unit to a group of private equity firms hung in the balance late Thursday even though the struggling do-it-yourself retailer offered to...

The BOJ Stands Pat

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 23, Categories: late

The Bank of Japan decided to leave its benchmark rate unchanged. That may not sound like a big deal, but it represents an about-face by the bank, which had...

Calming Down

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 23, Categories: early

Stocks rose in Asia and Europe, and US stock index futures gained, indicating Wall Street will open higher, as investor anxiety over the impact of the global credit squeeze...

Lining Up at the Window

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 22, Categories: late

Four big banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and Wachovia—announced that they’ve availed themselves of the Fed’s discount window, each borrowing $500 million. The moves seemed to be...

Lining Up at the Window

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 22, Categories: late

Betting on the Fed

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 22, Categories: early

Asian stocks posted small gains, while European shares climbed in early trading. Stock index futures rose, indicating US markets will open higher. The increases were fueled by growing investor...

The Markets Grope For Direction

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 21, Categories: late

Wall Street was treading water again as investors tried to peer through the fog of the recent market crisis. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York did its best...

The Markets Grope For Direction

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 21, Categories: late

Wall Street was treading water again as investors tried to peer through the fog of the recent market crisis. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York did its best...

Global Rally Runs Out of Gas

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 21, Categories: early

After strong gains in Asia, with a key regional index rising 1.5%, share prices fell in Europe in morning trading and US stock index futures declined, signaling that Wall...

Anxiety on the Street

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 20, Categories: late

After a big rally in Asia and smaller ones on European markets, US investors proved more cautious as they tried to digest analysis of the Fed’s discount-rate cut on...

Asian Shares Rebound

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 20, Categories: early

Asian stocks staged their biggest rally in more than a year, and European shares rose in morning trading, after the Federal Reserve’s surprise discount-rate cut Friday restored a measure...

Investors' Gift From Ben & the Fed

Posted by: Justin Bachman on August 17, Categories: weekend

The Federal Reserve jolted Wall Street Aug. 17 with a significant, 0.5% cut in its overnight discount rate to 5.75%, while conceding that “downside risks to growth have increased...

Asian Stocks Plunge

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 17, Categories: early

Shares fell across the region, with Japan’s benchmark TOPIX index falling 5.55% as investors dumped the shares of the country’s big exporters in the face of the yen’s rapid...

Wall Street's Wacky Ride

Posted by: Justin Bachman on August 16, Categories: late

A wild day on Wall Street saw the Dow Jones industrials plunge 340 points at one point, and then recover all but 15 of that loss by the close....

Global Rout Continues

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 16, Categories: early

Shares fell across-the-board in Asia and in early European trading, and stock index futures in the US sank, implying Wall Street will open down. Financial institutions and mining companies...

That Sinking Feeling

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 15, Categories: early

Share prices fell across Asia, and European stocks were broadly down in morning trading, led by banks. In New York, stock index futures fell, indicating shares will open lower....

Mattel's Dangerous Toy Story

Posted by: Justin Bachman on August 14, Categories: late

In its second major toy recall in a month, Mattel is warning consumers about perils associated with an additional 9.3 million toys that were imported from China. Most of...

Stocks Falter on Credit Woes

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 14, Categories: early

European shares were down in morning trading after Asian markets closed mixed. Japan and Hong Kong gained, while Korea, Taiwan and other regional markets slipped. Financial stocks were among...

Wall Street Simmers Down

Posted by: Justin Bachman on August 13, Categories: late

Wall Street settled down from its recent orgy of selling, with the major indexes finishing virtually flat on Monday following earlier advances in Europe. For a third straight day,...

Markets Bounce Back

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 13, Categories: early

Asian shares posted modest gains and European stocks rose in morning trading as a measure of calm returned to global markets. US stock index futures gained, suggesting Wall Street...

Asian Stocks Slump

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 10, Categories: early

Share prices plunged across Asia Friday, posting their biggest declines in a year, as the spreading credit crunch spooked investors. Even China’s markets, which because of strict capital controls...

Tremors on Both Sides of the Pond

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 09, Categories: late

The European Central Bank rushed to pump liquidity into the financial system to head off a full-scale credit crunch. Money-market rates spiked after a unit of French bank BNP...

Tremors Across the Pond

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 09, Categories: late

The European Central Bank rushed to pump liquidity into the financial system to head off a full-scale credit crunch. Money-market rates spiked after a unit of French bank BNP...

Cross Purposes

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 09, Categories: early

In one corner, a company perhaps best known for selling baby oil and bandages. In the other, what’s probably the world’s best-known charity. The prize: a centuries-old symbol, the...

For Whom Housing Tolls

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 08, Categories: late

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers, something of a bellwether in the US housing market, issued yet another gloomy report, noting that in its fiscal third quarter, ended June 30, its...

Router Riches

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 08, Categories: early

Shares of Cisco Systems, the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer-networking equipment, surged almost 6% in after-hours trading after the company dsaid profits leapt 25 % in the fourth quarter...

The Fed: Still Hawkish

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 07, Categories: late

No one figured the Federal Reserve would make a move, and indeed, the US central bank left its key rate unchanged at 5.25% after the Federal Open Market Committee...

Fear Rules

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 07, Categories: early

US Treasuries, the world’s safest and most liquid investment, are on track to earn 5.3% this year, their best performance in five years. That performance, which few would have...

Another Casualty of the Subprime Mess

Posted by: Harry Maurer on August 06, Categories: late

A few days after laying off most of its workers, American Home Mortgage Investment, the 10th-largest maker of such loans in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because...

New Boss at Chrysler

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 06, Categories: early

Cerberus Capital Management named Robert Nardelli, the controversial former boos of Home Depot, as chairman and chief executive as the buyout firm moved to put its stamp on the...

Jobless Rate Climbs

Posted by: Michael Arndt on August 03, Categories: weekend

Employers in the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in July and the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, from 4.5% in June, as the economy cooled in response to...

Housing Lenders Grow Tight-fisted

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 03, Categories: early

Even would-be buyers with relatively good credit histories are going to have to pay more—if they can get financing at all. The fallout from the subprime lending fiasco, which...

Stocks Tentatively Edge Higher

Posted by: Michael Arndt on August 02, Categories: late

Stocks advanced Thursday in afternoon trading after Wall Street received some solid readings on corporate earnings and the job market, but remained nervous that a tighter credit market could...

Mattel Recalls China-Made Toys

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 02, Categories: early

Company’s Fisher-Price unit recalls almost 1 million toys, ma y of them featuring characters from Sesame Street and Nickelodeon, because they were coated in lead paint. What’s especially worrisome...

Stocks See-Saw in Nervous Market

Posted by: Michael Arndt on August 01, Categories: late

Stocks fluctuated on Wednesday as concerns about problems in the credit markets continued to roil Wall Street. The major indexes turned higher in the early afternoon, in part on...

Now What?

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on August 01, Categories: early

div id="topStory"> Rupert Murdoch finally got his wish, gaining control of the Wall Street Journal in a deal worth $5.6 billion. So what’s he going to do with his prize?...

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