WSJ Business News for 08312011 - Fed Very Divided on Options

Business & Finance

• US Authorities are investigating whether Oracle, one of the world's largest software companies by sales, violated federal anti-bribery laws in its dealings abroad, according to people familiar with the matter.  
• Exxon Mobil snatched away a major Arctic exploration deal with Russia's Rosneft from competitors including BP in a sweeping deal that gives Rosneft access to energy projects in the US
• Fed officials are as deeply divided as they've been in decades about how to spur the flagging economy, records released Tuesday show.  (this is a big deal)
• The SEC lawyer who has accused the regulator of improperly destroying thousands of sensitive documents is a proven whistle-blower   
• The Dow industrials clawed back from 110 points down to finish up at 20.70 or 0.2% at 11559.95, the index's sixth gain in seven sessions.  
• Sentiment among euro-zone companies and consumers plunged in August.  Separately, the ECB stepped in to buy Italian and Spanish bonds.  
• Accounting-rule makers said some European banks haven't taken big enough write-downs on the values of the distressed Greek debt they hold.  
• BofA was suited by a unit of US Bancorp on behalf of investors in a $1.75 billion morgage-backed bond deal that quickly soured.  
• Whirlpool has buttressed its bottom line for five years with export tax credits from Brazil.  That pool of funds is now dwindling, however.  
• H-P said it will temporarily resume manufacturing the TouchPad, just 11 days after killing its iPad rival as part of a corporate overhaul.  
• Barnes & Noble's loss narrowed less than expected but the bookseller continued to post robust sales growth tied to its Nook e-book reader.  
• Kerzner is exploring selling its 50% stake in the Atlantis resort in Dubai as it scrambles to raise money to restructure $2.6 billion in mortgage debt.  
• Kerzner is exploring selling its 50% stake in the Atlantis resort in Dubai as it scrambles to raise money to restructure $2.6 billion in mortgage debt.  
• Questions are arising about how long some publicly held home builders can survive without significant improvement in the market.  
• Boeing said airlines had committed to buying nearly 500 of the revamped version of its 737 jetliner, with the first delivery slated for 2017.  
• A judge said creditors can vote on Lehman's $65 billion creditor payback plan, nearly 3 years after the company filed for Chapter 11.  
• Carl Icahn is walking away from his Lions Gate investment under an agreement that ends an effort to take control of the film studio.  

Also, home prices ticked up in the 2nd quarter but remained low.  The S&P/Case-Shriller Home Price Index rose 3.6% from the first quarter as the Spring selling season began.  But the index was 5.9% below its year-earlier level and 31.5% below its peak five years ago (2006).  With a large inventory of unsold homes on the market, sustained price increases may be years away.