business - "short"

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said the collapse of Bear Stearns last week was due to a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital. In a letter sent to the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and published on the SEC website late Thursday, Cox noted that Bear Stearns's problems escalated when rumors spread about its liquidity crisis which in turn eroded investor confidence in the firm. 'Notwithstanding that Bear Stearns continued to have high quality collateral to provide as security for borrowings, market counterparties became less willing to enter into collateralized funding arrangements with Bear Stearns,' said Cox. The letter also showed that Bear Stearns' liquidity pool started at $18.1 billion on March 17 and then plummeted to $2 billion on March 13. Ultimately market rumors about Bear Stearns' difficulties became self-fulfilling, Cox said. market pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stoc

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- United Airlines, responding to reports that several of its planes had been temporarily grounded, confirmed late Thursday it was retesting altitude indicators on seven 747s after discovering that the test equipment itself was overdue for calibration. The airline, part of UAL Corp. , said the tests 'have found no issues' and were not related to an air worthiness directive. Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was tightening oversight of airlines' maintenance records. The order came shortly after the administration fined Southwest Airlines $10.2 million for failing to adequately check for cracks in the bodies of its planes. The Teamsters Union, which is seeking to represent United's mechanics, said in a statement that the report highlighted the need for a moratorium on aircraft repairs at overseas facilities. market pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more in

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- EBay Inc. is cutting 125 jobs this week, or less than 1% of its workforce, according to a report Thursday in the online edition of The wall street Journal. The move comes as part of a reorganization as new Chief Executive John Donahoe seeks to repair the company's Internet auction business, the report said. The reorganization is aimed at shifting people and resources into areas essential for modernizing the company's auction marketplace, the report said. EBay has 15,500 employees worldwide. market pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

The American Stock Exchange® member and non-member organizations today reported short interest of 1,322,314,562 shares as of the March 14, 2008 settlement date, an increase of 82,976,185 from the 1,239,338,377 shares reported on February 29, 2008.

Short, long bonds under pressure.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- An exchange-traded note that shorts gold by doubling down on futures prices gains 14% in just two days this week and is up again Thursday on back of an overall commodity plunge.

Forex Assassin is a new forex trading tool which is already enjoying a growing popularity. This tool was made especially for the novice trader who can only spare a short time for trading. It was made wiht the average Joe who has a day time job, a family to take care of, and simply can't spare the time to monitor the markets all day, looking out for indicators, signals and the like, but would still like to take his or her trading to a new level.

BIG LAKE, MN (MARKET WIRE) Viper Motorcycle Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Viper Powersports Inc. (OTCBB: VPWS), announced today that 'American Iron Magazine' recently completed a 'Ride Review' of Viper's Diamondback Series of motorcycles, installed with the proprietary 152 cubic inch all billet short stroked engine.

Worry about falling demand sent prices lower but it could be a short-lived drop.