The Wall Street Journal-20080205-Business and Finance
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Business and Finance
Full Text (406 words)Banks are tightening lending standards for businesses and consumers amid weakening demand for credit, the Fed's January survey of senior bank-loan officers shows. The survey offers the hardest evidence yet that the credit crunch is spreading beyond real estate.
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Moody's is considering changes in how it rates mortgage-related bonds and other securities hurt by the credit crunch, including the addition of warning labels.
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Yahoo may have to resort to some big-deal brinksmanship to get a sweetened offer from Microsoft.
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Social-networking and video-sharing sites are yielding ad revenue slower than some Internet companies hoped.
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The Dow industrials fell 108.03 points, or 0.8%, to 12635.16 amid analyst downgrades of financial firms. Bond prices declined.
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The SEC launched a probe into stock sales by a Societe Generale director. France blamed the $7.3 billion trading loss on lax internal controls.
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Chrysler closed four auto assembly plants and could close two more after the company ended a supply pact with a plastic-parts maker.
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A new type of exchange-traded fund is nearing approval and could shake up the mutual-fund business.
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Aluminum Corp. of China said it has no plans to raise its stake in Rio Tinto and may be open to selling it to BHP.
Norilsk Nickel adopted defensive measures aimed at thwarting a $51 billion takeover attempt by Rusal.
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Super Bowl XLII drew over 97 million viewers, the biggest television audience in the sporting event's history, early numbers showed.
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Virgin Group got a leg up in bidding for U.K. lender Northern Rock after an investment group decided not to bid.
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Amgen and Takeda signed a licensing deal valued at up to $1.19 billion plus royalties that gives Takeda marketing rights to Amgen's pipeline.
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European airlines are pushing for an overhaul of the Continent's air-traffic-control system amid increasing pressure to cut emissions.
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Ryanair warned profit could fall by up to 50% next fiscal year due to high fuel costs and weaker demand.
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Boston Scientific posted a loss, hurt by write-downs and charges from layoffs and an unfavorable patent ruling.
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News Corp.'s profit edged up 1.2% as a decline in the 20th Century Fox film business dented strong gains at the television division.
MySpace.com will allow software developers to build new services for its users.
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A recovery in China's benchmark index is giving investors hope that authorities will ensure the market is healthy when the Olympics begin.
