UPI NewsTrack Business
NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. market indexes started tentatively Monday as investors contemplated a $700 billion bailout proposal being discussed in Washington. The proposal includes permission for the U.S. Treasury to purchase risky assets from foreign and domestic financial firms for two years. The impact of the complex maneuver is not fully understood, but U.S. markets soared late last week as the first reports of a bailout emerged. In late-morning trading Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 213.37 or 1.87 percent to 11,175.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 29.56 or 2.36 percent to 1,225.52. The Nasdaq composite index lost 52.93 or 2.33 percent to 2,220.97. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 14/32 to yield 3.88 percent. The euro rose to $1.4686, compared to $1.4474 Friday, while the dollar fell to 106.321 yen from 107.27 yen Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 169.73 points to 12,090.59, up 1.42 percent. OTTAWA, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Retail sales in Canada for the month of July were mostly flat at $36 billion, the Statistics Canada agency reported from Ottawa Monday. The largest area of decline was in the automotive sector, where new car sales were down by 0.6 percent to $6 billion in July and down 4.6 percent from July 2007. Used and recreational motor vehicle and parts dealers also posted lower sales of $1.5 billion, down 2.2 percent for the 12-month period, StatsCan said. Sales at gasoline stations in July were virtually unchanged from June at $4.8 billion, although that's a 24.3-percent increase in the 12-month period. "Increases of more than 1 percent were posted in the furniture, home furnishings and electronics stores sector and the building and outdoor home supplies stores sector," the report said. Regionally, all of the provinces west of Ontario except for Saskatchewan saw retail sales decrease in July, while in the east, New Brunswick's 3-percent gain was its fourth consecutive monthly increase, the report said. WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Congressional Democrats demanded the U.S. federal bailout of financial firms come with restrictions on executive salaries and bonuses, sources said. The bailout, in its initial design, allows the U.S. Treasury to spend $700 billion on troubled assets from domestic and foreign financial institutions in the next two years without oversight from either the courts or any other federal agency, The Washington Post reported Monday. But, Democrats have demanded any firm participating in the bailout live with salary guidelines for top executives that include eliminating incentives for "inappropriate or excessive" risks, restrictions on severance packages and returning bonuses based on earning benchmarks that are not met, the Post reported. "We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street," said U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a statement. Democrats have also demanded the bailout include mandates to reduce foreclosures by forcing banks to forgive a portion of the debt for some mortgages. Republicans have proposed their own list of demands, asking that a congressional committee be formed to oversee the program, the Post said. WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- High-profile business collapses on Wall Street have spread fear and confusion among U.S. business students in recent weeks, various sources said. Business programs have reacted by reviewing job-seeking strategies, The Washington Post reported Monday. At Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, professor Sandeep Dahiya said he would convene students for a question-and-answer meeting. "I plan on having the audience react and express concerns," Dahiya said. "Many want to know, 'What are these headlines?'" "The MBA program depends fairly heavily on Wall Street, and (some) of our largest banks are gone," he said. In the past year, U.S. financial firms have downsized by 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. But, it is unclear how far the latest round of failings will affect the bottom line. Last week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11. Barclays announced it would purchase some of their operations. One University of Maryland student with a job offer from Lehman Brothers recently sought counseling to review his options. "I asked him if he accepted and he said he was continuing to search," associate professor Steven Heston told the Post. "I told him, 'that's a good idea.'"
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