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Fed deal for Bear Stearns unclear (Finance, 16 articles)
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WASHINGTON - Big Wall Street investment companies are taking advantage of the Federal Reserve's unprecedented offer to secure emergency loans, the central bank reported yesterday. The latest action brought the federal funds rate the interest that banks charge each other down to 2.25 percent, the lowest point since late 2004. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have now cut the funds rate six times since last September, with the reductions becoming more aggressive since January as the central bank has faced growing turmoil in global financial markets. Following on from its previous, emergency three-quarter-point cut in late January, and a further half-point cut eight days later, last night's move took the total reduction in official US rates to 3 percentage points in the past six months. The Fed on Tuesday slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a point, wrapping up its most aggressive two months of rate cuts in a quarter-century. Over the weekend, Mr. Bernanke took unprecedented steps to prevent a financial market correction from becoming a panic and turning a pending recession into something much worse. On the recession front, the Fed has turned to a familiar device, cutting its target for the benchmark federal-funds rate, with the latest trim Tuesday.
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Dow falls 293 as debt fears gnaw at gains - (Finance, 6 articles)
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Talk swirled about whether further write-downs are in the offing after Merrill Lynch & Co. filed a lawsuit against a company involved in a debt transaction with the investment bank. Wall Street capped a week of remarkable volatility with a big advance Thursday that left stocks higher for the week but didn't silence all of investors' concerns about the economy and the financial system. Stocks closed out their best week in nearly two months on the strength of financial shares, which bore the brunt of investors' wrath since the credit crisis unfolded last summer.
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Visa has record $17.9 billion IPO - (Finance, 4 articles)
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If investment bankers exercise an option on another 40.6 million shares, Visa's IPO will end up raising $19.7 billion before expenses. More than $10 billion of the IPO proceeds are to be used to buy back some of the shares owned by the banks that have helped build Visa during the past 50 years. After being priced above expectations at $44 per share in an initial public offering that raised nearly $18 billion, Visa shares finished at $56.50 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.
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General Mills 3rd-quarter profit rises 61 percent :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Earnings (Finance, 7 articles)
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PORTLAND - Nike's third-quarter profit jumped more than 30 percent because of strong sales overseas and beneficial currency exchanges, the athletic-shoe and apparel giant said Wednesday. U.S. revenue gained 5 percent, European sales climbed 23 percent, the Americas revenue gained 20 percent and sales in Asia rose 27 percent. Net income dropped to $236 million, or 30 cents per share, in the three months ended Feb. 29, from $283 million, or 35 cents per share, a year ago.
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Verizon and AT&T Win Big in Auction of Spectrum (Finance, 7 articles)
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The two largest cellphone service providers - Verizon Wireless and AT&T - won a greater swath of radio spectrum in the government auction that ended this week, heading off new competition that could have led to lower prices for consumers. The Federal Communications Commission, which held the auction that ended this week, said Thursday that Verizon Wireless, a partnership of Verizon Communications and the Vodafone Group, bought the largest block. WASHINGTON - The nation's cell phone companies won big in a record-setting government airways auction, the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday.
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Crude oil prices drop 4.5% on lower demand for petroleum products (Finance, 9 articles)
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NEW YORK - Across the country, people already struggling with rising food prices, weak wage growth and falling home values are finding ways to manage the soaring cost of gasoline. NEW YORK - Oil prices pulled back sharply yesterday after the government released data suggesting that the high price of oil and gasoline are depressing demand for petroleum products. At the pump, gas prices set records for the fourth straight day, rising 1.3 cents Friday to a national average price of $3.28 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
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FTSE advances buyoed by Wall St (Finance, 6 articles)
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European equity markets slid on Thursday as softening commodities prices took the shine off mining and metals stocks while a profit warning from Credit Suisse kept the spotlight on credit market worries. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.3 per cent to 1,227.03, in Germany Xetra Dax fell 0.7 per cent to 6,319.99 and France's CAC 40 fell 0.5 per cent to 4,533.72 while in London the FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent to 5,495.2. French miner Eramet tumbled 9.1 per cent to €426.67 as British peers Anglo American and Antofagasta fell 8.1 per cent to $27.36 and 6.7 per cent to 622p as copper and gold prices slid.
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Apple mulls unlimited free access to iTunes, report says (Finance, 7 articles)
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The newspaper cited unnamed music industry sources in reporting that Apple is negotiating with record labels over a deal to offer a monthly music subscription for the iPhone, as well as an unlimited music bundle for both the iPod and iPhone. The Cupertino technology company is discussing a deal with the major record labels, but the negotiations hinge on how Apple and the music companies would share the revenue, the Financial Times reported. Free-culture advocates have been clamoring for DRM-less tunes for years, as have audiophiles who want to buy music without getting locked into proprietary formats or specific media players.
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Starbucks to offer drinks for hard times - (Finance, 7 articles)
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Schultz, who built the Seattle coffee chain into a corporation with almost 16,000 cafes, is counting on new styles of coffee and a slowdown in store openings to halt two quarters of customer declines. Howard D. Schultz announced sweeping changes on Wednesday for the company as it seeks to reconnect with customers who have left for competitors or pared back their coffee budget in hard economic times. Starbucks is introducing a new automated espresso machine, a new daily blend and getting back to grinding beans in its stores as the coffee retailer seeks to re-energize its slumping business.
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Credit crisis forces Borders into sale talks (Finance, 7 articles)
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BEGIN: Comment Teaser Module The UK and Ireland arm of the company was bought by the entrepreneur Luke Johnson for $10 million last year. Borders is a year into a restructuring that includes revamping its US superstores as part of an effort to lure more shoppers. DETROIT - Borders Group Inc., America's second-largest bookseller, said Thursday it may put itself up for sale and has lined up $42.5 million in financing to help the chain continue operations.
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MPC minutes of split vote increases hopes for April cut in interest rates (Finance, 5 articles)
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A surprise surge in high street sales last month suggested that consumer spending is proving more resilient than expected in the face of the credit squeeze, dealing a blow to hopes of an interest rate cut as soon as next month. The volume of sales rose by 1 per cent in February and January's rise was revised up to 1.1 per cent, from 0.8 per cent, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. Hopes among some City economists of another rate cut in a fortnight's time rose after news of a seven-to-two vote on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee over this month's decision to hold borrowing costs was revealed by MPC minutes.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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