The Wall Street Journal-20080114-Business and Finance
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Business and Finance
Regulators are reviewing instances in which one arm of an investment bank traded in the stock of a company being advised on a deal by another arm, to determine if it was coincidental. An academic study found such trading much more frequent than would be expected by chance.
The SEC is probing whether several current and former Merrill Lynch employees improperly placed trades for the firm's own account ahead of client orders.
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Fed Chairman Bernanke has decided to speak more often and more clearly about the economic outlook, after the Fed is blasted for contradictory signals.
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Signs are growing that more affluent credit-card holders are having trouble paying the bills.
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More bankruptcy judges question Countrywide business practices, as Bank of America prepares to buy the mortgage lender.
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A little-known hedge fund run by an astronomy buff both aided in creating some of the worst-performing CDOs and profited from the subprime-mortgage crisis.
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Music company EMI is set to announce tomorrow that it will cut up to 2,000 jobs, drop artists and slash marketing costs.
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Exxon and its partners agreed to double a Kazakhstan state-owned company's stake in the Kashagan field in a deal to end a standoff with the government.
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Britain enlisted an ex-Lloyd's official to help run Northern Rock, in a possible step toward nationalizing the mortgage lender.
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Start-up Fisker is expected to unveil a battery-powered luxury car today, with backing from Silicon Valley venture capital.
GM announced a stake in Coskata, which is seeking to make cellulosic ethanol efficiently.
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The government is poised to adopt long-stalled product-safety rules on lighters, infant pillows and upholstered furniture.
