WSJ Business & Econ News 09072011

Business & Economics

• Standard & Poor's held private meetings with large bond investors before it downgraded US government debt, leaving some believing that the chance of a rating cut was higher than they previously thought.  
• BofA shook up management, ousting the heads of the bank's wealth-management and consumer-banking divisions while naming new co-chief operating officers.  
• Switzerland's central bank put a cap on the surging Swiss franc, setting the stage for what could be a long battle with the financial markets.  
• The Dow industrials lost 100.96 points as investors again scrambled into investments perceived as safer.  The 10-year Treasury yield closed below 2% for the first time.  
• The SEC is looking into whether turbocharged exchange-traded funds amplified August's topsy-turvy swings in the stock market.  
• Groupon canceled its investor roadshow and is reevaluating plans for an initial public offering amid the current market volatility.  
• Carlyle Group filed documents to go public, with the private-equity firm aiming for an IPO in the first half of 2012 rather than this year.  
• An overhaul of the patent system passed a hurdle in the Senate and is expected to receive final congressional passage this month.  
• Manhattan prosecutors are pressing ahead with their inquiry into Goldman Sachs mortgage deals, issuing subpoenas to Morgan Stanley and other investors.  
• A UK Parliamentary panel heard testimony from four ex-News Corp. executives in the probe into the News of the World hacking scandal.  
• BP shareholders are demanding that the oil giant come up with a new growth strategy after the company suffered a string of setbacks.  
• Sunoco will exit the refining business, highlighting the squeeze facing the sector.  
• Competitiveness in advanced countries continues to stagnate, a study found.  
• International Paper agreed to buy Temple-Inland for $3.48 billion plus debt.  

The service sectors picked up a bit last month.  The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index - based mostly on service firms - rose to 53.3 in August from 52.7 in July.  Readings above 50 indicate expansion.  The index reached 59.7 in February, before the economic slowdown began cutting into service-sector growth.