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Banking basics pay off for Wells Fargo

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:04:00 PST

With its iconic stagecoach, Wells Fargo has evoked images of the wild West throughout its 156-year history. Now it's finally expanding east of the Mississippi, with its $12.2 billion acquisition of Wachovia.

Trade deficit declines

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:57:00 PST

The U.S. trade deficit edged down in August as foreign oil imports retreated from a record high the previous month, a drop that more than offset a setback in exports.
The Commerce Department said Friday the trade deficit declined by 3.5 percent in August to $59.1 billion, the smallest imbalance since June.

Chesapeake CEO forced to sell stock

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:57:00 PST

Aubrey McClendon, the billionaire chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, has sold "substantially all" of his stock in the company over the past three days in order to meet margin loan calls, the company said Friday.

GE earnings meet reduced forecast

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:56:00 PST

General Electric Co. spared investors any nasty surprises as it reported a 22 percent drop in third-quarter earnings Friday, meeting its own lowered forecast and blaming the decline on its struggling finance arm. The company's loan and lease business has been hammered by the worst financial crisis since the 1929 stock market crash.

Slump making Yahoo a target

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:56:00 PST

When Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang spurned Microsoft's rich buyout offer this spring, he promised brighter days in Sunnyvale were just over the horizon.

Feds to buy equity stake in banks for first time since Depression

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:17:00 PST

Investors ride out massive swings before Dow settles

Merger talks reported between GM, Chrysler

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:43:00 PST

DETROIT -- General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the landscape of the auto industry by reducing the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two.

Gyrating stock market no place for the squeamish

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:43:00 PST

ATLANTA -- When Wall Street takes a spectacular ride, whether you feel nausea or not depends on whether you consider yourself a passenger or passerby.
And that, in turn, depends on whether you have the luxury of ignoring the rise and fall of the financial roller-coaster.

Shift on valuing assets could help banks

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:42:00 PST

NORWALK, Conn. -- The standard-setting board for corporate accounting adopted new guidance Friday for how banks value assets in the distressed market, a move that could boost their balance sheets.

Rate cuts do little to help credit markets

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:42:00 PST

NEW YORK -- Governments around the world have slashed interest rates and ramped up their lending to unprecedented levels, but banks are still charging each other extremely high borrowing rates -- a bad sign for the credit markets that remain close to paralysis.

Oil falls below $78 per barrel

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:42:00 PST

Mirroring declines in stock markets worldwide, New York oil futures fell nearly $9 to dip below $78 a barrel Friday for the first time in 13 months, raising the prospect of $60 oil by year's end.

Garbage stink in downtown Santa Rosa

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:00:00 PST

Owners of a new French bistro in downtown Santa Rosa are crying foul over the way City Hall wants them to handle their garbage.

Worst week ever for Dow

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:18:00 PST

Late-day buying helped curb steep losses during a wild session Friday, but the Dow still dropped 128 points, capping seven days of massive losses.

Mother's Cookies shuts after 92 years

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:31:00 PST

An Oakland cookie company has closed its doors for good.
After operating in Oakland for 92 years, Mother's Cookies shut when its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection Monday.
Plant officials told workers Friday that operations would cease and cookies would no longer be made at the plant.

Weekend frost may nip at grapes

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:14:00 PST

Most of the North Coast grape crop is safe in the tanks, but a weekend forecast of frost has growers and winemakers contemplating their options for the fruit remaining on the vines.

Deadline nears for stimulus checks

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:16:00 PST

More than 7,400 Sonoma County seniors and veterans have until Wednesday to claim their economic stimulus check by filing a 2007 federal income tax return.
Individuals must file a tax return to receive their money, even if they normally are not required to file a return.

Evergreen Pulp closing in Humboldt

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:14:00 PST

A Humboldt County pulp mill that employs more than 200 workers says it will shut until the pulp market rebounds.
Evergreen Pulp Inc. announced Wednesday that it will shutter its pulp plant in Samoa next week amid falling demand for paper, containerboard and housing materials.

Wells Fargo wins Wachovia fight

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:11:00 PST

NEW YORK -- Wells Fargo emerged as the apparent victor in the battle for control of Wachovia on Thursday night, after rival suitor Citigroup broke off talks with Wells Fargo and federal regulators but vowed to have its day in court.

U.S. running out of tools to fix crisis

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:19:00 PST

WASHINGTON -- What's left in Uncle Sam's economic tool kit' The commitment of $700 billion didn't impress markets here nor around the world. Neither did fresh interest rate cuts. Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday.

GM shares dive by 31%

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:02:00 PST

NEW YORK -- Shares of General Motors Corp. lost nearly one-third of their value Thursday, plunging to their lowest level since July 1950 after Standard & Poor's said the automaker's credit could fall further into junk status due to the "rapidly weakening state" of the global automotive market.

Mortgage rates fall across board

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:16:00 PST

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell below 6 percent this week, recording the first decline in three weeks.

Rate cut loosens credit market

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:02:00 PST

NEW YORK -- The credit markets might not be quite as squeezed as they have been recently, thanks to the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut.
In two signs of continued strain, a key bank-to-bank lending rate rose Thursday and the amount of commercial paper in the market fell for the fourth straight week to 15 percent.

E-mail scams likely to rise, feds warn

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:02:00 PST

NEW YORK -- E-mail scams that "phish" for personal information may increase amid the current financial crisis, the Federal Trade Commission warned consumers Thursday.

Stocks plunge to 5-year low

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:39:00 PST

A sell-off turned the anniversary of the U.S. stock market peak into one of the darkest days in Wall Street history, driving the Dow Jones industrials down 679 points.

Sales still sinking

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:20:00 PST

American consumers went into hiding in September, leaving retailers with dismal sales and an uncertain future well beyond the holiday season as the fallout from the financial meltdown pushes spending even lower.

Judge stops SR Wal-Mart project

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:16:00 PST

Stony Point plaza store delayed indefinitely; ruling calls impact report flawed

Fleeing investors may regret pullout

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:40:00 PST

It's a question we've all asked in our darker moments of late: Why not just put all of our investments in cash, 100 percent, just for a little while, until things calm down'

No clear bottom for this bear market

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:40:00 PST

CHICAGO -- The bear market that is ravaging investor portfolios is now one of the worst in modern U.S. history and has wiped out more than $7 trillion in shareholder value, with no bottom clearly in sight.

STOCKS ZIGZAG, END DAY LOWER

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:40:00 PST

NEW YORK -- A stock market empowered by an emergency interest rate cut tried to find some stability Wednesday, rallying several times before another late-day drop left Wall Street down for the sixth straight day. Still, the pullback, while fed by comments from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, was milder than the massive declines of earlier in the...

From engineer to bailout czar

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:22:00 PST

Before Wharton, Goldman Sachs, whiz kid Neel Kashkari worked for NASA contractor TRW