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AP Business NewsBrief at 3:34 p.m. EDT
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Battered financial industry faces more oversightWASHINGTON (AP) _ Withtype:bold,italic; the passage of the $700 billion rescue package, the financial industry will face greater congressional scrutiny in coming weeks and months. Further-reaching regulation is almost certain. Previously obscure corners of the industry now subject to few rules, such as complex derivatives and hedge funds, could face federal supervision for the first time.
Bank on this: bank failures will rise in next yearSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Here's a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won't survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government's $700 billion plan to restore order to the financial industry. The biggest question is how many will perish and how they will be put out of their misery _ in outright closures by regulators scrambling to preserve the dwindling deposit insurance fund or in fire sales made under government pressure.
Wachovia says it will press ahead with Wells dealNEW YORK (AP) _ Wachovia Corp., at the center of a fight between Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. over who will buy the beleaugered bank, said Sunday it is pressing ahead with its deal to sell its banking operations to Wells Fargo. Wachovia responded to a judge's order Saturday temporarily blocking the sale of the bank to Wells Fargo, saying it does not believe the order "has any effect on the validity of the Wells Fargo agreement with Wachovia."
Europeans scramble to save failing banksSTOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) _ Germany became the newest European country to allay fears about the financial meltdown, guaranteeing private bank accounts as governments scrambled on their own to save failing banks. Chancellor Angela Merkel said that no citizen should fear for the safety of their investments, speaking to reporters as her government held crisis talks on the collapse of a ballyhooed 35 billion euro ($48.4 billion) bailout of Hypo Real Estate AG, the country's second-biggest property lender.
Credit crisis adds to pressures on auto dealersNEW YORK (AP) _ Hundreds of thousands of new cars and trucks that would have quickly made their way to people's driveways a year ago are now stacking up on dealer lots across the country, with potential buyers worried about whether they'll keep their jobs, be able to pay for gas, or qualify for a car loan. For auto dealers already suffering under the worst U.S. sales downturn in 15 years, the increasing cost of the credit they use to keep inventory in their showrooms means every Ford Focus and Jeep Grand Cherokee with a sale sticker in the window is chipping away at dealers' razor-thin profit margins every day and threatening to send more of them out of business.
For bailout to work, housing market needs to mendNEW YORK (AP) _ Washington's financial bailout plan is now law. So the credit spigot will start flowing again, banks will resume lending, and an economic recovery can begin, right? Wrong. Experts say the most important thing that needs to happen before the $700 billion bailout even has a chance of working: Home prices must stop falling. That would send a signal to banks that the worst has passed and it's safe to start doling out money again.
Will $700 billion bailout unfreeze credit markets?WASHINGTON (AP) _ Getting the financial rescue through Congress may have been the easy part. Getting it to work may prove the tougher task. After two weeks of anguishing debate, Congress passed and President Bush signed the enormous plan to save the financial industry and prop up the economy in hopes of avoiding an unthinkable free fall with Election Day just a month away.
Next president will be handed a fragile economyWASHINGTON (AP) _ Even with the $700 billion bailout, the financial crisis and fragile economy promise to loom large over the opening days of the next administration. Dealing with the housing and credit problems that President Bush says will take "some time" to clean up could threaten the economic policies advanced by Democratic Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
Tainted Cadbury chocolate found in Hong KongBEIJING (AP) _ Hong Kong said Sunday it found two Cadbury chocolate products contained considerably more of the industrial chemical melamine than the city's legal limit in a growing scandal over tainted food made in China. Iran banned imports of all dairy products from China because of the contamination concerns, state radio reported.
AP Investigation: Ike environmental toll apparentWASHINGTON (AP) _ Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. In the days before and after the deadly storm, companies and residents reported at least 448 releases of oil, gasoline and dozens of other substances into the air and water and onto the ground in Louisiana and Texas. The hardest hit places were industrial centers near Houston and Port Arthur, Texas, as well as oil production facilities off Louisiana's coast, according to the AP's analysis.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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