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Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley plans to buy into China's Jutian Fund Management Co in a move to tap China's red-hot wealth management sector, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday.

Stocks fell on Monday as savers demanded their money back from embattled British bank Northern Rock, adding to global credit concerns before an expected U.S. interest rate cut this week.

Countrywide Financial Corp shares closed down almost 2 percent on Tuesday following a report the largest U.S. mortgage lender was working on a strategic investment similar to the deal with Bank of America Corp last month in which it received a $2 billion injection.

British billionaire investor Joseph Lewis has acquired a 7 percent stake in brokerage Bear Stearns at a time when the troubled firm has suffered significant losses due to the subprime mortgage crisis.

Joseph C. Lewis, who became a billionaire trading currencies, has taken a 7 percent stake in Bear Stearns Cos Inc, snapping up about $860 million worth of the investment bank's stock over the past two months. He became one of the company's biggest shareholders, if not the largest. Shares shot up more than 3 percent.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, which has one of the largest U.S. student lending operations, said on Friday it will hire up to 150 Indianapolis-based workers from Nelnet Inc to expand its loan-origination operations.

President George W. Bush's plan designed to limit the number of Americans who default on subprime mortgages might be a small positive for the commercial and investment banks exposed to them but does little to alleviate broader concerns about credit losses, analysts said.

Wall Street bank Bear Stearns Cos, which is building up its business outside the United States, has appointed John Moore, co-head of fixed income for Europe, to be its chief executive for Asia.

One week into the Federal Reserve's effort to grease the rusty wheels of the U.S. credit system, Wall Street is wondering just who needs the money because there's no line at the window.

The multi-billion-dollar market for securitized student loan debt, a financial mainstay supporting U.S. higher education, is facing new stresses as Congress moves to reshape the troubled student loan industry.

Stock index futures fell on Tuesday due to renewed global credit concerns and caution ahead of reports on home prices and consumer confidence. Banking stocks took an early beating after MarketWatch reported that Merrill Lynch had downgraded to neutral from buy investment banks Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers and Citigroup.

A private equity-led buyout of home-improvement retailer Home Depot Inc's wholesale supply division, due to close on Thursday, could be in trouble because investment banks involved are reluctant to fund the transaction even at a lower price, the Financial Times reported in its online edition, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

The four largest U.S. banks, led by Citigroup and Bank of America Corp., took the unusual step of borrowing $2 billion directly from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, as the Fed tries to stabilize tempestuous financial markets by adding money to the banking system.

Stocks were little changed on Monday as investors mulled the likelihood of more Federal Reserve action after Friday's surprise cut in the rate at which banks borrow from it.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday after the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate at which it lends to banks in a surprise move to keep worsening credit conditions from hurting the economy.

A remarkable end-of-day rally pushed the benchmark S&P 500 higher on Thursday after investors snatched up financial stocks that looked cheap after weeks of pummeling by global credit market turmoil.

Reliant Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed with U.S. regulators on Friday to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering of common stock.

Big wasn't beautiful on Thursday.

A limited partner in a failed hedge fund run by Bear Stearns says the investment bank took only meager steps to prevent the fund's recent collapse.

Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as another shoe dropped in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector meltdown, causing investors to flee riskier assets for the relative safety of government bonds. Stocks added to their declines after the Wall Street Journal reported a second Goldman Sachs Group Inc. hedge fund was suffering losses and was selling its positions.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and HSBC might be interested in buying Bear Stearns Cos at the right price, but there would be real obstacles to a deal happening anytime soon, analysts said.

Stocks rallied on Monday as investors snapped up beaten-down shares of financial companies after a sharp drop at the end of last week on mounting concerns about the stability of the credit markets.

Shares of Bear Stearns Cos. slid 7 percent late Monday morning after the investment bank's co-president quit amid growing concerns about the company's mortgage investments.

More signs of weakness in the mortgage market, another surge in oil prices and a Federal Reserve rate decision could create more turbulence for Wall Street this week.

Investment bank JPMorgan's India unit has lost four senior executives, the latest in a series of moves in the country's financial sector, where salaries have soared on the back of a booming stock market.

Stocks slid sharply on Friday after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their worst shape in two decades, while jobs data aroused further concerns about weakness in the economy.

A top executive of Bear Stearns Cos., which has been hit by the collapse of two of its hedge funds and forced to halt redemptions at a third, shrugged off concerns about a global credit crunch on Thursday and said the recent market decline was healthy.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid in a highly erratic session on Wednesday, as concerns about worsening credit conditions persisted and a sharp downturn in the price of oil sent energy companies' shares lower.

Investors worry that deteriorating borrowing conditions will saddle lenders -- and not just Citigroup -- with too many soured investments.