Former UBS exec will give up $6M bonus to settle insider trading rap. The former chief lawyer for UBS's investment bank has agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle an allegation that he dumped his..

Coordinated rate cuts spark Asia stocks rally. Asian stocks rallied and the yen slipped on Thursday after central banks from China to Europe and the United States cut interest rates to support the global economy, though investors remained fearful with credit markets still nearly frozen.

UBS pulls plug on Mortgage Strategist, ABS trading. UBS AG is halting its widely read weekly mortgage strategy report after more than 15 years of publication as the bank broadly scales down in the home loan business, including the closure of its asset-backed securities group, sources said.

Make $32K? You're in the richer 50%. Other new IRS data: While the top 1% of US earners, collectively, make nearly twice that of the bottom 50%, those at the top also pay 13 times more in individual income taxes combined.

Venture firms brace for cash crunch. Harold Bradley manages $2.1 billion for the Kansas City, Mo.based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Bits: Lehman Hopes to Spin Off V.C. Arm. Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, the venture-capital arm of the bankrupt investment bank, is in late-stage talks to spin off as an independent firm, VentureWire's Tomio Geron reported Tuesday.

Fed's action fails to stem huge stock losses: Dow down 508. Stocks tumbled again Tuesday, despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to keep credit flowing to businesses and word from Fed Chairman..

Venture capitalists see a lifeline slipping away. For years, venture capitalists have complained about the burdensome regulation preventing their start-ups from reaching the public markets, and thereby cheating the young companies' backers of extravagant..

Microsoft shows interest in WaMu bankruptcy over software agreements. When Microsoft filed a "notice of appearance" in the Washington Mutual bankruptcy proceedings - which is basically a request to be kept updated on developments of the case - and then initially declined to..

European central banks offer more cash to markets. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank offered more than $60 billion to markets Monday to try to keep the financial sector flush with cash.The European Central bank offered $50 billion in overnight money, while the Bank of England separately offered $10 billion.The Swiss National Bank said its overnight dollar offerings also continue, but did not immediately disclose the details of its offer, in keeping with standard policy.The ECB's Web site said the maximum bid for its offer is $5 billion while the minimum bid is $5 million. Details on the bidders and rates are to be released later in the day.

Retailers report weak September sales. American consumers went into hiding in September, leaving retailers with dismal sales and an uncertain future well beyond the holiday season as the fallout from the financial meltdown pushes spending even lower.

Banks don't pass on rate cut savings to Canadians. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's "disappointed" the big banks won't immediately pass on to consumers the full value of a half-point interest rate cut, the banks defending their smaller cuts as necessary..

Australia slashes interest rate 1 percentage point. Australia's central bank cut its official interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 1 percentage point Tuesday to ease credit concerns amid a global financial turmoil, cheering investors around the region and lifting Australian stocks into positive territoryThe cut to 6 percent was the largest by the Reserve Bank of Australia since May 1992. Analysts had expected a half-point reduction.Australian stocks jumped on the news after opening sharply lower and other Asian markets gained after the move as well. Sydney's benchmark S&P/ASX-200 index was up 2 percent in afternoon trading.

Walgreen Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Rein retires. Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. said Friday Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Rein has retired from the company after 26 years.

Look beyond buybacks' hoopla and see what insiders are doing. Companies tend to announce stock buybacks with great fanfare. And though they don't say so, the implication is that the force of their buying will lift the stock. But corporate buybacks are often less than meets the eye. If you're really looking for smart buying, look instead to what the company's directors do.

WaMu home loans chief promoted to head retail banking. David Schneider, president of home loans at Washington Mutual for the past four years, has been named head of retail banking for the WaMu segment of JPMorgan Chase, the New York bank that bought WaMu after it..

Any time is a good time to consider buying bonds. Q: Is today a good time to buy bonds, with all the turmoil going on in the financial markets?.

Northern Trust makes bid to run part of Treasury's bailout. Northern Trust Corp. and the New York Stock Exchange have jointly submitted a proposal to as part of the U.S. Treasury Department 's proposal to handle auction management services and custody bank services for..

NYTimes: Another KP article - Capitalism to the Rescue. "One afternoon last May in Menlo Park, Calif., a venture capitalist named Ray Lane led me from his office to the parking lot, where an automobile had been delivered a few hours earlier by flatbed truck.

ECB chief says cuts are essential. Oct 9 - Coordinated policy action hopes to boost markets, investors and citizens as global recession looms.