U.S. markets resume skid Wednesday
NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets fell hard Wednesday as investors worried the economy was headed toward a recession.
Mortgage applications rose during the week ending Oct. 10, but mortgage rates also climbed, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
U.S. retail sales also dropped sharply in September, with sales for food services and retail falling 1.2 percent.
Third quarter reports from JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo were positive, but Morgan Chase incurred heavy write downs after purchasing Washington Mutual last month.
By the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 7.87 percent to 8,577.91, losing 733.08 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 90.17 or 9.03 percent to 907.84. The Nasdaq composite index lost 150.68 or 8.47 percent to 1,628.33.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 340 stocks advanced and 2,848 declined on a volume of 9.38 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 28/32 to yield 3.978 percent.
The dollar was mixed. The euro fell to $1.3493, compared to $1.3654 Tuesday, while the dollar fell to 100.04 yen from 102.04 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 99.90 points to 9,547.47, up 1.06 percent.
The FTSE index in London fell 311.20 points, down 7.08 percent, to 4,083.00.
Iceland's neighbors pitch in with loans
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Norway and Denmark stepped up to help neighbor Iceland through its financial crisis, the Icelandic central bank said.
The two Nordic countries agreed to loan Iceland $270 million each. The Bank of England has already offered a $172.8 million loan to protect British deposits in Icelandic banks, the EU Observer reported Wednesday.
Meanwhile, officials from Iceland are discussing a possible $5.4 billion loan from Russia.
"We had an excellent reception," Sigurdur Sturla Palsson, who led the Icelandic contingent in a meeting in Moscow said. However, Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde said the size of the loan "which is not definite, has not been decided."
Some questioned Iceland's reaching outside the NATO alliance for help.
"It would be much more natural if credits came from, for example, Norwegian oil funds than from Russian ones," former Danish foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen wrote in a blog for Danish daily Berlingske Tidende, the EU Observer said.
Feds to scrutinize Wash. Mutual pratfall
SEATTLE, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they were looking for any possible violations of the law in the collapse of Washington Mutual.
A written statement from the U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle said a task force from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had been formed to check for any potential wrongdoing in the takeover and subsequent sale of the Seattle-based bank to JP Morgan Chase.
"Given the significant losses to investors, employees and our community, it is fully appropriate that we scrutinize the activities of the bank, its leaders, and others to determine if any federal laws were violated," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan said.
The statement gave no indication that criminal activity was suspected.
The Seattle Times reported the task force said anyone with information that might assist the task force could phone in tips to 866-915-8299.
Dole, Del Monte fined over banana pricing
BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The European Commission Wednesday said California fruit producers Dole and Del Monte have been fined more than $80 million for fixing prices of bananas.
The companies were accused, along with Chiquita, of fixing prices during weekly phone calls between 2000 and 2002, Deutsche Welle reported Wednesday.
Dole was fined $61.6 million. Del Monte was fined $19.8 million. Chiquita escaped punishment due to its role of whistle-blower in the case.
"European consumers spend significant sums on bananas every year," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.
"It is totally unacceptable for companies to have rigged prices in this manner and the companies concerned must learn the hard way that the commission will not tolerate such behavior," Kroes said.
