Grave business - my financial world

New factory orders fell more than expected in September, marking the second decline in a row, the government announced Tuesday.
The U.S. Census Bureau said orders fell 2.5% to $432 billion in September, a steeper drop than the 0.8% forecasted by a Briefing.com survey of economists.
The month of August was revised to reflect a […]

The numbers are big. That much is certain.
The Federal Reserve has backstopped the purchase of Bear Stearns to the tune of $29 billion. It will loan $85 billion to insurer AIG. It’s letting banks borrow up to $150 billion using risky mortgage-backed securities as collateral. And it’s letting investment banks, which it doesn’t […]

Wall Street braced for a huge stock selloff Monday after one of the most calamitous days in U.S. financial services history resulted in Bank of America’s $50 billion deal to buy Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers.
At 7:43 a.m. ET, S&P futures were down more than 3%, and Nasdaq futures were […]

U.K. house prices dropped in August as the squeeze on mortgage lending pushed down sales to a record low, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.
The number of real-estate agents and surveyors saying prices fell exceeded those reporting gains by 81 percentage points, compared with 83 percentage points in July, the group said […]

Doug Keller is old enough to be a grandfather. He remembers Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Camille four years later, and Katrina and Rita, of course, just three years ago. But Gustav is the first storm he’s ever run away from.
I reached him by phone in Marble Falls, Tex., near Austin, the day after […]

As mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac struggle with continuing credit losses, their ability to raise needed capital is uncertain and, analysts say, is complicated by the possibility of a government bailout of the two companies.
"We’re in uncharted water with this," Bert Ely, an Alexandria, Va.-based banking industry consultant and longtime critic of […]

Deteriorating airline customer service has helped drive flier satisfaction to its lowest level in three years, according to a study released Tuesday, and for many it has become an even bigger concern than higher airfares and additional fees.
Poor airline customer service was the leading factor in a decline in customer satisfaction this year, according […]

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a 50 percent increase in food production by 2030, saying that failure to feed the world's growing population will spark civil unrest and starvation.
“The world needs to produce more food,'' he said in the opening speech at the World Food Security conference in Rome. “While […]

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell in April and the supply of unsold properties reached a record, signaling no let-up in the 27-month housing slump.
Purchases declined 1 percent to an annual rate of 4.89 million, higher than forecast, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median price […]

Confidence among U.S. consumers sank to a 26-year low in April as the labor market continued to deteriorate and gasoline prices rose.
The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment decreased to 63.2 from 69.5 in March. The reading was below the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and the weakest since […]