TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, on Monday praised Washington for rescuing the ailing mortgage giants, but investors said the bailout had not ended global credit market misery. As battered financial stocks rallied and investors sold safe-haven bonds, analysts cautioned that the plan announced on Sunday was more a sign of the perilous state of the global financial system than of an imminent recovery
Altria to buy UST for $10.3 billion: report
(Reuters) - Cigarette maker Altria Group Inc has agreed to buy Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc for about $10.3 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Altria will pay $70 per share, the Journal said.
Boeing strike impact to be felt globally
TOKYO/PARIS (Reuters) - Aerospace groups dusted off contingency plans on Monday for a potentially lengthy strike at Boeing, whose workers halted production for a third day, while shares in the parent of European rival Airbus got a sharp boost. Boeing Co's (BA.N) assembly lines in the Seattle area fell silent on Saturday after emergency talks between the world's biggest-selling planemaker and its 27,000-strong machinists' union failed to agree a new contract.
Freddie, Fannie plan protects taxpayers: Paulson
LONDON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview with U.S. radio broadast on Monday that a plan to take control of Freddie Mac (FRE.N) and Fannie Mae (FNM.N) had been structured in a way to protect U.S. taxpayers. He also said the move had been taken after the Treasury had found "major structural flaws" in the two agencies.
