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Morgan Stanley, the second biggest U.S. investment bank, has reported a massive $2.3 billion loss for the fourth quarter which far exceeded analysts' predictions.

NEW YORK (AP) - Morgan Stanley said Wednesday it lost $2.37 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as it took a range of losses on assets amid one of the roughest quarters for investment banks.

The pound tumbled to a new record low against the euro today after it was revealed that Bank of England rate-setters considered even larger interest rate cuts than the 1 per cent delivered two weeks...

I am often asked what is the best or safest way to get exposure to precious metals. To be sure, there is a dizzying array of options from owning and storing the physical metal yourself to buying junior mining stocks. But the current crisis of confidence, brought on by the collapse of institutions that nobody thought could fail and the most recent $50 billion Ponzi scheme, has investors looking at safety and wealth preservation more than ever. Buying physical gold and silver gives the owner definite possession, but comes with high premiums and the necessity to store and protect the metal. This can be done via a bank safe deposit box, but adds to the cost of owning the metal and doesn’t provide total peace of mind for many investors that have lost trust in the banking system. Others might prefer to store the gold on their property, hiding it in the floorboards or purchasing a safe. But this potentially puts you and your family members in harm’s way and again does not offer 10

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is raising $1.40 billion, mostly underwritten by UBS after a placement slated to be handled by Merrill Lynch was terminated.

Gary Gordon submits: When central banks in a country or region lower their target interest rates, the respective currencies tend to fall in the near-term. And with the globally coordinated (and non-coordinated) rate cuts happening worldwide, conventional wisdom suggests that all currencies would give way to precious metals. Indeed, we've seen a fair amount of precious metal buying in the ETF world. Although gold via streetTracks Gold Shares (GLD) is still 20% off its high, it is essentially flat on the year. Similarly, the Powershares DB Precious Metals Fund (DBP) is down a mere 10% YTD.Complete Story »

CIT Group Inc. said Tuesday it has generated $398 million through an exchange offer as the commercial-finance company looks to become a bank holding company.

The sale of Wizard Home Loans' Australia unit, which has been put on the auction block for nearly seven months by GE Money, would further consolidate the country's bank and non-bank lending markets

HONG KONG, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The head of Morgan Stanley's Asia Pacific private equity banking team is leaving thebank, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, less than a year afterarriving in Hong Kong to run the division.

The cost of three-month dollar loans between banks slid Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate to near zero percent and indicated it would keep borrowing costs low for a long time to come. The interbank lending rate on three-month...