Daily Investor Briefing: Wall Street up for second day,...

	Click to View in Browser 08/23/2013 Wall Street up for second day, Microsoft leads NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose for a second day on Friday, led by a jump in Microsoft shares as trading occurred without incident a day after the Nasdaq stock exchange was halted for several hours due to a technical problem. Friday's volume was low. Microsoft CEO Ballmer to retire within 12 months SEATTLE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer unexpectedly announced his retirement on Friday, ending a controversial 13-year reign as the head of the world's largest software company and sending the company's shares up 7 percent. U.S. new home sales fall sharply; house prices rise WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new single-family homes in the United States fell sharply in July to their lowest level in nine months, casting a shadow over the country's housing recovery. Fed should focus on mortgage buys, sell Treasuries: study JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should concentrate its unconventional monetary stimulus on mortgage asset purchases, according to a new study released on Friday, ditching Treasury bond buys which the authors say have not had much of an effect. Apple battles U.S. over scope of e-books injunction NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States offered to ease the terms of a proposed civil injunction against Apple Inc for conspiring to raise e-book prices, but the company said the revised proposal is still designed to "inflict punishment" and must be rejected. AMR urges court to back restructuring despite antitrust lawsuit (Reuters) - American Airlines on Friday urged a bankruptcy judge to approve its Chapter 11 restructuring plan despite an antitrust challenge from the U.S. Department of Justice to its proposal to merge with US Airways Group . BATS in merger talks with Direct Edge: WSJ (Reuters) - BATS Global Markets, the third-largest U.S. stock exchange, is in advanced talks to merge with smaller rival Direct Edge Holdings LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Argentina loses U.S. appeal in $1.33 billion bondholder fight NEW YORK (Reuters) - Argentina on Friday lost its appeal of a U.S. court order requiring it to pay $1.33 billion to hedge funds that refused to accept steep discounts when the nation restructured its debt. Central banks don't need to rush ultra-easy money exit: IMF's Lagarde JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Central banks in Europe, the United States and Japan have no need to rush to exit the ultra-easy monetary policies they have put in place to spur growth, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday. Exclusive: Monte Paschi accused of misleading Italy regulator in 2012 MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena sparked fresh controversy on Friday when it was accused of misleading Italy's market regulator as recently as October 2012, shortly before it received a 4.1-billion euro ($5.47 billion) state bailout. Related Video We are seeing the impact of higher rates-Trulia's Jed Kolko Microsoft shares head up as Ballmer heads out Related News How to cut the cable cord and watch TV now Analysis: Rising returns give U.S. public pension funds chance to reform A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend