Bankruptcy And Debts

trong>Login | Subscribe As of 4:30:00 AM EDT Mon, August 4, 2008 DivID:breakingNewsContent:// ContentEnd// ContentStart//DivID:whatsNewsContent:// DUTCH-BELGIAN BANK FORTIS said second-quarter net income nearly halved, mainly due to lower capital gains and new credit-related write-downs. 4:13 a.m. Hedge funds appear set to post their worst monthly performance in six years as strategies run into trouble. Some previously highflying funds are sustaining declines in the double digits, and several managers are down more than 20% for the year. 2:50 a.m. The focus of bond investors shifts this week to the meetings of three major central banks: the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. 4:22 a.m. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose books chronicled the horrors of the Soviet gulag system, has died of heart failure. He was 89. Investors will scrutinize News Corp.'s efforts to generate more advertising revenue from the enormous amount of traffic on MySpace when the company posts full-year earnings. The IOC's president said he has no regrets about holding the Olympics in China, despite the thorny issues of politics, pollution and media freedoms. • Olympic Torch Tours Quake Zone . • Beijing Olympics: Complete Coverage. Manufacturing contracted in most of the euro zone as tight credit and high oil prices stoked recession fears. EDF's bid to purchase smaller U.K. power company British Energy for about $24 billion was in disarray after British Energy's board rejected the French company's latest offer. Chávez's decision to nationalize a Venezuelan unit of Spanish giant Banco Santander is among the riskier acts of his decade-old presidency, touching on local confidence in the banking system. BMW issued a hefty profit warning for 2008 and posted a 33% drop in second-quarter net profit. The premium auto maker signaled a return to more conservative sales tactics, reversing a policy of steep discounts and cheap leases to win U.S. market share. HSBC Talks to Lone Star About KEB . Turkey Arrests Bombing Suspects . Ban on Gay Anglican Bishops Is Urged . ContentEnd//. Strong Productivity Defies Trend. U.S. productivity has grown at an estimated annual rate of 2.5% so far this year, defying the usual behavior. That productivity is staying strong even in bad times has big implications for economic growth, inflation, employment and, ultimately, living standards. • Vote: How has productivity changed at your workplace . Hedge-Fund Sluggers Strike Out. Hedge funds appear set to post their worst monthly performance in six years as strategies run into trouble. Some previously highflying funds are sustaining declines in the double digits, and several managers are down more than 20% for the year. Central Banks to Guide Treasurys. The focus of bond investors shifts this week to the meetings of three major central banks: the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Bulgarian Steel Battle Heats Up. A chaotic power struggle over Bulgaria's giant Kremikovtzi steel plant, plagued by years of stripped assets and neglect, shows why some EU members worry that expansion is bringing too many difficult cases inside its borders. British Energy Shareholders Prove Unrealistic. Tensions at British Energy are running high, with two big institutional shareholders holding out for a higher price and scuttling Electricité de France's bid. The resisting shareholders are being unrealistic. Select a Country Belgium Britain/U.K. France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Netherlands Russia/Former Republics Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Former Yugoslavia. 82, 731, 424. . ">AmbacFnlUn. 62.95% . ">AmbacFnl. 50.40% . ">PMI Gp. 31.08% . Astronic. 38.84% . USA Mobility. 28.08% . InnophosHldgs. 27.44% . -50.47% . WabashNtl. -15.16% . NortelNtwks. -14.66% . TomoTherapy. -48.72% . PaetecHldg. -46.18% . BiogenIdec. -28.31% . ContentEnd//. . . WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLES PERSONAL JOURNAL | more • New Surgery Eases Toll of Breast Cancer Surgeons are offering an added benefit to breast-cancer patients: removing the tumor and cosmetically repairing the breast at the same time. This "oncoplastic surgery" could minimize the number of times a patient must go under the knife. . • How Much Water Should You Drink Lately it has been in vogue to dismiss the advice to drink eight glasses of water a day as a "medical myth, " but it's really more a dispute over whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. . • Santorini, Greece Reporter Janet Adamy on what to do, where to eat and where to stay on this Greek island. . • Another Reason Fliers May Feel Like Victims. • Back to School for Career Advice. • Agency to Unveil New TB Test. MORE . PERSONAL FINANCE | more • Watching for an ETF Bust Sooner or later, Wall Street turns every good idea into a bad one. With nearly 800 ETFs available to investors -- and nearly half too small to survive -- the question is not whether, but when, most of them will fail. . LEISURE | more • The Prodigy Market in China Thirty-two years after the end of its Cultural Revolution, China is buzzing with once-forbidden Western classical music activity and more than 40 million youngsters are currently studying the piano or violin. The size and caliber of this talent pool has led some American music schools to enhance their China ties. . • Lack of U.S. Buyers at Art Basel Reporter's Notebook: Europeans dominate sales at the annual contemporary art fair in Switzerland. . • Albee a 'Young Troublemaker' at 80 After turning 80, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee still considers himself a young troublemaker. A point he proves with his latest work, "Occupant, " an evocation of the late sculptor Louise Nevelson. . • They Made Lacrosse Mainstream. • A Lot More Than a Penny Earned. • Big Brown in the Triple Crown: Wanna Bet . AUTOS | more • Velosolex: Charming and Primitive With gasoline topping $4 a gallon, the retro gasoline-human hybrid Velosolex that may have seemed geeky a few years ago suddenly warrants another look. . • Auto Sales Continue to Slide. • Putting a Premium on Classic Cars. RealEstateJournal.com | go to site • After Bubble, Ghost Towns Across U.S. • The Virtual Vacation Home • Cher Asks $45 Million for Malibu Estate MORE FIND A HOME . OpinionJournal.com | go to site . AllThingsDigital.com | go to site • iPhoneDevCamp2 • BoomTown Plea to Jeff Bewkes: Free Jon Miller! • Microsoft: Yahoo Chairman's Pants on Fire MarketWatch.com | go to site • Europe Markets: Shares in Europe weaken again as miners, airlines drag. • Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprises • Asia Markets: Auto giants drag on Tokyo ONLINE EXCLUSIVES ONLINE TODAY FOR PRINT READERS. • Bioterrorism's Threat Persists • Anthrax Suspect Commits Suicide • S&P Emails Question Ratings View Today's Print Headlines . View Tables from the Print Edition . VIDEO CENTER | more SEE ALL VIDEO OFFERINGS. BLOGS | more China Journal 3:38 AM Hazy Monday. Political Perceptions 10:00 PM Can $4 Gasoline Drive McCain Campaign . Washington Wire 5:01 PM Obama Wants U.S. to Be First in Space. Business Technology 8:54 PM Amazon Goes Back to Basics with AbeBooks. GO TO - Choose a Blog - Deal Journal Energy Roundup Health Blog Informed Reader Juggle Law Blog Market Beat The Numbers Guy Washington Wire Wealth Report Who's News. . INTERACTIVES | more ANALYSIS OF NEWS AND TRENDS. • The Long National League Nightmare: Since baseball began interleague play in 1997, the American League has been increasingly dominant. See a timeline of the decline of the National League. 07/11/2008. TODAY'S WSJ IN PHOTOS | more Sen. Obama . Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama a... more . PODCASTS & RSS | more FEATURED PODCAST • Investing in Funds: A Monthly Analysis: WSJ's Jennifer Levitz reviews investing lessons learned the hard way by West Virginia teachers. . monebaggasse