MARKETS / FINANCE

Oil eased toward $69 a barrel on Monday, after a decision by a major U.S. commodities exchange to enforce limits on large positions increased uncertainty and the dollar strengthened slightly.

Talk of a takeover of Sprint Nextel by Deutsche Telekom sent the German company's shares down 1.4 percent and boosted the U.S. mobile operator's stock by 11 percent in pre-market trade on Monday.

Wall Street was poised for a lower opening on Monday as a decision by the United States to impose special duties on Chinese tires sparked investor concerns about a possible trade dispute.

Web TV firm Joost, owned by the founders of Skype, removed its high-profile chairman Mike Volpi by shareholder vote, it said in a statement late on Friday.

U.S. stock index futures indicated a lower opening on Monday as a decision by the United States to impose special duties on Chinese tires sparked investor concerns about a possible trade dispute.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as a decision by the United States to impose special duties on Chinese tires sparked investor concerns about a possible trade dispute.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as a decision by the United States to impose special duties on Chinese tires sparked investor concerns about a possible trade dispute.

Oil eased toward $68 a barrel on Monday, after a decision by a major U.S. commodities exchange to enforce limits on large positions increased uncertainty and the dollar strengthened slightly.

Morgan Stanley could be the first of many big banks to tap their more staid businesses for the next generation of leaders, but that might not be enough to contain the culture of risk-taking that creates financial meltdowns.

President Barack Obama will try on Monday to revive a stalled push for stricter oversight of Wall Street, using the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse to argue for sweeping regulatory changes.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.63 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.7 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.7 percent.

Oil fell more than a dollar toward $68 a barrel on Monday as a rebound in the beaten-down U.S. dollar and nagging concerns that prices may have run ahead of market fundamentals extended last week's late sell-off.

The severity of the U.S. financial crisis exposed investors' need to whittle down a dependence on dollar-denominated assets and diversify globally, two of Wall Street's most influential figures said on Sunday.

U.S. health-care firm Johnson & Johnson is in talks to cut the price of a $1.5 billion deal with Irish drugmaker Elan Corp , a source familiar with the negotiations said on Sunday.

The Australian Dollar has held onto its recent gains and opens the new week at 0.8610. The Aussie closed higher on Friday after a range of positive Chinese economic data releases which boosted demand for the currency.

U.S. stocks are poised to repeat their advance this week as investors bet that the economic recovery is gaining strength and company outlooks are turning rosier.

Most people around the world support significantly increasing government spending to counter the economic crisis, according to a 20-nation opinion poll released on Monday.

The last time the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates, it did so at a snail's pace. But it may not take that gradual approach to tightening policy the next time around.

The Australian Dollar has held onto its recent gains and opens the new week at 0.8610.

U.S. health-care firm Johnson & Johnson is in talks to cut the price of a $1.5 billion deal with Irish drugmaker Elan Corp, a source familiar with the negotiations said on Sunday.

The former deputy Governor of the Bank of England said he was astounded the U.S. government let Lehman Brothers go under, and that the bank's collapse marked a clear moment when people lost confidence in the markets.

Central clearing of privately traded derivatives contracts won't be enough to make the $600 trillion sector safe, while clearing of some bespoke trades may not be desirable, the Bank of International Settlements said.

German property lender Hypo Real Estate , whose financial troubles forced Germany to nationalize it, has billions of euros in unrealized losses that may swell its need for fresh capital, a newspaper reported.

Efforts by private equity firms to sell stakes in portfolio companies through initial public offerings continued late this week as two North American companies took steps toward coming to market.

A community watchdog group expressed outrage and Wells Fargo said it was launching an investigation after a newspaper reported that a senior exec threw lavish parties at a beachfront Malibu house owned by the bank.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said on Saturday he is ready to veto a bipartisan budget plan proposed by lawmakers to end a 10-week deadlock because it is out of balance and contains cuts to education and healthcare spending.

Financier Danny Pang, who was accused by U.S. securities regulators of perpetrating a massive Ponzi scheme on mainly Taiwanese investors, has died, a family spokesman said on Saturday.

Web TV firm Joost, owned by the Scandinavian founders of Skype, has fired its chairman Mike Volpi, The Times reported on its online edition on Saturday.