MARKETS / FINANCE

A U.S. financial crime agency's plan to let foreign police seek information from American banks is drawing opposition from groups representing U.S. financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve bought $15.0 billion net of agency mortgage-backed securities in the latest week, the New York Fed said on its website on Thursday.

U.S. regulators and legislators are investigating whether Wall Street investment banks deliberately sold risky structured securities to clients, and then bet on the securities failing, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The chief operating officer of U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc , Len Lauer, has resigned to become a chief executive of another company, Qualcomm said on Thursday.

When Warren Buffett said last month that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc was buying Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp for $26 billion, he characterized the deal as an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.

U.S. stocks rallied in a brief pre-holiday session on Thursday, closing at 2009 highs, after data showing a drop in initial jobless claims and growth in durable goods orders suggested an economic recovery was picking up steam.

U.S. and European stocks hit more than one-year closing highs on Thursday after better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims and durable goods orders drove optimism that the economic recovery is gaining hold, while the dollar slipped after a recent rally.

The top U.S. housing regulator said on Thursday it approved 2009 pay packages of up to $6 million each for the chief executives of government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

Lyondell Chemical Co asked a bankruptcy court on Thursday to approve a proposed settlement among warring creditors and said its secured lenders committed to support its plan of reorganization.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods, excluding transportation items, surged in November and new applications for jobless aid hit the lowest level in 15 months last week, pointing to a firmly entrenched economic recovery.

General Motors Co is pressing ahead with plans to shut down Saab as chances of a deal to sell the Swedish brand to Dutch sports car builder Spyker Cars remain remote, a person familiar with the planning said on Thursday.

(James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

U.S. stocks rallied in a brief pre-holiday session on Thursday after data showing a drop in initial jobless claims and growth in durable goods orders suggested an economic recovery was picking up steam.

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was hospitalized late last week and treated for facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, a Raleigh, North Carolina television station reported on its Web site on Thursday.

Loss-making lender Pacific Capital Bancorp signed a letter of intent to sell its tax division to a private equity fund, as its regulators barred it from originating any refund anticipation loan in 2010.

Stocks rose in a shortened preholiday session on Thursday after data showing a drop in initial jobless claims and growth in durable goods orders suggested an economic recovery was gathering steam.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods excluding transportation surged in November, and applications for jobless benefits fell last week, pointing to a firmly entrenched economic recovery.

Egypt's Orascom Telecom (OT) (ORTE.CA)(ORTEq.L) said on Thursday it has obtained a month-long waiver from major lenders that will enable it to go ahead with a $800 million capital increase.

Apple Inc has reserved space in late January at a venue in San Francisco in advance of a planned product announcement, the Financial Times reported on its blog on Wednesday

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday after data showed that jobless claims fell to their lowest level since September 2008, a sign of an improving labor market.

U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened and investors awaited data that was expected to show improvement in durable good orders and the crucial labor market.

(Corrects the number that initial jobless claims are expected to fall to 10,000 from 15,000 in 3rd paragraph. The incorrect number was mentioned in an earlier stock market report)

U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened and investors awaited data expected to show improvement in durable good orders and the labor market.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.22 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.15 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.23 percent at 3:33 a.m.

U.S. regulators and legislators are investigating whether Wall Street investment banks deliberately sold risky structured securities to clients, and then bet on the securities failing, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

As the recovering U.S. asset-backed market heads toward the new year, concerns remain that overregulation may deliver a setback to a full recovery.

Citigroup Inc repaid $20 billion to the United States, as the bank works to reduce government involvement in its compensation practices.

U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg on Wednesday approved compensation plans for several executives and top-paid employees at three firms that have received taxpayer aid.

Google Inc (GOOG.O) said its $750 million purchase of AdMob won't close right away as antitrust regulators seek more information about its competitive impact on the nascent mobile advertising market.