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Wall Street Journal
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Sep 27, 08 11:31 AM CDT
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Wachovia is in a new round of talks with potential buyers, reports the Wall Street Journal, courting Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Spain’s Banco Santander to help guard it from the financial market crisis. While the bank says it’s not in immediate danger, shares at Wachovia, which holds a $120 billion mortgage portfolio, dropped 27% yesterday on the news of Washington Mutual’s failure.
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Bloomberg
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Sep 27, 08 10:43 AM CDT
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Alitalia, the bankrupt Italian air carrier on the brink of collapse, got a reprieve today when its pilots agreed to a government-backed takeover bid by a team of business executives, Bloomberg reports. Pilots’ unions joined ground staff in approving the plan, which calls for 3,000 job cuts and longer hours for the same pay. Flight attendants’ unions are still in talks with the CAI business group.
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Seattle Times
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Sep 26, 08 2:45 PM CDT
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The failure of Washington Mutual was an opportunity for JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who long held a desire to buy the bank, the Seattle Times reports, and saw its large West Coast presence as particularly attractive. Now Dimon, who incorporated Bear Stearns earlier this year, has used the credit crisis to build the largest bank in the US.
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Washington Post
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Sep 25, 08 7:43 PM CDT
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Federal regulators seized Washington Mutual tonight and sold nearly all of its operations to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion, the Washington Post reports. It is the largest bank failure in US history. WaMu, previously the nation's largest savings and loan, had been reeling from bad mortgage loans and put itself up for sale last week. The feds took action because no serious bidders emerged. The move averts a government bailout of the bank's depositors.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Sep 25, 08 2:45 PM CDT
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Shareholders of Delta and Northwest voted nearly unanimously today to approve the airlines' merger, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. With shareholders in agreement, federal antitrust regulators must now approve the deal. A Justice Department decision is expected late this year, but labor issues remain. Dozens of workers protested today outside the Northwest shareholders’ meeting in New York, shouting, “What do we want? No merger!”
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Wall Street Journal
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Sep 25, 08 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Washington Mutual is hoping private equity will save the bank after its efforts to broker a sale to another financial institution came to nothing. Both the Carlyle Group and Blackstone are considering a takeover of WaMu, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal , although a deal is not yet assured. Many banks, from Santander in Spain to JPMorgan Chase and Citibank, have been reluctant to take on WaMu's troubled loans.
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Bloomberg
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Sep 22, 08 10:13 AM CDT
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Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has agreed to invest as much as $8.4 billion in Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg reports, in exchange for a stake of 10%-20% in the investment bank. The move by Mitsubishi—which last week said it planned to steer clear of investing in US banks—sent Morgan Stanley stock up 12% in early trading.
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Reuters
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Sep 19, 08 3:10 PM CDT
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Morgan Stanley presses on with merger negotiations, but the beginning of a recovery in financial markets today means the bank will have more time to weigh options, Reuters reports. Talks continue with Wachovia and China Investment Corp., among others, but the firm "feels that it can slow down the timetable” in order to make the right choice, a source said.
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Bloomberg
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Sep 19, 08 3:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two of the biggest financial institutions in the midst of the market turmoil are moving closer to hammering out deals. Washington Mutual's suitors are believed to include Citibank, JP Morgan and Bank of America, insiders tell Bloomberg, while Morgan Stanley and Wachovia have stepped up merger talks, reports the New York Times . Morgan is also in separate talks with the China Investment Corporation.
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Wall Street Journal
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Sep 17, 08 6:39 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Morgan Stanley, one of the two big investment banks left standing in the economic rubble, is exploring a merger with Wachovia or another bank, the Wall Street Journal reports. Morgan Stanley officials have had preliminary talks with the other institutions as they scramble to shore up the company's plunging stock price.
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Portfolio
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Sep 17, 08 4:37 PM CDT
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Under chairman Christopher Cox, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has drastically reduced the power of its enforcement division, Portfolio reports. Cox was brought in to “chill it out” after his predecessor was perhaps too zealous for White House tastes. Congress chided Cox for essentially turning down more funding, and penalties against offenders last year were a third of those in 2005, when Cox took office.
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Associated Press
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Sep 17, 08 2:41 PM CDT
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Longs Drugs today declined Walgreen’s premium buyout offer, opting for CVS’ in the pharmacy-market tussle, the AP reports. Longs’ largest shareholder calls the choice "totally unfair," but the board maintains that a Walgreen deal could get bogged down in antitrust review. Longs' stock dipped on the news, indicating that investors still expect a higher offer from one competitor or the other.
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CNBC
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Sep 17, 08 7:25 AM CDT
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Morgan Stanley is rumored to be considering whether to merge with a deposit-taking bank, reports CNBC, in the wake of Lehman's collapse after repeatedly shunning buyout offers. And while the company hasn’t yet found a partner, insiders say that its sliding stock price makes survival unlikely without a well-capitalized bank as a partner.
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Financial Times (UK)
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Sep 16, 08 11:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barclays has reached a deal to buy part of Lehman Brothers’ US business, the Financial Times reports. Lehman’s international divisions could eventually be brought into the deal, or the deal could allow for their acquisition later. Exact terms are unclear, but the Wall Street Journal adds that the figure will be around $2 billion.
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Wall Street Journal
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Sep 16, 08 5:20 AM CDT
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Barclays is in talks to buy Lehman Brothers’ key assets in a shift that could save 10,000 jobs and some operations, the Wall Street Journal reports. A deal could be finalized today. No sale price has yet emerged for the possible transaction, which wouldn’t touch Lehman’s bad assets. UK-based Barclays pulled out of talks on Sunday to purchase Lehman, which declared bankruptcy yesterday.