U.S. regulators seize two more banks, engineer sale (Reuters)

A bank employee posts a notice that 1st National Bank of Nevada is in FDIC receivership on Friday, July 25, 2008, after federal regulators closed the bank in Carson City, Nev. Twenty-eight branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California, were closed Friday by federal regulators. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Brad Horn)Reuters - U.S. regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch.




Economy - Thursday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Home loan rates rose sharply over the past week amid inflation fears, a rebound in stocks and Treasury yields, and tighter credit standards. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.63% for the week ended July 24 from 6.26% a week ago, said Freddie Mac. It's the 8th straight week over 6%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 40 basis points to 6.18%. The 5-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage jumped to 6.18%, while the 1-year ARM was up to 5.49%.

Japan stocks drop on overnight US losses (AP)

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday July 24, 2008. Wall Street abruptly ended an earnings-driven rally and closed sharply lower Thursday after a steeper-than-expected decline in existing home sales and worries about the financial sector chilled the market's recent optimism. The major indexes fell about 2 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost more than 275 points. (AP Photo/Ed Ou)AP - Japanese stocks fell sharply Friday as Wall Street's overnight plunge renewed lingering concerns about the U.S. economy.




Destination retailers feel gas price pinch (AP)

John Wallace and his wife Margot shop at Cabela's, a store located outside Interstate 80 west of Omaha, Neb., Thursday, July 24, 2008. Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)AP - Consumer spending is down and gas prices are up. That's bad math for the scores of destination retailers across the country that want customers to fill up the tank for a gas-guzzling day of retail therapy.




Former hedge fund head files against Citigroup: report (Reuters)
Reuters - A former manager of a Citigroup Inc hedge fund has filed a complaint with a British tribunal accusing the bank of causing his fund's demise, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

UBS suspends U.S. fixed income head amid probes: report (Reuters)
Reuters - Swiss bank UBS AG has suspended David Shulman, head of its U.S. fixed income unit, amid state and federal probes of sales of auction-rate securities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Economy - Friday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - In a turnaround from a week of deadlock, the U.S. and 6 other key nations began to talk about possible success at the World Trade Organization talks. Officials said progress has been made on trade for both agriculture and industrial goods between developed nations and emerging economies. It includes a further cut to the cap on U.S. farm subsidies, a source said. WTO's chief had voiced concerns earlier Fri. that the long-running Doha round may collapse. An anti-trade Congress would have to approve any deal.

Congress approves housing bill (Reuters)

Mortgage firm Freddie Mac headquarters are pictured in McLean, Virginia, July 13, 2008. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. Congress approved a massive housing market rescue bill on Saturday, offering emergency financing to mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , and setting up a $300-billion fund to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners.




Chrysler financial arm to stop leasing vehicles (Reuters)

A row of new Chrysler Jeep Commander SUVs are seen at a dealership in Silver Spring, Maryland, July 1, 2008. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)Reuters - Chrysler LLC said its financing arm would stop offering vehicle leases to U.S. consumers, a sharp break in strategy in response to tighter credit and the plunging resale prices for gas-guzzling trucks.