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Freddie Mac to Raise $5.5 Billion
Freddie Mac, NYSE:FRE, on Wednesday posted its third straight quarterly loss, though it narrowed substantially from the fourth quarter on accounting changes, as the agency announced plans to raise $5.5 billion in new core capital and said its regulator will also lower its excess-capital requirement.
Sony Swings to Net Profit As PlayStation Business Improves
TOKYO – Sony Corp, NYSE: SNE, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as losses from the PlayStation videogame business shrank significantly and it said it expected both videogames and televisions to become profitable this year.
Icahn Buys Yahoo Shares; Mulls Board Proxy Contest
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has purchased roughly 50 million Yahoo Inc., NASDAQ:YHOO, shares since Microsoft Corp., NASDAQ:MSFT, withdrew its offer to buy the Web company, and
is leaning toward launching a proxy contest to unseat at least part of Yahoo’s board, according to a person familiar with the situation.
April Foreclosures Hit New High
Foreclosure filings for April rose 65% on a year-to-year basis and 4% from March, as credit woes and tumbling home values hit homeowners, the foreclosure-listing service RealtyTrac said.
Stock Futures Signal Decline in U.S.
A bit later, the Labor Department will release its consumer price index, which should proffer clues into the rate of U.S. inflation, which has been closely watched amid ballooning commodities prices. The government is also scheduled to release its weekly crude-stockpile report at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
IAC and Liberty Resolve Spinoff Dispute
SAN FRANCISCO - After months of legal wrangling,
IAC/InterActive Corp., TSE IAC, has finally begun to spin off its divisions into five publicly-traded companies.
Global Economy Outlook Improves Amid Signs Credit Crisis Easing
Confidence in the global economy improved for the second consecutive month in May on signs the worst of the credit squeeze may be over, a survey of Bloomberg users on five continents showed.
King Sees Faster Inflation, Limiting BOE Rate Cuts
The Bank of England said inflation will accelerate, breaching the government’s 3 percent limit for “several quarters,” and making it harder for policy makers to stave off a possible recession with interest-rate cuts.
ICAP’s Libor Alternative Lacks `Concrete Timetable’
ICAP Plc (LON:IAP), the biggest broker of transactions between lenders, has no “concrete timetable” for a U.S. alternative to the London interbank offered rate as it seeks to sign up banks.
Moody’s Adds CDO `Sensitivity’ Grades After Criticism
Moody’s, NYSE:MCO, Investors Service plans to add new grades for collateralized debt obligations to show their “sensitivity” to market declines after the securities contributed to $335 billion of bank losses and writedowns.
