INVESTMENT

NovaStar Financial Inc said on Tuesday that it would eliminate 275 jobs and slash direct mortgage lending to preserve cash after it was forced to cancel a $101.2 million rights offering, and its shares fell 14 percent.

Wireless service provider MetroPCS Communications Inc said on Tuesday it proposed buying competitor Leap Wireless International Inc for more than $5 billion in stock.

U.S. stock index futures indicated a weaker open on Wall Street on Tuesday before a key economic report forecast to show a dip in manufacturing activity last month.

The yen strengthened on Tuesday as softer equity markets ahead of a flurry of U.S. data signaled a return to risk aversion for nervous markets, leading investors to unwind carry trade positions.

State-owned Qatar Investment Authority, which has offered to buy British supermarkets chain J. Sainsbury Plc, has raised a $3 billion loan as a warchest for investments, bankers said on Monday.

Germany's IKB said on Monday it would return to its small-company lending roots, and expects to lose nearly $1 billion this year after its U.S. subprime investments turned sour.

European share indexes rose on Monday as remarks by executives of Barclays and Deutsche Bank eased fears of losses from the recent credit market turmoil, but utilities fell after news of a big French merger.

HSBC's purchase boost's its profile in Asia's third-largest banking market.

President George W. Bush's plan designed to limit the number of Americans who default on subprime mortgages might be a small positive for the commercial and investment banks exposed to them but does little to alleviate broader concerns about credit losses, analysts said.

Shareholders of Monster Worldwide Inc may have to brace for further losses if the U.S. housing slump and credit market turmoil hurt U.S. economic growth and jobs in coming months.

Barclays was recovering from a week of bad headlines, denials and late-night statements on Friday, as analysts said there was little substance to the frenzy and few harbored genuine worries over the bank's health.

Chinese demand has already fuelled booms in markets from copper to shipping, but the rise of the world's fastest growing economy is also driving up prices for another hot commodity: bilingual bankers.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday on mounting concerns that credit market upheaval will erode bank profits and hold back consumer spending, but optimism about corporate investment helped lift technology shares.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as financial stocks dropped on credit worries, overshadowing earlier optimism about technology company profits. Lehman Brothers slashed earnings estimates on four top Wall Street banks, adding its voice to the chorus of widely followed research analysts warning credit turmoil would cut into bank profits.

Morgan Stanley has completed the UK's first residential property derivative trade with an embedded exotic option.

Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Thursday it raised $500 million by selling convertible preferred stock, a move that will boost funding and allow it to resume making new loans after getting hit by a credit squeeze.

Gold cut losses in late European trade on Thursday, but remained vulnerable as the dollar gained against the euro and stocks fell as concern over global credit conditions hurt sentiment again, analysts said.

Credit Agricole, reported a 0.6 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on Thursday, which beat an average forecast, and said the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has had a limited impact on it.

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 4 percent in the second quarter, as strong business investment led the fastest pace of expansion since early last year, the government reported on Thursday. However, the rebound in growth is not likely to be sustained. Policy makers and analysts may scale back estimates for U.S. growth in the coming quarters due to disruptions in the financial markets worldwide from rising defaults in subprime mortgages.

Robust business investment helped push U.S. second-quarter growth ahead at an upwardly revised 4 percent annual rate, the government reported on Thursday, the fastest pace since early last year but one that is unlikely to be sustained.

CITIC Securities, China's biggest listed brokerage, said on Thursday it has raised 25 billion yuan ($3.31 billion) in a heavily oversubscribed new share offer to finance expansion.