IBT Staff Reporter

Chinese stocks sank 6 percent to a three-month low on Monday, weighing on Asian shares, sapping investor willingness to take risks and giving the yen an added boost after Japanese voters swept the opposition into power.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday for the last session of the month, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.78 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.77 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.87 percent at 0825 GMT (4:25 a.m. EDT).

Bankrupt U.S. media group Tribune Co could emerge from bankruptcy in the autumn without a major overhaul of its present top management, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the restructuring plans.

The Federal Reserve has made $14 billion in profits on loans made in the last two years, The Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials close to the matter.

The five-day-old wildfire burning out of control in the Los Angeles foothills and forest claimed its first victims on Sunday, two firefighters whose vehicle plummeted off the side of a road.

Refugees who fled to China from armed clashes in northeast Myanmar are weighing a return to farms, homes and shops against fear of the Myanmar army, while both governments asserted that normality was returning.

The Dalai Lama, on a controversial humanitarian visit to flood-ravaged Taiwan denounced by China, steered clear of talking about Tibet on Monday but said he was dedicated to the promotion of democracy.

Japan's next leader, Yukio Hatoyama, began talks on Monday on forming a government to tackle challenges such as record unemployment and a fast-aging society after voters gave his party a sweeping mandate for change.

Oil fell toward $72 a barrel on Monday, as a drop in China's key stock index stoked worries about the country's economy, but hopes that energy demand would soon rebound are on track to push prices up about 4 percent in August.

Market looks to jobs data; Reinvention for Funds; GM's New China Venture

A historic election win for Japan's opposition Democratic Party on Sunday is likely to buoy Tokyo shares on hopes for less policy deadlock, putting pressure on Japanese government bonds and the yen.

The future of wind farms and hybrid cars may well hinge on what happens to a 55-acre (22.3-hectare) hole in the ground at the edge of California's high desert.

India terminated its first mission to the moon Sunday, a spokesman for the national space agency said, a day after scientists lost all contact with an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon.

A wildfire in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for the out of control and very dangerous blaze.

The yen was trading modestly firmer on Monday after the Democratic Party of Japan ousted the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a landslide, so putting an end to election uncertainty.

Players in the $1.4 trillion hedge fund industry employ a huge array of tactics in their efforts to maximize returns.

Investors worried about a severe U.S. swine flu outbreak this fall should consider stocks that rise when people hunker down at home and avoid companies that operate in crowded spaces.

The fund of hedge funds industry is being forced to reinvent itself after the Madoff scandal and hefty client outflows, and will emerge from the crisis smaller but in better shape than many had expected.

Executives at Swiss banks Julius Baer and Credit Suisse expect to avoid a U.S. tax investigation into their private banking businesses on the same scale as their peer UBS , they told The Financial Times on Sunday.

The Australian Dollar begins the new week at 0.8410 but has yet to assert itself above the US84 cent mark.

The yen was trading modestly firmer on Monday after the Democratic Party of Japan ousted the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a landslide, so putting an end to election uncertainty.

Investors that bought Citigroup Inc shares should take profits after the U.S. bank's shares climbed almost 100 percent in the last month, Barron's said in its August 31 edition.

Shares of insurance giant American International Group soared more than 50 percent last week and they now look overpriced, Barron's said in its August 31 edition.

Travis Barker and his band, Blink 182, took the stage on Saturday for a concert which he admits was difficult to get through following the passing of his close friend DJ AM on Friday.

Apple users in France are unfortunately not the most satisfied consumers.

India's national space agency said that communications with its first unstaffed spacecraft to orbit the moon were lost on Saturday and that its scientists were no longer controlling the orbiter.

A U.S. federal judge is expected to decide on Monday whether Grupo Mexico or India's Sterlite Industries will control Asarco LLC, bringing the U.S. copper miner a step closer to leaving bankruptcy after four years.

The popular video-sharing Website YouTube, owned by Google, announced an expansion of the YouTube Partnership Program (YPP), which was first launched in December 2007.

Social networking sites have become the latest target for burglars as they seek out new targets, according to a report from insurance company Legal & General warns.