Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word reserve. 25 news.

NEW YORK -- Wall Street extended last week's losses Monday as investors remained concerned about flagging growth and rising prices, and were skeptical that a special Federal Reserve credit auction will be a solution.

The Bush administration reacted coolly Monday to a suggestion from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the government should consider bolder efforts to deal with the current mortgage crisis.

ASIAN stocks fell the most in four months, led by Samsung Electronics Co and HSBC Holdings Plc, on concern accelerating inflation will limit interest-rate cuts, threatening global growth. Samsung declined the most in three weeks. HSBC and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd paced losses in Hong Kong, where interest rates track those set by the Federal Reserve, after United States consumer prices rose the most since 2005. Centro Properties Group plummeted 76 percent in Sydney after the owner of US shopping malls said it was struggling to refinance debt. "Sentiment in the region is getting worse," said David Ng, who helps manage US$954 million at Hwang-DBS Asset Management Sdn in Kuala Lumpur. "First we had slowing US growth; now add on inflation fears. That makes for a bad combination." The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.9 percent to 152.28 as of 6:49pm in Tokyo, its sharpest decline since August 17, Bloomberg News said. The benchmark is set for its lowest annual gain

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday will propose a much stricter set of rules for mortgage lenders as part of the central bank's effort to avert abusive lending.

By Axel Merk. "True leadership may have finally emerged to resolve the subprime crisis, although it was difficult to spot during a tumultuous week at the Federal Reserve (Fed). On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, the Fed cut interest rates by 0.25%."

First Reserve Corp., the biggest private-equity investor specializing in the energy industry, agreed to buy Scottish oil drilling services company Abbot Group Plc for $1.8 billion.

The Federal Reserve is providing $20 billion in loans to banks as part of an unprecedented auction process to ease a global credit crisis and make sure financial institutions can keep lending to their customers.

The Federal Reserve moved Tuesday to impose tough restrictions meant to curb unfair and deceptive home-lending practices and prevent a recurrence of this year's subprime meltdown.

Wall Street extended last week's losses Monday as investors remained skeptical that the Federal Reserve's first credit auction will be effective in loosening up a tight market. The Fed is offering $20 billion in 28-day credit through an auction Monday....

AP - Wall Street extended last week's losses Monday as investors remained skeptical that the Federal Reserve's first credit auction will be effective in loosening up a tight market.

AP - European and Asian markets slid Monday after signs of accelerating inflation in the U.S. dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further to shore up the struggling American economy.

European stock markets fell sharply this morning, hit by fears that strong US inflation figures on Friday may prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting US interest rates.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Growth in the factory sector in the New York region slowed in December, the New York Federal Reserve Bank reported Monday. The Empire State index fell to 10.3 in December from 27.4 in November. It's the lowest since May. Readings over zero indicate growth. The new orders index fell 10 points to 14.3, and the shipments index fell 11 points to 21.1.

Wall Street was poised to extend its losses Monday as investors remained skeptical that the Federal Reserve's first credit auction will be effective in loosening up a tight market.

European and Asian markets slid Monday after signs of accelerating inflation in the U.S. dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further to shore up the struggling American economy.

Reuters - Asian and European stocks tumbled on Monday while the dollar hit two-month peaks as last week's strong U.S. inflation data reduced expectations the Federal Reserve would deliver further interest rate cuts soon.

Federal Reserve ex-head Alan Greenspan calls for direct help for homeowners hit by the credit crunch.

Asian shares extended their losses Monday, with Australian benchmarks closing at a three-month low as investors caught up on a slump on Wall Street Friday on concern that accelerating inflation in the US will make it difficult for the Federal Reserve to continue to cut interest rates.

Trading is likely to be volatile in the last full week of trading for 2007 as investors continue to fret about the credit crisis and worry about whether higher inflation will prevent the U.S. Federal Reserve from making more interest rate cuts.

People taking out home mortgages may gain new protections soon against shady lending practices as the Federal Reserve seeks to back even the riskiest borrowers, already hit hardest by the housing and credit crunches.