The Other Side of Life 24/7: Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street closes up after Fed keeps...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street closes up after Fed keeps...

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03/20/2013

Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between

Wall Street closes up after Fed keeps stimulus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Wednesday and snapped a three-day losing streak for the S&P 500 as the Federal Reserve reassured investors that it would keep supporting the economy.

Cyprus seeks Russian rescue, EU threatens cutoff

NICOSIA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Cyprus ordered banks to stay shut until next week as the government scrambled on Wednesday to avert a financial meltdown after rejecting the terms of a bailout from the European Union and turning instead to Russia for a lifeline.

SAC Capital up 4 percent this year as probe continues

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund titan Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors has gained about 4 percent this year, beating the industry average at a time the $15 billion fund is still very much in federal investigators' crosshairs.

Starbucks shareholders reject political giving ban

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp investors on Wednesday rejected a shareholder proposal to prohibit the world's biggest coffee chain from making political contributions or forming a political action committee.

Insight: Desperate for bailout, Cyprus plays risky geopolitical game

LONDON (Reuters) - As it tries to play Russia off against Europe to salvage its economy, Cyprus has embarked on a high-stakes poker game that could see almost everyone lose.

Treasury wants banks to peer behind shell companies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department is trying to strike a balance between the need for information from banks to help it nab hidden account owners and administrative demands that a rule toward that end might create for the banks.

Justice Department probing banks' role in fraud by customers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department is examining the role financial institutions play in fraud schemes perpetrated by bank customers offering deceptive products, a department official said on Wednesday.

Rosneft deal to put China top of Russia's oil customers

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will sharply boost oil supply to China, making Beijing its top customer, in a package of deals to be signed this week, industry sources said on Wednesday.

PIMCO sees opportunity in European commercial property

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of PIMCO's mortgage credit portfolio management team said the firm is targeting direct commercial real estate investments and non-securitized loans, which carry greater risk but higher return potential.

Suntech unit nears insolvency, but company may survive

BEIJING/BANGALORE (Reuters) - A group of Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd lenders want the Chinese solar panel maker's main unit declared insolvent, a sign Beijing's support for the struggling industry is waning.