Reuters Business Summary

Wall Street analysts see bigger 2008 loss for Merrill

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Several analysts, including Oppenheimer's Meredith Whitney, widened their loss view on Merrill Lynch MER.N, after the Wall Street investment bank and brokerage said it will take a $5.7 billion third-quarter writedown as it unloads risky debt and raises $8.5 billion in capital. The announcement follows Merrill's second-quarter loss of $4.9 billion, hurt by more than $9 billion in write-downs. Merrill has already recorded billions of dollars of writedowns from subprime mortgages and risky debt.

MetLife posts earnings drop; misses view

NEW YORK (Reuters) - MetLife Inc (MET.N: 行情), the largest U.S. life insurer, said on Tuesday its second-quarter profit fell on investment losses and a decline in insurance earnings, sending its shares sliding nearly 10 percent. Net earnings dropped about 19 percent to $915 million, or $1.26 a share, as catastrophe losses also took a hit on its homeowners business. The results missed Wall Street's estimates.

GMAC and Ford pull back on leases as credit tightens

DETROIT (Reuters) - GMAC and Ford Motor Credit disclosed steps on Tuesday to cut back on auto leases in a move that leaves automakers facing the risk of even more pressure on auto sales already at decade lows. The steps by GMAC and Ford Motor Credit stopped short of Chrysler Financial's wholesale abandonment of lease financing that shocked the struggling carmaker's dealers on Friday.

Billion-dollar bankruptcies highest since 2003

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billion-dollar bankruptcies are at their highest in five years only half way through 2008, according to bankruptcy filing tracker BankruptcyData.com. A total of seven U.S. companies with more than a billion dollars in assets have filed for bankruptcy protection so far this year, it said.

Elan and Wyeth Alzheimer drug results mixed, shares fall

CHICAGO (Reuters)- Keenly awaited details on Elan (ELN.I: 行情) (ELN.N: 行情) and Wyeth's (WYE.N: 行情) new Alzheimer's drug bapineuzumab show it raised the risk of a potentially serious side effect, but may help people who do not have a common genetic risk of the disease, the companies said on Tuesday. Shares of both companies plunged in after hours trade with Elan's New York shares falling more 18 percent and Wyeth's dropping more than 10 percent.

Wall Street rises on oil slide and financials

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rebounded on Tuesday, rising more than 2 percent on another sharp slide in oil prices and after Merrill Lynch's MER.N latest write-down and share sale hinted at a possible turning point in the credit crisis. Stocks were also helped by data showing the rate of monthly price declines in the U.S. housing market is slowing and a separate report showing the mood of American consumers improved for the first time in six months in July.

SEC extends short selling curb through August 12