INVESTMENT

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

U.S. securities regulators plan tougher rules to hold investment advisers more accountable for their clients' money following money manager Bernard Madoff's massive fraud of as much as $65 billion over two decades.

Stocks rose on Thursday as a recent pullback fueled buying of technology and financial shares on bets that equities may extend the run-up from early March.

U.S. securities regulators plan tougher rules to hold investment advisers more accountable for their clients' money following money manager Bernard Madoff's massive fraud of as much as $65 billion over two decades.

Stocks rose on Thursday as a resurgent appetite for riskier equities fueled a rebound in the financial and technology sectors as investors were tempted back into the market after a recent pullback.

Corrects fifth paragraph to losses instead of lawsuits

S&P and Dow industrial stock index futures pared losses while Nasdaq futures turned positive on Thursday after analysts said weak jobless data was due to auto plant shutdowns related to Chrysler's bankruptcy.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday after consumer bellwether Wal-Mart reported flat quarterly profits and as investors awaited producer price and jobless data for insight into the state of the economy.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open on Thursday after consumer bellwether Wal-Mart reported flat quarterly profits and as investors awaited producer price and jobless data for insight into the state of the economy.

World stocks fell for a fourth straight day on Thursday while the low-yielding dollar and yen advanced as weak U.S. retail sales data prompted investors to cut back on risky assets after their nine-week rally.

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as weak U.S. retail sales highlighted the long road to economic recovery, prompting profit-taking on winning bets in equities, higher-yielding currencies and commodities over the past two months.

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

A group of major banks including Citigroup Inc , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Barclays Plc has sued MBIA Inc , charging that the bond insurer illegally restructured its operations by moving $5 billion of assets and leaving a key unit effectively insolvent.

Insurance giant MBIA Inc., is facing another lawsuit over a controversial restructuring of the company as 18 major financial institutions sued the company today.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told nine banks last year that they should accept a federal infusion of funds or be forced to by the regulators, according to a report.

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to exert more control over the shadowy over-the-counter derivatives market, now closely linked to the global credit crisis.

A day after saying big U.S. banks probably needed to raise only one-fourth the capital demanded by the government, Standard & Poor's said the nation's banking crisis has merely entered a new phase and might not end before 2013.

The Obama administration plans to regulate sophisticated financial instruments linked to last year's market turmoil by requiring standardized over-the-counter derivatives to be cleared through central clearinghouses, two congressional staff workers told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to shed more light on the over-the-counter derivatives market, a once-booming shadow banking system that is now closely linked to the global credit crisis.

The Obama administration plans to regulate most financial derivatives linked to last year's market turmoil, two congressional staff sources told Reuters on Wednesday.