The Wall Street Journal-20080215-Business and Finance
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Business and Finance
Full Text (414 words)New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer gave a three-to-five-day time frame for bond insurers to raise much-needed capital or find other ways to resolve their problems. In congressional testimony, Spitzer urged banks and other investors working with bond insurers to "act with some increasing rapidity, because time is short."
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Bernanke left the door open for a sizable rate cut next month, saying at a Senate hearing that he expects "sluggish" economic growth.
The Dow industrials fell 175.26 points, or 1.4%, to 12376.98 despite Bernanke's hints of more rate cuts. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also fell.
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Citigroup barred withdrawals from a hedge fund after a big bet on corporate loans went bad. The events led to the fund manager's resignation.
A Citigroup fund targeting mortgage-backed securities and other debt declined 52% in the fourth quarter.
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Baxter's heparin investigation is focusing on variations in batches of the active ingredient for the blood thinner.
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The U.S. trade deficit narrowed 6.9% in December to $58.8 billion, its largest monthly decline since October 2006, as exports rose.
The agriculture industry is experiencing a boom as surging commodity prices are expected to result in record net farm income in 2008.
Weakness in the euro zone is raising concerns about a protracted slump. Fourth-quarter growth slowed to 0.4% from 0.8% in the third quarter.
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UBS posted an $11.23 billion loss and offered a bleak outlook. The loss included a $13.7 billion write-down tied to U.S. mortgage investments.
Germany's Commerzbank posted a 44% drop in net, hurt by further write-downs tied to subprime investments.
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Shares of mortgage insurers are taking a hit amid rising claims on policies sold during the housing-market boom.
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Prosecutors are examining comments made by Bear Stearns fund managers on a conference call last spring before two funds collapsed.
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Networks are considering revamping parts of the television industry's business model after the writers' strike.
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Comcast will start paying a 25-cent annual dividend and will buy back $7 billion in stock by the end of 2009.
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Deutsche Post CEO Klaus Zumwinkel is the subject of a German criminal probe into whether he evaded taxes.
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Regulators are looking into an equipment malfunction connected with a project to automate pumping stations along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
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Gannett, Hearst, New York Times and Tribune are creating an online ad-sales network that will include more than 120 papers.
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Air France-KLM said it is prepared to invest in a merged Delta- Northwest airline.
