At The Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed. So we have scouted out today's most relevant news items and brought them to you all in one page. We hope you find this informative and useful.
Bank of America and Goldman Sachs miss the mark
Despite better earnings by Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, two of the other largest banks failed to meet expectations. Goldman Sachs'
Bank of America
Wells Fargo rises up
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo
The bank's investment branch was not as affected as its larger competitors, helping it contain losses despite loan losses. The bank, which holds one of the largest real estate portfolios after acquiring Wachovia, has set aside another $242 million to buy back loans from troubled securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more at The New York Times.
IBM and Coke earnings boost stocks
The market opened with a rally after encouraging earnings releases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.4%, led by IBM
Despite offsets, the market rallied over the improvement in consumer goods, which could mean an improvement in consumer spending. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
Housing starts reach five-month high
Housing starts improved for the month of June, helping the housing market see the light at the end of the tunnel. Work began on about 629,000 houses, up by 15% from May. An unexpected 2.5% rise in building permits is a sign of increasing construction in the future. Some construction companies, like Lennar, believe the worst of the crisis has passed, even though the recovery will still be slow. Foreclosures and declining home values remain an anchor for the market and will take years to correct. Read more at Bloomberg.
Bye-bye, Borders
After a difficult bankruptcy filing and receiving no bids to save it, Borders Group said it would liquidate its remaining 399 stores. The second-largest bookstore in the nation started its demise after failing to innovate in an Internet-based world. Competitors like Amazon
So there you have it, the top financial stories for this afternoon. Check Fool.com for commentary on these and other stories. Also, follow us on Twitter, on Facebook, or through our email digests.