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The U.S. Federal Reserve said it was acting to begin buying commercial paper because money market mutual funds and other investors have become increasingly reluctant to buy commercial paper, which is widely issued to provide vital funds for day-to-day business operations at many companies.
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The emergency rescue of two big European banks and a move by several European governments to guarantee bank deposits intensified fears of a potential global recession. The sharp drop came in the first session since the U.S. Congress approved a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. Financial services stocks led the sell-off, with the S&P's financial sub-index down 8 percent.
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Investors from Tokyo to New York sold riskier assets in alarm at the prospect of further tightening of credit and bank lending and a potentially serious global economic recession. Despite concerted efforts to stem the crisis, investors were clearly seeking more concrete steps from authorities, perhaps in the form of coordinated action from next weekend's meeting of the Group of Seven industrial nations.
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From fighting patent trolls to establishing a coder's rights policy to protecting online civil liberties, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an organization dedicated to helping to define the gray area between the law, the rights of individuals and technology practices. This nonprofit has gained admiration across the board, from workaday admins and tech-savvy executives to rank-and-file geeks, for its 18-year-long crusade to protect individual rights to privacy and free speech on the Internet. What these supporters might not be aware of is that the EFF has its own business interests in mind, as well.
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The number of initial jobless claims was 497,000 in the week ended September 27, the highest since 517,000 in the week ended September 29, 2001 and above Wall Street economists' forecasts of 475,000. Economists said the report showed the economy was being rattled by forces other than the hurricanes, adding that the numbers were at high levels even when the impact of the storms was filtered out.
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The fate of the rescue plan, passed by the Senate 74-25, now lies with the House of Representatives, which rocked global markets this week by rejecting an earlier version. President George W. Bush has called the bailout "essential to the financial security of every American". But the crisis has spread well beyond U.S. shores and beyond the financial sector. Top automakers including General Motors Corp and Ford warned of tough times amid fears slowing demand could force production cuts and job losses.
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By a vote of 228-to-205 the House of Representatives rejected a compromise plan that would have allowed the Treasury Department to buy up toxic debt from struggling banks. The plan's defeat sent U.S. stocks down sharply, with the Dow Jones industrial average briefly falling more than 700 points, its biggest intraday drop ever.
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In the biggest European bank bailout since the credit crisis began, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments took a 49 percent stake in Fortis with a 11.2 billion euro ($16.4 billion) injection. The rescue of Fortis, the biggest private employer in Belgium, followed emergency talks with European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Sunday. The bank employs 85,000 staff globally.
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The FCC approved a draft proposal cutting to $750 million a prior $1.3 billion minimum bid and easing other requirements, subject to public comment, devised by agency Chairman Kevin Martin. The aim is to lure commercial interest in the airwaves, which come with a requirement to partner with public safety agencies during emergencies. The airwaves are being vacated as television broadcasters move to digital signals early next year.
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Banks worldwide hoarded cash and demonstrated a growing reluctance to lend, driving rates that institutions charge to each other on loans to a record high in London on mounting uncertainty over what would be the largest financial bailout in U.S. history. Global money markets dried up, forcing increased injections of cash from central banks as dollar borrowing rates remained high, particularly for three-month money. The market stress was aggravated by the looming quarter-end next week.
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A lower court jury in San Diego found in February 2007 that Microsoft had infringed two MP3 digital music patents and ordered Microsoft to pay $1.5 billion. In August 2007, U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster disagreed with that jury, saying Microsoft had not violated one of the patents and had a license for the other one. The judge threw out the jury's award. That assessment was held up today.
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The frenzy of meetings in Washington follows signs of fresh trouble in the world's biggest economy. Orders for U.S. manufactured goods plunged in August, and the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits shot up, according to government reports that showed the economy rapidly weakening. Signs of a possible breakthrough on the rescue package, which aims to stave off a widespread financial meltdown, gave beleaguered U.S. stocks a boost.
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered his bleakest outlook since a credit crisis set in last year, saying global markets were under "extraordinary stress" and threatening an already weak U.S. economy. Lawmakers have made clear they would not approve the proposal without changes, including more protections for taxpayers and restrictions on the pay of executive at companies that unload their bad assets.
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The lenders, the borrowers and the pundits all now say we should have seen the financial crisis coming. The politicians are spinning to solve a crisis they had a hand in creating. The real question here is where was the real business governance? The failures of Wall Street, government agencies and financial institutions to police themselves begs the question: Do governance, business ethics and business models need to be redefined?
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stressed to the U.S. Congress the dire consequences of failing to move quickly on the plan for the government to buy up hundreds of billions of dollars of tainted mortgage-related securities. Members of the U.S. Congress and Senate express their understanding for fast-action, but want safeguards in place and more details on what the $700 billion bailout will include.
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