Although the biggest equity gains continue to come from markets outside the United States, some analysts wonder how long the winning streak can continue for funds that are fueled by emerging markets.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the banking industry's top performers, said today that government agencies have asked about its compensation practices and use of credit derivatives.
Societe Generale SA said today its net profit fell 52 percent in the second quarter as the French bank wrote down its derivatives holdings and suffered increased losses on bad loans.
The New York-based insurance broker and consulting firm said it lost $193 million, or 37 cents per share. It earned $65 million, or 12 cents per share, during the same quarter last year.
Alternative asset manager Fortress Investment Group LLC said today that its second-quarter loss narrowed as it cut expenses and recorded a special non-cash gain on affiliate investments.
Although improving financial markets have helped lift some life insurance carriers, the firms still have a ways to go before they recover fully, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service.
Hard-hit Swiss bank UBS AG reported another quarterly loss today while France's BNP Paribas posted a 6.6 percent increase in net profit.
Pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, another encouraging sign of life for the embattled U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported today.
A private-sector measure of U.S. manufacturing activity declined last month at the slowest pace since August. Production jumped to its highest level in more than two years as manufacturers worked to restock customers' bare shelves, another sign that the recession may soon be over.
Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust — California, Arizona and Florida — stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties.
