Dow adds 404 points Monday
NEW YORK, May 10 (UPI) -- U.S. markets soared Monday, taking their cue from Europe, where $957 billion was made available to head off defaults on government debts.
By close, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.9 percent, adding 404.71 points, to 10,785.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 4.4 percent, 48.85 points, to 1,159.73. The Nasdaq composite index added 4.81 percent, 109.03 points, to 2,374.67.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1 1/32 to yield 3.544 percent.
After months of concern over the possibility of Greece defaulting on its debt, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund put loans together to allay fears the debt crisis could spread to Spain and Portugal. Separately, finance ministers worked out the final details on a $143 billion loan package for Greece during the weekend.
Markets in Asia and Europe rebounded. The Japan the Nikkei 225 index added 1.6 percent, 166.11 points, to 10,530.70. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.66 percent to 4,599.78.
The CAC 40 in France rose 9.66 percent. In Italy, the FTSE MIB closed up 11.28 percent.
The euro rose to $1.2786 from Friday's $1.2731. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 93.209 yen from Friday's 91.41 yen.
The FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 5.16 percent, 264.40, to 5,387.42.
Fannie Mae requests $8.4B in aid
WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- The Federal National Mortgage Association requested an additional $8.4 billion in U.S. taxpayer support Monday to cover its first quarter net worth deficit.
Fannie Mae said it lost $11.5 billion in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $15.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. It also said its most recent request for federal aid would bring its taxpayer bailout total to $84.6 billion.
For the quarter, Fannie May lost $2.29 per common share, or $13.1 billion, including $1.5 billion in dividends on preferred stock held by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Fannie Mae said it continued to press forward with the mission of providing access to home ownership, which has focused not only on providing liquidity to the mortgage market but also providing loan modifications "in our ongoing effort to keep people in their homes," Fannie Mae President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Williams said in a statement.
"Working with our lending partners, we completed 94,000 loan modifications in the quarter, more than half of which were conversions of trial modifications," he said.
Fannie Mae said it purchased or guaranteed $191.4 billion in loans in the quarter, including $40 billion in delinquent loans.
Sony Music expresses interest in EMI
NEW YORK, May 10 (UPI) -- Sony Music Chief Executive Officer Rolf Schmidt-Holtz said pursuit of Britain's EMI, the label owning the music of The Beatles, was not out of the question.
"We are in a position that allows us to seize every opportunity in the market, including EMI," Schmidt-Holtz said, the New York Post reported Monday.
EMI is owned by private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, which borrowed $4.73 billion from Citigroup to purchase EMI in 2007.
Terra Firma filed suit against Citigroup in February, claiming it overpaid for the music publishing firm based on misleading statements made by Citigroup's lenders, The New York Times reported in December.
Currently, however, Terra Firma must either convince its shareholders to sink another $155 million into EMI or Citigroup will repossess the label, the Post said.
Terra Firma must also prove it has kept to the terms of its contract with Citigroup.
Industry analysts have long figured EMI would next go to Warner Music. That may change with Sony now expressing interest.
Michigan laborers choosing unemployment
DETROIT, May 10 (UPI) -- Job applicants in Michigan are turning down job offers to stay on the public dole, members of a statewide landscaping association said.
Amy Frankmann, executive director of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association, said members have told her "they have a lot of people applying (for jobs) but ... it turns out that they're on unemployment and not looking for work."
The Detroit News reported Monday that the average landscape employee could expect $12 per hour, which means after state and federal taxes are taken out, not counting transportation costs, they make $95 more per week working than collecting benefit checks, based on a weekly check of $255.
One applicant turned down a job, audaciously asking the employer to call him when his benefits ran out, the News said.
Benefits would be cut if officials learned the beneficiary had turned down a reasonable job offer.
But benefits are now "the most generous safety net we've ever provided nationally," said David Littmann, senior economist at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
State benefits run out after 26 weeks, after which federal benefits kick in, extending jobless pay to a total of 99 weeks.
