U.S. stocks close up on Fed role thoughts
NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Stock indexes closed slightly up in New York Monday after big rallies overseas as investors sought to assess if the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 42.27 points, or 0.32 percent, at 13,121.35. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was almost flat, losing 0.39 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,445.55.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,009 stocks advanced and 1,331 declined, on volume of 3.4 billion shares traded.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.56 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,508.59.
In London, the FTSE 100 index closed up 14.50, or 0.24 percent, at 6,078.70.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished the day up 458.80 points, or 3 percent, at 15,732.48, its biggest one-day gain in 13 months.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 11/32, yielding 4.645 percent, while the 30-year bond was up 12/32, yielding 4.98 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 114.86 yen from 114.21 yen in New York late Friday. The euro fell to $1.3483 from $1.3491.
Capital One to shutter GreenPoint Mortgage
MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. bank holding company Capital One Financial Corp. said Monday it would shut down its GreenPoint mortgage unit that specialized in "non-conforming" loans.
In doing so it will immediately eliminate 1,900 jobs and close GreenPoint Mortgage's California headquarters and 31 locations in 19 states, the company said.
The McLean, Va., holding company said the subsidiary -- which it bought in December's $14.6 billion purchase of North Fork Bancorp of Melville, N.Y. -- would make no more new mortgages but would fund those already in the pipeline with locked-in rates.
Non-conforming loans do not meet the standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored providers of mortgage funds.
That sector of the mortgage market is "likely to remain challenged for the foreseeable future," Capital One said.
GreenPoint specialized in "jumbo" loans above $417,000 and loans to home buyers who do not fully document their income or assets.
Capital One -- which also specializes in credit cards and auto loans, as well as traditional banking and savings product -- said it would take an after-tax charge of $860 million, or $2.15 a share, due to the GreenPoint closure. It also revised its 2007 earnings guidance downward to about $5 per share.
SEC charges Sentinel Management with fraud
CHICAGO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. regulators filed fraud charges against Sentinel Management Group Inc., a $1.5 billion firm that oversaw cash for other investors and filed for bankruptcy.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed to get a temporary restraining order to freeze the proceeds from Sentinel's sale of assets to hedge-fund giant Citadel Investment Group.
Sentinel, which manages short-term cash for hedge funds and futures brokers, filed for bankruptcy-court protection Friday. The move came four days after the firm told clients in a letter it was halting redemptions due to a "liquidity crisis" in the credit markets.
The SEC said in a court filing Monday the firm lied in its explanation to clients.
The regulator said that for several months, the Northbrook, Ill., firm suffered losses due to its ''undisclosed use of leverage, commingling and misappropriation of clients' securities,'' The Wall Street Journal reported.
Regulators allege Sentinel misappropriated investors' funds by mixing their assets into a house account without alerting them, a complaint filed in federal court in Chicago said.
Sentinel then hid those losses from clients by providing them with misleading account statements, the SEC filing alleged.
The SEC is asking the judge overseeing the bankruptcy filing to freeze the assets until it has a chance to look over Sentinel's accounts.
Computer shuts Wells Fargo transactions
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Computer failures kept Wells Fargo & Co. customers from completing branch transactions or using debit cards, the U.S. bank said Monday.
The disruptions, which began Sunday, disabled the nation's fifth-largest bank's electronic operations "across the Wells Fargo enterprise," a spokeswoman told United Press International.
Online and phone banking have been restored, spokeswoman Julia Tunis told UPI, "but customers may continue to experience transaction difficulties or delays in our stores, at (automated teller machines) and at the point-of-sale, conducting wire and (automated clearing house) transfers, and processing for some mortgage, home equity, student loans and remittances."
She did not say how many customers or ATMs were affected by the malfunction, nor did she say when the problems would be fixed.
"Our systems teams are working to fix those problems and we hope to have all channels fully available soon," she said.
Wells Fargo, of San Francisco, has more than 6,062 retail branches and about 23 million customers.
NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Stock indexes closed slightly up in New York Monday after big rallies overseas as investors sought to assess if the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 42.27 points, or 0.32 percent, at 13,121.35. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was almost flat, losing 0.39 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,445.55.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,009 stocks advanced and 1,331 declined, on volume of 3.4 billion shares traded.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.56 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,508.59.
In London, the FTSE 100 index closed up 14.50, or 0.24 percent, at 6,078.70.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished the day up 458.80 points, or 3 percent, at 15,732.48, its biggest one-day gain in 13 months.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 11/32, yielding 4.645 percent, while the 30-year bond was up 12/32, yielding 4.98 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 114.86 yen from 114.21 yen in New York late Friday. The euro fell to $1.3483 from $1.3491.
Capital One to shutter GreenPoint Mortgage
MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. bank holding company Capital One Financial Corp. said Monday it would shut down its GreenPoint mortgage unit that specialized in "non-conforming" loans.
In doing so it will immediately eliminate 1,900 jobs and close GreenPoint Mortgage's California headquarters and 31 locations in 19 states, the company said.
The McLean, Va., holding company said the subsidiary -- which it bought in December's $14.6 billion purchase of North Fork Bancorp of Melville, N.Y. -- would make no more new mortgages but would fund those already in the pipeline with locked-in rates.
Non-conforming loans do not meet the standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored providers of mortgage funds.
That sector of the mortgage market is "likely to remain challenged for the foreseeable future," Capital One said.
GreenPoint specialized in "jumbo" loans above $417,000 and loans to home buyers who do not fully document their income or assets.
Capital One -- which also specializes in credit cards and auto loans, as well as traditional banking and savings product -- said it would take an after-tax charge of $860 million, or $2.15 a share, due to the GreenPoint closure. It also revised its 2007 earnings guidance downward to about $5 per share.
SEC charges Sentinel Management with fraud
CHICAGO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. regulators filed fraud charges against Sentinel Management Group Inc., a $1.5 billion firm that oversaw cash for other investors and filed for bankruptcy.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed to get a temporary restraining order to freeze the proceeds from Sentinel's sale of assets to hedge-fund giant Citadel Investment Group.
Sentinel, which manages short-term cash for hedge funds and futures brokers, filed for bankruptcy-court protection Friday. The move came four days after the firm told clients in a letter it was halting redemptions due to a "liquidity crisis" in the credit markets.
The SEC said in a court filing Monday the firm lied in its explanation to clients.
The regulator said that for several months, the Northbrook, Ill., firm suffered losses due to its ''undisclosed use of leverage, commingling and misappropriation of clients' securities,'' The Wall Street Journal reported.
Regulators allege Sentinel misappropriated investors' funds by mixing their assets into a house account without alerting them, a complaint filed in federal court in Chicago said.
Sentinel then hid those losses from clients by providing them with misleading account statements, the SEC filing alleged.
The SEC is asking the judge overseeing the bankruptcy filing to freeze the assets until it has a chance to look over Sentinel's accounts.
Computer shuts Wells Fargo transactions
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Computer failures kept Wells Fargo & Co. customers from completing branch transactions or using debit cards, the U.S. bank said Monday.
The disruptions, which began Sunday, disabled the nation's fifth-largest bank's electronic operations "across the Wells Fargo enterprise," a spokeswoman told United Press International.
Online and phone banking have been restored, spokeswoman Julia Tunis told UPI, "but customers may continue to experience transaction difficulties or delays in our stores, at (automated teller machines) and at the point-of-sale, conducting wire and (automated clearing house) transfers, and processing for some mortgage, home equity, student loans and remittances."
She did not say how many customers or ATMs were affected by the malfunction, nor did she say when the problems would be fixed.
"Our systems teams are working to fix those problems and we hope to have all channels fully available soon," she said.
Wells Fargo, of San Francisco, has more than 6,062 retail branches and about 23 million customers.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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