Charter lenders can’t block emergence, judge says

NEW YORK — Charter Communications Inc.’s lenders, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., lost a bid Wednesday to block the cable communications company from leaving bankruptcy.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein affirmed Bankruptcy Judge James Peck’s Nov. 23 decision to deny the lenders’ request for a stay while they appeal his confirmation of Charter’s […]

Exchanges, under profit pressure, mounting defense

Two market operators, Nasdaq OMX and Deutsche Boerse, reported profit drops on Thursday, partly reflecting the price war between traditional players and younger challengers for market share and increasingly narrow margins.
Nasdaq OMX, which runs the U.S.-based Nasdaq Stock Market and venues in Nordic countries, said diluted earnings dropped 18 percent, while Deutsche Boerse, which […]

Bank Compensation Curbs Thrust Fed, Treasury Into Boardrooms

Compensation curbs announced yesterday by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve thrust the U.S. government into decisions about pay and performance traditionally reserved for corporate boards.
The Treasury’s special pay master, Kenneth Feinberg, slashed the salaries of the most highly paid executives at seven companies that received taxpayer aid, including Citigroup Inc. and […]

Gold at Record Shows Investors Split With Banks Over Inflation

Gold’s rally this year to a record shows commodity investors remain concerned that the U.S. economic recovery will spur inflation, even as Wall Street forecasts and government bonds suggest stable prices.
Bullion has jumped 18 percent this year, heading for a ninth straight annual gain, after futures touched a record $1,045 an ounce yesterday […]

European Consumer Prices Decline More Than Forecast

European consumer prices fell more than economists forecast in September as rising unemployment curbed demand and oil prices dropped.
Prices in the 16-nation euro region declined 0.3 percent from a year earlier after falling 0.2 percent in August, the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The September drop was the fourth straight […]

Iceland ‘Can’t Wait’ for IMF Review, Funds, Sigurdardottir Says

Iceland can’t afford to wait any longer for its International Monetary Fund review and the transfer of the second tranche of its IMF-led bailout loan, Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said.
“The review of Iceland’s program has been delayed for way too long,” Sigurdardottir said in an interview in the township of Gardabaer in Iceland […]

U.K. Home Sellers Raise Prices as Market Confidence Improves

U.K. home sellers raised asking prices in September as confidence in the property market improved and the supply of homes dwindled, Rightmove Plc said.
The average cost of a home increased 0.6 percent to 223,996 pounds ($364,000) after falling 2.2 percent in August, the owner of the U.K.’s biggest residential property Web site said […]

Bank of America CEO Says Rebound May Beat Forecasts

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis told investors in Japan his “optimistic side is coming back” and the U.S. economy may rebound more rapidly than expected.
“There is a potential for a rebound that beats the forecasts,” Lewis said in a speech prepared for a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference […]

Housing Data Point to Market Turnaround That May Help Economy

The worst U.S. housing market since the Great Depression may be on the mend after prices rose in 18 of 20 U.S. cities in June, existing home sales hit a two-year high, and new home sales gained for a fourth consecutive month.
“The sense that something is changing is definitely in the air,” said […]

Taiwan’s Economic Decline Probably Slowed on Exports to China

Taiwan’s economy probably shrank at a slower pace in the second quarter as exports to China improved, indicating the island may be recovering from its first recession since 2001.
Gross domestic product contracted 7.8 percent in the three months through June, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 17 economists, […]