U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 wiping out what was left of its 2007 gains, as credit jitters sparked a broad stock market sell-off. Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp. fell 16.2 percent to $20.51 on the rumors that the largest U.S. mortgage company has been unable to raise money from the commercial paper market. Countrywide officials were not immediately available for comment.
U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa, Inc. has selected the ousted former chief of German conglomerate Siemens, Klaus Kleinfeld, as its chief operating officer, the company said Tuesday.
The recall of millions of Chinese-made toys by U.S. toy company Mattel Inc. will make Americans more cautious about buying toys made in China but will not deter them, parents said.
Blu-ray high-definition movie discs outsold films on the rival HD-DVD format by 2-to-1 in the United States in the first half of 2007, Home Media Research said on Tuesday.
Countrywide Financial Corp shares fell as much as 9.2 percent on Wednesday after the largest U.S. mortgage lender was downgraded to sell from buy by a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst, who said bankruptcy may be possible if liquidity worsens.
World oil demand forecasts are falling into a widening range, adding to uncertainty that may steer OPEC towards doing nothing when it meets on September 11, analysts said on Wednesday.
The region is still a safer bet than struggling U.S. and European markets despite an expected dip in investment due to higher borrowing costs from the U.S. subprime crises.
Democratic presidential hopefuls have seized on the deepening U.S. mortgage crisis and gyrating financial markets as signs they would be better stewards of the economy, but Republicans argue the outlook is strong.
Most U.S. voters think the economy is in fair shape, at best, and will grow at a slow pace over the next six months, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Central banks on Wednesday progressively withdrew the cash they recently injected into money markets as the focus of the global credit storm rolled into emerging markets and currencies.
U.S. futures exchanges are trying to get other futures companies to step in and ease Sentinel Management Group Inc's concerns about client redemptions, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission official said on Tuesday.
U.S. consumer prices edged up in July while a measure of manufacturing activity in New York this month dipped slightly, according to data released on Wednesday that was unlikely to sway an inflation-wary Federal Reserve. While the Fed said last week that inflation was its top concern, it also acknowledged that the housing market downturn had led to tightening credit terms for some households and businesses.
Deere & Co. said on Wednesday its net earnings in the latest quarter rose a better-than-expected 23 percent, driven by strong overseas sales of tractors and other equipment.
Japan's Nikkei plumbed a 2007 low and other Asian stock markets fell as much as 6 percent on Wednesday as investors shunned risky trades amid growing credit jitters, pushing the yen to a 4 and a half month high. The nervous sentiment is set to hit Europe, where financial bookmakers are calling for falls of half a percent or more for major indexes.
Consumer appetite for digital cameras so far this year has grown twice as fast as expected, as buyers replace older models at cheaper prices, according to research firm IDC.
U.S. broadcaster CBS settled its termination dispute with fired radio shock jock Don Imus on Tuesday, a possible step toward Imus reviving his multimillion-dollar career with a rival broadcaster.
U.S. stocks skidded on Tuesday on fresh signs that global credit markets were seizing up, while a lower profit forecast from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. renewed worries about consumer spending. Wal-Mart's pessimistic outlook and subsequent news that a U.S. investment firm wants to halt redemptions delivered a one-two punch to already shaky confidence.
U.S. consumers are showing signs of lethargy and have retreated from their free-spending ways.
Trouble is mounting in the $2.2 trillion commercial paper market, and further deterioration could trigger problems for banks that would rival what they've suffered from the subprime crisis.
The powerful head of India's ruling Congress party stood firm behind a controversial nuclear deal with the United States on Tuesday as fresh efforts were launched to convince communist allies who have rejected it.
The U.S. toy industry is under growing pressure from U.S. lawmakers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to launch a testing program to ensure the safety of products from China, officials said on Tuesday.
The recall was due to hazards from small, powerful magnets and lead paint, sending its shares down as much as 6 percent.
