LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures posted gains Friday ahead of closely-watched data on nonfarm payrolls which could indicate whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again in October.
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. attorney in Brooklyn has started a criminal investigation into a pair of hedge funds run by Bear Stearns Cos. that had positions in mortgage-backed securities and subsequently collapsed last summer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in September, but job growth was stronger than expected over the past three months, the Labor Department reported Friday.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Washington Mutual Inc. expects third-quarter earnings to drop by about 75% because of factors related to weakening conditions in the nation's housing market, the lender said Friday.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European banks don't expect to see any improvement in access to wholesale funding over the next quarter and will further tighten their lending standards following the credit market crisis, according to a European Central Bank survey published Friday.
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Among the companies whose shares are likely to see active trade during Friday's session are Casio Computer, Lawson Software, Pall, Research in Motion and Saba Software.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The biggest banking deal in history was all-but wrapped up Friday when Barclays withdrew its offer for ABN Amro, leaving Royal Bank of Scotland and its partners to claim victory with a $101 billion bid.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Solid gains for the mining sector pulled the top London share index higher on Friday, as investors await key U.S. jobs data for clues on the strength of the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The number of laboratories that deal with risky biological agents has grown in recent years, but no single government agency knows the number and location of all of these labs in the U.S., according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
