Reuters
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A man walks past a Bank Of America branch in New York, October 6, 2008. Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank, on Monday reported a 68 percent drop in quarterly earnings, halved its dividend and said it would seek to raise $10 billion in additional capital. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

BofA earnings tumble, cuts dividend

2 hours, 14 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, citing "recessionary conditions," on Monday halved its dividend and said it would sell at least $10 billion in new common stock to bolster its capital to offset rising loan losses.

  • Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 6, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
    Dow dives below 10,000 on credit, recession fears Mon Oct 6, 6:09 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slid for a fourth straight day on Monday, leaving the Dow below 10,000 for the first time in four years, on fears the global economy was hurtling into recession despite government efforts to contain the fast-spreading financial crisis.

  • A man smokes in front of an electronic stock information board at a brokerage house in Shanghai October 6, 2008. (Aly Song/Reuters)
    Crisis hammers stocks, U.S. urges unified response 2 hours, 18 minutes ago

    NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Governments around the world scrambled for new measures to contain the fast-spreading credit crisis as stock, bond and commodity markets bet on deepening uncertainty and a sharp downturn.

  • General view of the Tema oil refinery near Ghana's capital Accra in this file photo from March 28, 2005. (Yaw Bibini/Reuters)
    Oil rebounds above $88 after 8-month low 11 minutes ago

    SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil rebounded above $88 a barrel on Tuesday, recouping some of the $6 losses that sent it to an eight-month low the previous day when investors bet the global economy would slip into recession and demand for fuels would sink.

  • The logo of American International Group (AIG) is seen at their offices in New York, September 18, 2008. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)
    Insurance chief says AIG bailout was unavoidable 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington policy-makers had no choice but to rescue American International Group Inc after a dramatic investor crisis left the giant insurer starved for cash, New York insurance chief Eric Dinallo told lawmakers on Tuesday.

  • A Wachovia banking branch is seen in Manhasset, New York, October 6, 2008. The U.S. Federal Reserve is brokering discussions between Wells Fargo and Co and Citigroup Inc over which of the banks will buy Wachovia Corp's assets, people familiar with the matter have said. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
    Wachovia, Citi, Wells Fargo to halt litigation Mon Oct 6, 6:43 PM ET

    NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc agreed on Monday to a 44-hour truce in their fight over regional bank Wachovia Corp after a weekend of legal wrangling.

  • Richard Fuld, Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings, refers to a chart during testimony at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the causes and effects of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 6, 2008. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
    Lehman's Fuld: Where was our bailout? Mon Oct 6, 6:49 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Richard Fuld, the disgraced head of Lehman Brothers , said he would wonder "until they put me in the ground" why the U.S. government did not rescue the 158-year-old Wall Street firm and claimed regulators knew the full scale of its condition far before its collapse.

  • Tax rule change may spur bank deals, experts say 2 hours, 46 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - A recent change in U.S. tax rules that determine how a buyer treats a target bank's losses on loans and bad debts could spur more deals in the troubled sector.

  • BlackRock, big funds seen winning U.S. bailout job 2 hours, 16 minutes ago

    BOSTON (Reuters) - Large U.S. asset managers with strong fixed-income records, such as BlackRock Inc , PIMCO and Trust Company of the West, are seen as favored to oversee the U.S. government's $700 billion financial rescue fund.

  • Fed, Treasury mulling commercial paper support 2 hours, 48 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are considering additional steps to support strained commercial paper markets, a source familiar with the discussions said on Monday.

  • Pedestrians walk past a signboard of a Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) securities branch in Tokyo, September 23, 2008. (Issei Kato/Reuters)
    Fed give OK to Mitsubishi, Morgan Stanley deal Mon Oct 6, 6:11 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Monday gave its approval for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (8306.T) to acquire up to 24.9 percent of the voting shares of Morgan Stanley .

  • Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates speaks with former U.S. President Bill Clinton (unseen) during a conversation about philanthropy at the Clinton Global Initiative, in New York, September 24, 2008. (Chip East/Reuters)
    Bill Gates fund reports stake in Strategic Hotels Mon Oct 6, 5:42 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire Bill Gates's Cascade Investment on Monday reported a 5.6 percent active stake in Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc .

  • PIMCO urges Fed to jump-start commercial paper market Mon Oct 6, 4:27 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bill Gross, head of the world's largest bond fund, on Monday urged the U.S. Federal Reserve to take more dramatic steps to jump-start paralyzed credit markets, including direct purchases of commercial paper.

  • A traffic light is pictured beside the Wall Street road sign in the financial district of New York September 19, 2008. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
    Fed to boost auctions, pay interest on reserves Mon Oct 6, 9:31 AM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Monday announced a series of steps to funnel massive amounts of liquidity through clogged credit markets, including boosting the sizes of cash auctions and offering banks interest on reserves.

  • American Express says can satisfy funding needs Mon Oct 6, 4:30 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Express Co , the fourth-largest U.S. card issuer, said on Monday it would have enough liquidity to satisfy its funding needs for at least 12 months if access to fixed income capital markets were interrupted.

  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair speaks to the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) about current financial stresses in Washington, October 6, 2008. REUTERS/Mitch Dumke (UNITED STATES)
    FDIC working to bolster fund for more bank failures Mon Oct 6, 3:08 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Banking regulators are working aggressively to implement higher deposit insurance limits and to ensure that there will be sufficient reserves to cover losses from more bank failures, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Monday.

  • Treasury names rescue program chief Mon Oct 6, 2:01 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury on Monday named Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development, Neel Kashkari, as head of the $700 billion government program that will buy soured investments to help restore the financial markets to health.

  • A laboratory researcher in a file photo. (File/Reuters)
    Eli Lilly bids $6.5 billion for ImClone Mon Oct 6, 2:59 PM ET

    BOSTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co has agreed to acquire ImClone Systems Inc for $6.5 billion, outbidding Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and potentially bringing to a close one of the most colorful corporate sagas in biotech history.

  • A screen grab of Ask.com. (www.ask.com/Reuters)
    Ask revamps for faster Web search, more relevance Mon Oct 6, 2:52 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - IAC Corp's Ask.com is overhauling its Web search engine to deliver faster results and improved relevance as it bids to win share from market leader Google Inc.