General News:
– Federal Reserve policy makers don’t expect to know for days whether their Aug. 17 discount-rate reduction will succeed at calming markets, Fed watchers say.
– U.S. stocks dropped, led by homebuilders after real-estate foreclosures almost doubled in July and an analyst said the credit crunch will depress housing in the months ahead.
– U.S. homes facing foreclosure almost doubled in July as property owners with adjustable-rate mortgages saw their payments rise and were unable to refinance because of the subprime crisis, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
– The credit crunch triggered by a rout in the U.S. subprime housing market doesn’t pose a “systemic” threat to banks, Moody’s Investors Service said.
– Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., the subprime mortgage company that’s suing to salvage its takeover by a private-equity firm, plans to sell $1 billion of loans to prevent creditors from demanding more collateral.
– Foreclosure filings rose 9 percent from June to July and surged 93% over the same period last year, with Nevada, Georgia and Michigan accounting for the highest foreclosure rates nationwide, a research firm reported.
Asia/Europe:
Asia:
– Asian stocks rose for a second day, led by raw-materials producers, amid growing confidence the U.S. economy will withstand a rout in credit markets.
– China raised interest rates for the fourth time since March to cool the world’s fastest-growing major economy after inflation surged to a 10-year high and the key stock index doubled.
– The yen gained against all of the most actively traded currencies as rising volatility increased the risk to carry trade investors of buying assets with money borrowed in Japan.
– Japan’s Finance Minister Koji Omi and his South Korean counterpart Kwon Okyu have agreed that subprime loan issues have passed their peak.
– General Electric Co., the world’s largest provider of private-label credit cards, may sell its Japanese consumer-credit unit Lake after a government clampdown on fees eroded earnings in the industry.
– Google Inc., owner of the world’s most-used search Web site, added social-networking services in China to win users from local market leader Baidu.com Inc.
Europe:
– European stocks fell for the first time in three days, paced by financial companies on rekindled concern the mortgage rout is spreading and will dent profit growth.
– The Bank of England loaned money at its emergency interest rate for the first time in a month after the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis made commercial banks more reluctant to extend credit to each other.
– Investor confidence in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, fell more than economists forecast to an eight-month low in August as equity markets tumbled.
– Landesbank Sachsen Girozentrale, the German state-owned bank getting emergency funding, has about 3 billion euros ($4 billion) in investments linked to U.S. subprime mortgages, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
– HBOS Plc, the U.K.’s largest mortgage lender, will provide emergency financing for its Grampian Funding LLC unit to repay commercial paper.
– Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, rose to a 15-year high in Frankfurt trading on speculation Novartis AG will make a takeover bid.
Corporate News:
– Saks Inc. (SKS) said its second-quarter loss narrowed as same-store sales jumped and the upscale department store-operator expanded its margins on reduced markdowns.
– Target Corp. (TGT), the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, said profit rose 13% on increased sales of health-care items and consumer electronics, and gains from its credit-card unit.
– Staples Inc. (SPLS) said its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent as lower sales of items such as office furniture were offset by gains at its copy and print centers.
– Tribune Co. (TRB) shareholders overwhelmingly approved the $8.2 billion buyout of the media conglomerate, but the transaction still needs financing and federal waivers.
– Viacom Inc’s (VIA) MTV Networks said it struck a digital music partnership with online music service RealNetworks Inc (RNWK) and Verizon (VZ) to compete against Apple Inc.’s iTunes service.
– Billionaire investor Warren Buffett may buy parts of beleaguered mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), some investors are speculating, according to The Wall Street Journal.
