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U.S. markets slide on housing starts

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. markets headed lower Tuesday morning after the Commerce Department said housing starts in September rose, but less than had been expected.

Housing starts climbed 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000. Economists, however, had expected housing starts in the range of 620,000 on an annual basis.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 92.28 points or 0l91 percent to 9,999.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 10.91 or 0.99 percent to 1,087.00. The Nasdaq index dropped 22.15 or 1.02 percent to 2,154.17.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 18/32 to yield 3.32 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4895 from Monday's $1.4943. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.849 from Monday's 90.6.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.98 percent, 100.33 to 10,336.84.

White House supported Merrill Lynch deal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- White House officials told Bank of America they agreed with a U.S. taxpayer rescue package to support the bank's purchase of Merrill Lynch, bank documents show.

Bank of America's deal to purchase the ailing Merrill Lynch, which was completed last winter, is under scrutiny by Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York State.

One of the key concerns is how much pressure government officials placed on the bank to complete the deal, especially after the bank's Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis expressed his doubts about the transaction, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

In documented discussion points for a Dec. 22 conference call, Lewis reportedly told Bank of America board members, "that (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Geithner and, in addition, (Director of the National Economic Council) Larry Summers were both on board with the transaction."

An email written by Chief Financial Officer Joe Price, dated Dec. 29, says the bank "had the strongest assurances" that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would keep his job under an Obama administration. The e-mail says former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. and Geithner, "were all aware and in agreement with the representations made to Ken Lewis in the discussions."

Perks got perkier at bailed out firms

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The value of executive perks at bailed out U.S. financial firms rose 4 percent in 2008 while declining in other firms, a research group said.

Equilar, which complies compensation data, said top executives at non-financial Fortune 100 companies found the value of their perks and benefits dropped 7 percent in 2008, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Firms that received $350 billion in emergency taxpayer assistance, however, increased the same perks for their top executives.

Kenneth Lewis, chief executive officer at Bank of America, was granted $100,000 more for use of corporate jets, the newspaper said. Ralph Babb Jr., CEO of lender Comerica was granted more than $200,000 to cover country club expenses.

At GMAC Financial, CEO Alvaro de Molina received $2.5 million to pay his personal income tax.

"You would have thought that this would be the moment when everyone said, 'OK, the perks have got to stop -- at least while we're indebted to the government.' But that didn't happen," said Paul Hodgson, senior research associate at the Corporate Library.

Canada's tuitions up despite deflation

OTTAWA, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Despite deflation, Canadian university students face a 3.6 percent increase in tuition fees this year, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

The agency said for the 12 months ending Aug. 31, the Consumer Price Index showed a 0.8 percent decline as the tuition fees rose.

"On average, undergraduate students paid $4,917 in tuition fees in 2009-2010, compared with $4,747 in 2008-2009," the report said. On average, graduate students paid 4.7 percent more than in 2008-2009 ... an average of $6,008 in tuition fees for the current academic year."

Undergraduate students in Ontario paid the highest fees in Canada at $5,951 while Quebec undergrads paid the lowest on average, or $2,272, the report said.

By discipline, undergraduate dentistry students paid the most for education at $13.988, followed by medical students at $10,216.

"At the graduate level, the most expensive program was the executive master of business administration, with tuition of $30,653, and the regular MBA program at $20,564," the report said.