Credit Squeeze Is Still in `Early Days, Watsa Says

The credit squeeze thats led to
$146 billion in writedowns for global banks wont end any time
soon, said Prem Watsa, whose Canadian insurance company posted
record earnings last year by betting against financial firms.
Its still early days, said Watsa, who heads Fairfax
Financial Holdings Ltd. […]

Goldman Hires Pulitzer-Winning Journalist to Snare Millionaires

The conference started with a
cookout at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Elbow Beach in Bermuda
and ended with a talk by 23-year-old Lauren Bush, an anti-hunger
activist, former model and niece to President George W. Bush. In
between, executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. taught scions of
wealthy families how to invest in hedge funds. […]

U.S. Stocks Decline on Economic Concern; AIG, Sprint Retreat

U.S. stocks tumbled, capping the
markets fourth-straight monthly drop, after a report showed
business activity fell to the lowest level since 2001 and UBS AG
said losses in credit markets may top $600 billion.
American International Group Inc., the worlds largest
insurer, declined the most in two […]

Asia Stocks Rise This Week on Insurers Rescue Plan, Record Oil

Asian stocks rose for the second week
this year, led by financial companies and oil producers, on
speculation a planned rescue of U.S. bond insurers will contain
credit-market losses and after crude oil climbed to a record.
HSBC Holdings Plc had its biggest weekly gain in […]

Corporate Sales Slow as Bonds Have Worst February in a Decade

Hewlett-Packard Co. and UnitedHealth
Group Inc. led $63.4 billion in bond sales this month as
investment-grade debt posted the worst February returns in a
decade.
Bond sales slowed as economic data raised concern that the
U.S., now in its seventh year of expansion, is teetering toward a
recession, […]

Global business

Japan’s Nikkei stock market surged by 4.3 percent on Valentine’s Day — its biggest one-day jump in six years — following better-than-expected economic growth figures.
Reliance Power’s share price slumped by 17 percent on its first day of trading. The company launched its share issue last month, attracting millions of small investors and raising $3 billion […]

Rate-cut expectations boost nervous markets

NEW YORK - Wall Street finished higher in an uneasy session Monday as retail and homebuilders stocks rose on expectations for more interest rate cuts, but banks and insurers fell on worries about further mortgage debt troubles.
The Federal Reserve has been in rate-cutting mode this year and it is expected to lower the federal funds […]

Bush acknowledges economic uncertainty, asks Congress to do more

WASHINGTON
- President Bush, acknowledging that the country is suffering through a period of economic uncertainty, called on Congress Monday to do more to help people and businesses hurt by the housing slump and credit crunch.In a brief introduction to his annual economic report, Bush said the $168 […]

Recession anxiety pushes stocks lower

NEW YORK %26mdash; Wall Street finished a dismal week with a mixed performance Friday as investors grappled with fears about the insurers of distressed mortgage-backed bonds and anxiety about the broader economy. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had risen in earlier trading, fell more than 60 points, while the Nasdaq composite index managed a […]

Recession anxiety mixes stocks

NEW YORK %26mdash; Wall Street finished a dismal week with a mixed performance Friday as investors grappled with fears about insurers of distressed mortgage-backed bonds and anxiety about the broader economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose in earlier trading, fell more than 60 points, while the Nasdaq composite index managed a gain. […]