News round-up: 8 Aug 2008

Top Billing
Solutions may make credit crunch worse – BBC News (a good read for understanding why tinkering makes it worse)

Earnings
Fannie Mae Posts Fourth Straight Loss, Cuts Dividend – Bloomberg (Following FreddieMac, wasn’t it obvious major losses were coming. $3.2 billion is a large figure, though. Fannie pays a dividend?)

Royal Bank of Scotland plunges into record loss – Times Online (This puts ritedowns globally well over $500 billion)

MBIA reports surprise profit of $1.7 billion – MarketWatch (hmmm….accounting magic)

Beazer Reports Seventh Straight Loss as Demand Slumps – Bloomberg

Markets
Euro and pound dip against dollar – BBC News (Most major currencies are now falling against the U.S. Dollar)

Oil prices slide beneath $116 – Fin24 (This is for Brent, not WTI)

Gold strikes 8-week low on USD – Fin24 (The USD is rising against all currencies, oil, gold and commodities generally)

Gold Falls to Eight-Week Low on Dollar; Silver at Six-Month Low – Bloomberg (same story, different perspective)

Macro Economy
Italian economy shrinking again – BBC News (Italy is now in recession)

Canada posts biggest job loss in 17 years – Globe & Mail (Canada is headed for recession)

Japan Bankruptcies Climb to 5-Year High as Developers Collapse – Bloomberg (Japan is on the brink of recession; sounds like a broken record doesn’t it?)

Worker Productivity, and Wages, Slowed in July – NY Times

Lawsuits
UBS Said to Plan $19.4 Billion Deal for Auction-Rate Securities – Deal Book (The UBS settlement looks to be the largest to date)

Morgan Stanley to Pay $1.5 Million in Auction-Rate Settlement – Deal Book (Everybody’s reaching settlement)

Housing
It’s a good time to negotiate lower rent – MoneyWeek

UK repossessions soar 50pc to 12-year high – Telegraph