Business News - Reuters

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve stepped forward as a commercial lender of last resort and signaled a readiness to cut interest rates as stocks spun lower for a fifth straight day and pressure mounted for a coordinated, international response to the most dangerous financial shock since the Great Depression.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co is likely to get about 75 to 80 percent of Wachovia Corp's deposits, while Citigroup Inc would get the remainder, a person briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc said it was halting major capital projects in the face of uncertain markets, after it posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on softer demand in key sectors like the aerospace and auto industries.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, capping the Dow's biggest five-day point loss ever, as fears mounted that the rapidly spreading credit crisis would drag the economy into a deep recession.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. life insurance company MetLife Inc on Tuesday said it expects to report income from continuing operations of $1.38 to $1.58 per share and premiums, fees and other revenues of $8.6 billion in the third quarter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley said on Tuesday its deal to sell a stake to Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T) was on track to close promptly, easing fears about the agreement that sent its shares plummeting as much as 40 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday signaled a readiness to lower U.S. interest rates in a dramatic shift to support an economy battered by a financial crisis of "historic dimension."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas billionaire and energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens has sued Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc for $59.9 million, claiming the bankrupt investment bank breached its contract by failing to repay collateral posted by Pickens.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A temporary U.S. ban on short selling has failed to stop the relentless sell-off of financial stocks, proving that the trading strategy is not to blame for the crisis shaking Wall Street, two veteran short sellers said on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc , the parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, posted higher third-quarter earnings on Tuesday on overseas strength, but forecast an 8 percent drop in 2008 U.S. profits amid a sharp economic downturn.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's finance minister Alistair Darling will announce a rescue package for the banking system on Wednesday, a move likely to include a major injection of capital into banks, a government source said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose over $2 on Tuesday as signs OPEC was considering a supply cut outweighed concerns about the global financial crisis.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - YouTube, the world's most popular video-sharing site, will start to sell music and video games and experiment with new advertising formats to grow revenue, executives said on Tuesday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge funds' losses ballooned last month when the average portfolio tumbled 4.68 percent, marking the industry's worst monthly performance, according to new data released on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The arbiter of U.S. recessions is not ready to declare that one has begun and probably won't decide until well after the November presidential election, the chairman of the recession-dating committee said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer borrowing fell for the first time in more than a decade in August amid tighter credit markets, tougher lending standards and declining consumer spending, a Federal Reserve report showed on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government is poised to announce a "comprehensive" rescue package for the banking system, the BBC reported on Tuesday, including the possibility of injecting capital into banks.