US-BUSINESS Summary
Stocks eye retailers as jobless ranks swell
NEW YORK - As unemployment in the United States edges above 10 percent, anxious investors will look to earnings reports from major retailers for signs of life in the beaten-up consumer. Comments from Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N>, the world's largest retailer, as well as from a host of smaller stores, will be of vital importance to investors trying to judge the recovery's pace.
UK gives ground on global tax on banks
ST ANDREWS, Scotland - World governments should consider urgently a levy on banks to fund future bailouts, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday, departing from London's longstanding resistance to a global tax. France and Germany have led the way in Europe on seeking to force the financial sector to return some of the billions of public dollars plowed into banks over a year of financial crisis.
Freddie Mac posts $5 billion loss
NEW YORK - Freddie Mac <FRE.N> <FRE.P>, the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing. Increases in the value of securities Freddie Mac held over the period helped buoy its net worth, however, erasing its need to tap government funds for a second straight quarter to stay solvent while continuing to buy and guarantee home loans.
Berkshire Hathaway's net income triples
NEW YORK - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> <BRKb.N> on Friday said quarterly earnings tripled, as rising stock markets boosted its investment holdings and a quiet hurricane season contributed to higher insurance profit. Results were announced three days after Buffett revealed the biggest acquisition in his 44 years running Berkshire, a $26 billion takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp <BNI.N>. Berkshire had already owned 23 percent of the nation's second-largest railroad operator.
U.S. regulators close Gateway Bank, Prosperan Bank
WASHINGTON - Bank regulators closed Gateway Bank of St. Louis, in St. Louis, Missouri, and Prosperan Bank, of Oakdale, Minnesota, on Friday, the 118th and 119th U.S. bank to fail this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Gateway Bank of St Louis had $27.7 million in assets and $27.9 million in deposits. The bank's sole office will reopen on Saturday as a branch of Central Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, which assumed Gateway's assets.
U.S. closes Home Federal Savings in Detroit
WASHINGTON - Bank regulators closed Home Federal Savings Bank, of Detroit, on Friday, the 117th U.S. bank to fail this year as deteriorating loans continue to take their toll on financial institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Home Federal Savings Bank had $14.9 million in assets and $12.8 million in deposits.
U.S. jobless rate surges to 10.2 percent
WASHINGTON - The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped to 10.2 percent last month, a 26-1/2-year high, adding to pressure on the Obama administration to do more to tackle unemployment even as signs of recovery mount. The Labor Department said on Friday that employers cut 190,000 jobs in October, more than the 175,000 markets had expected but fewer than the 219,000 jobs lost in September.
SEC sees evolution in insider trading
NEW YORK - A top U.S. securities regulator said some funds may now view insider trading as a central tenet of their business models, rather than as a one-time opportunity for big rewards as sometimes happened in the 1980s. Robert Khuzami, head of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, spoke on Friday, a day after the SEC, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced dozens of new charges in what was already the biggest hedge fund insider-trading scandal ever.
AIG posts second straight profit
NEW YORK - AIG, the giant insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, posted its second straight quarterly profit, helped by recovery in the value of its investments, but its underlying business remained weak and its shares fell. "It is clearly still a troubled company," said CreditSights analyst Rob Haines. "Its operations are clearly weaker than some of its higher quality competitors. AIG used to be one of those companies."
Opel chief leaves following failed deal
FRANKFURT - General Motors Co <GM.UL> said on Friday the head of its European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, is leaving, three days after the automaker's decision to scrap a planned sale of its Opel unit. Forster, the son of a German diplomat and a former BMW <BMWG.DE> executive, had been widely expected to run the independent Opel that would have been split from GM in the sale of a controlling Opel stake to a Russian-backed group led by Canadian auto parts company Magna International Inc <MGa.TO>