JPMORGAN CHASE

Money market funds face uncharted waters if a debt deal is not reached soon in Washington, but Joe Morgan is not ready to abandon ship.

The dollar rallied against the yen and the Swiss franc on Monday as investors unwound safe-haven plays on expectations U.S. lawmakers would pass a deal to raise the country's borrowing limit, averting the risk of an immediate default.

High inflation and soaring real estate prices have thrown thousands of residents into dire straits.

The debt negotiations are getting down to the wire. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are scrambling to broker a deal to raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling before Tuesday, when the Treasury will no longer be able to borrow funds to meet all of its obligations. It all means the United States could face the possibility of defaulting on its debt and losing its prized triple-A credit rating.

More than a dozen traders have quit Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) North American government bonds and derivatives trading desk in New York in recent months as the bank takes fewer risks and big bonuses for ambitious traders dry up.

Some major bond fund managers are asking their institutional clients to consider waiving strict requirements that might force mass selling of Treasury bonds if the United States loses its AAA rating.

Fear the United States will lose its AAA credit rating or even default on its debt is driving foreigners away from U.S. assets, and the dollar is taking the biggest hit.

At the once-feared commodity trading arms of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the pressure to do better in the second half of this year has never been more intense.

The earnings season is when a large number of publicly traded companies release their quarterly earnings reports. The earnings season is so far topping Street views at a pace above typical quarters.

JPMorgan & Chase bank reported second quarter earnings Thursday. The bank's net income beat analysts' expectations.

Amazon announced its lowest price ever for its Kindle 3G with Special Offers but it comes with a catch--you may be inundated with AT&T advertisements.

Wall Street banks are reported to post poor second quarter results this week, accounting for nearly a 20 percent drop in sales and trading revenues and prompting another round of layoffs, according to the New York Times.

Dunkin' Brands, owner of Dunkin' Donuts, is nearing its IPO. Shares are expected to be priced between $16 and $18 per share. The stock will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol DNKN.

Social coupon network LivingSocial has selected three banks to leads its IPO.

The stock market was on fire today after investor confidence increased after two promising reports on the job market were released. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 94 points or 0.7%, closing at 12.720.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE) is considering selling its animal health and baby food units in hopes of appeasing shareholders' demands.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: APAC Customer Services, Hi Tech Pharmacal, Rediff.com India, Sky-mobi, EnerNOC, and Nova Measuring Instruments. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Affymetrix, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Gulf Resources, Logitech International, Aixtron, and Starbucks.

JPMorgan Chase, the Wall Street bank that during the financial crisis has managed to remain afloat has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it designed and sold a product linked to risky mortgages during the housing market collapse of 2007.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Thursday are: Macy's, J M Smucker, Motorola Solutions, Sprint Nextel, Sealed Air Corp, Carnival, JPMorgan Chase, Chesapeake Energy, Sunoco, Spectra Energy Partners and Urban Outfitters.

Wholesale Gold Bullion Prices surged up by nearly $20 on Wednesday morning, reaching $1550 per ounce while stocks and commodities were flat.

Here is a list of top ten largest U.S. companies by market capitalization.