U.S. stocks rise on $5B Morgan investment
NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes turned down Wednesday after an initial rise on Morgan Stanley reporting a $3.59 billion quarterly loss and China saying it invested $5 billion in the firm.
The Dow Jones industrial average was off 47.15 or 0.36 percent to 13,185.32 shortly after noon. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 4.14 or 0.28 percent to 1,450.84.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.53 or 0.06 percent to 2,594.50.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index finished down 177.35 points, or 1.17 percent, at 15,030.51, the sixth consecutive day to finish with a loss.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 3/32 to yield 4.09 percent and the 30-year bond increased 6/32, yielding 4.528 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 113.404 yen from 113.39 yen in New York late Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.435 from $1.4403.
China fund invests $5B in Morgan Stanley
NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Morgan Stanley said Wednesday China's government-controlled investment fund had invested $5 billion to help replenish the No. 2 U.S. brokerage firm's capital.
The announcement came as the investment bank reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3.59 billion, or $3.61 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $1.54 billion, or $1.44 a share.
The loss was due to a $9.4 billion write-down from its exposure to subprime and other mortgage-related investments, the company said.
China Investment Corp., which has some $200 billion in assets, will buy up to a 9.9 percent stake in the company through equity units that covert into common stock, Morgan Stanley said.
Its investment will yield 9 percent a year before the equity units are converted into common shares Aug. 17, 2010, the company said.
The fund will have no special rights of ownership or any role in Morgan Stanley management, the company said.
The investment is the latest in a growing number of foreign sovereign-wealth funds investing in U.S. financial-services companies.
Last month, Abu Dhabi's fund invested $7.5 billion in Citigroup Inc. and an investment arm of Singapore's government has put $9.72 billion into big Swiss bank UBS AG.
U.S. foreclosures jump 68 percent
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. foreclosures jumped 68 percent from last November but were 10 percent lower than in October, a foreclosure-listing service said Wednesday.
A total of 201,950 foreclosure filings were reported in November, compared with 120,334 in November 2006, RealtyTrac Inc.
A foreclosure is a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.
Forty-three states saw an increase in foreclosure filings over a year earlier.
October's filings were 224,451, the service said.
The October-November drop was the first double-digit monthly decrease RealtyTrac reported since April 2006, the Irvine, Calif., company said.
"This could indicate that foreclosure activity has topped out for the year but the true test of whether this ceiling will hold will come at the beginning of next year" when many adjustable-rate mortgages are to rise, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said.
About $500 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages are due to reset at higher levels in 2008, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said.
Nevada had the nation's top state foreclosure rate for the 11th month, at one for every 152 households -- more than four times the national average of one for every 617 households.
After Nevada were Florida, Ohio, Colorado and California.
California led all states in foreclosure totals, with 39,992. Behind California were Florida, Ohio, Texas and Michigan.
Faberge to market fine colored gemstones
LONDON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The House of Faberge is returning to its luxury jewelry origins by becoming a brand for fine colored gemstones, a British private-equity firm said.
Faberge, famed for its 19th century jeweled eggs made for the Russian czars, will have its name attached to emeralds, rubies and sapphires in an attempt to achieve a premium price for the stones, Pallinghurst Resources LLP said.
Miners are normally content to sell their raw materials to companies with more experience creating consumer products, The Times of London reported.
South Africa's De Beers SA, the world's largest diamond producer, is successfully breaking this model by pioneering a mine-to-market approach for its diamonds and Pallinghurst wants to mimic this strategy with gems, the equity firm said.
Pallinghurst, which has more than $700 million in assets, bought the Faberge name from Anglo-Dutch home and personal care brand manufacturer Unilever NV for an undisclosed sum in January.
The 165-year-old Faberge name will be given to stones produced by Pallinghurst's Gemfields Resources PLC, which Pallinghurst bought Tuesday, the Times said.
Gemfields will have exclusive rights to market its stones under the Faberge brand for 15 years, the newspaper said.
