Reuters Business Summary

Freddie Mac files with SEC, first step to capital

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac won approval from regulators on Friday to sell the stock needed to overcome mounting losses, and the Wall Street Journal said the mortgage finance company may seek $10 billion. The approval clears the way for the company to fulfill its promise in May to raise $5.5 billion to bolster its balance sheet, allowing it to continue its support of the deflating U.S. housing market.

House prices could fall for two years: Citigroup

LONDON (Reuters) - Citigroup chairman Win Bischoff has warned that house prices in Britain and the United States are likely to keep falling for another two years. The chairman of one of the world's most powerful banks told the BBC in an interview that he expects it will take two years for the markets to stabilise.

Government weighs more charges in Bear case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The government is considering bringing further criminal charges in the case involving two former Bear Stearns executives indicted last month related to the collapse of two hedge funds they oversaw, a federal prosecutor said on Friday. In a court hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Sinclair said "the government is indeed contemplating additional charges."

Citigroup $2.5 billion loss soothes investors

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N: 行情) posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, despite $11.7 billion of write-downs and credit losses tied to deteriorating capital markets and a slumping economy. Though the second-quarter loss totaled $2.5 billion, the results soothed investors, who pushed shares of the largest U.S. bank by assets up $1.53, or 8.5 percent, to $19.50 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bids for Cubs baseball team submitted

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The first bids for the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team and related assets were submitted on Friday in an auction that could fetch more than $1 billion, according to a source close to the process. At least 10 potential owner groups have been approved by Major League Baseball to bid on the Cubs, as well as its home ballpark, Wrigley Field, and a stake in a sports TV network.

Tech stocks sink as Google and Microsoft disappoint, Dow up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology stocks fell on Friday and drove the Nasdaq down 1 percent on disappointing earnings from Google (GOOG.O: 行情) and Microsoft(MSFT.O: 行情), while Citigroup's smaller-than-expected loss pushed up the Dow and helped keep the broader market near the unchanged mark. Nevertheless, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped a six-week losing streak. The Dow snapped four weeks of losses as financial stocks rallied after the government outlined a plan to shore up mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N: 行情) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: 行情) and the SEC announced rules to curb short selling.

Alliant Tech says major acquisitions not attractive