Business News - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said on Sunday it has named Eric Felder and Hyung Soon Lee as global co-heads of fixed income, following the departure of current global head Andrew Morton.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc , the largest U.S. savings and loan, is replacing Chief Executive Kerry Killinger, making him the latest high-profile casualty of the credit crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday.

EVERETT, Washington/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co's 27,000 machinists prepared for a third day of strike action, halting production at the plane maker's Seattle-area plants in protest at Boeing's contract offer and what they see as plans to shift more jobs to non-union and foreign companies.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Shares in Asian banks soared on Monday after the U.S. government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , reassuring investors worried about exposure to the troubled mortgage giants' bonds and the value of other risky debt assets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. hedge fund Fairfield Greenwich Group has merged with Swiss private bank Banque Benedict Hentsch, bringing their combined assets under management to more than $18 billion.

PERTH (Reuters) - Oil jumped than $2 to near $109 a barrel on Monday, rebounding from a five-month low on worries that Hurricane Ike would tear through the Gulf of Mexico, and on hopes that a U.S. bailout of its top mortgage lenders would help temper an economic downturn.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings on Sunday cut the ratings on preferred stock of troubled housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to junk status after dividends were eliminated in a takeover by the U.S. government.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paulson & Co, a prominent New York hedge fund, will weigh buying shares or convertible bonds in banks and other financial institutions that need capital, the Financial Times reported on its website on Sunday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada considered buying Lehman Brothers in July, but decided against the move because it doubted the U.S. bank's ability to shore up its balance sheet, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thomas O'Brien, the U.S. Attorney for California's Central District, is emerging as a likely prosecutor in criminal cases expected from the U.S. mortgage meltdown.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures surged on Sunday, pointing to a sharply higher open when Wall Street opens on Monday, after the U.S. government seized control of troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bears have reigned supreme on Wall Street so far in September thanks to growing concern about economies worldwide, but their grip on stocks faces a big challenge after the U.S. government's weekend seizure of control of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Association of National Advertisers sent a letter objecting to the proposed Internet search advertising partnership between Yahoo Inc and Google Inc to government regulators reviewing the deal, the group said on Sunday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial stocks may rise on Monday after the U.S. government took over troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , but this may be only a temporary reprieve given the long list of woes banks are currently battling.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For weeks the U.S. economy appeared to be approaching the light at the end of a tunnel, but now it seems the light may be an oncoming train.

CERNBOBBIO (Reuters) - Alitalia's (AZPIa.MI) adviser will soon present its rescue plan for the airline to British Airways , considered by Italy as a possible foreign partner for the bankrupt airline, an executive told a newspaper.

LONDON (Reuters) - Investors are likely to be wrestling this week with two new factors that have arisen to complicate an already tricky environment -- a sharp about-face in currency trading and signs of trouble in emerging markets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former CEO of American International Group Inc , could face a fine of up to $100 million to settle three-year-old civil fraud charges brought by New York's attorney general, according to business news channel CNBC on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Germany's Media Markt, Europe's biggest electrical goods retailer, has rejected a request from DSG International Plc to consider a bid for its closest rival, the Financial Times said on its Web site.