Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- JPMorgan Chase(JPM) surged in NY trading after striking a deal backed by the Federal Reserve to buy Bear Stearns(BSC).
- Crude oil, copper and coffee led the biggest decline in commodities since 2001 on speculation that a US recession will stall demand for raw materials and end the recent ‘buying orgy.’
- Abby Joseph Cohen, among the most bullish investment strategists on Wall Street this year, will stop making S&P 500 Index forecasts for Goldman Sachs Group(GS).
- Hillary Clinton said that if elected, she would pull armed private contractors from that country as well as US troops.
- President Bush sought to reassure Americans as stocks and the dollar tumbled, saying he’s prepared to act “decisively” if needed.
- Lehman’s Fuld Says Liquidity Concern ‘Off the Table.’
- Commodities are heading for their biggest one-day decline since at least 1956. The Reuters/Jeffries CRB Index is down 4.9%.

CNBC:
- US financial regulators should seek a suspension of mark-to-market accounting of “exotic securities,” and Bear Stearns(BSC) “did not have to go out of business,” Forbes Inc. CEO Steve Forbes said. “Take a time out, don’t realize a loss until the loss actually happens,” Forbes told CNBC. “Right now, we’re just guessing, and when you’re guessing in a panic environment, disaster takes over,” he said.
- WL Ross & Co. LLC Chairman Wilbur Ross told CNBC that his company is buying H&R Block’s(HRB) mortgage loan servicing unit for $1.1 billion because it will be a “profitable and cash-generative business.” The purchase will create the second-largest US subprime servicing portfolio.

Portfolio.com:
- Murdoch May Force New York Times(NYT) Sales, Raines Says.

Morningstar.com:
- Shell: Set To Become One Of World’s Largest Wind Generators In ’09.

MiamiHerald.com:
- The next bubble: lawsuits.

Kauppalehti Vip Special Edition:
- European Central Bank council member Erkki Liikanen said slowing economic growth in Europe will damp inflation.

Market News International:
- The European Central Bank is increasingly concerned about the euro’s appreciation against the dollar and policy makers will express their worry more aggressively if the currency rises above $1.60, citing central bank officials. Another official said the ECB will press US authorities to act on their expressed preference for a strong dollar.

Valor Economico:
- Brazil’s economy may decelerate should a “severe” global economic growth slowdown lead to a “strong” decline in commodities’ prices, Anoop Singh, director for the Western Hemisphere at the IMF, said.