Reuters - U.S. employers cut workers for a sixth straight month in June for the longest such streak since 2002 and the country's vast service sector unexpectedly contracted, underscoring the economy's frailty.

Reuters - Phillip Bennett, the former chief executive of Refco, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Thursday for fleecing investors of more than $2.4 billion in a fraud that destroyed the world's largest independent commodities broker.

Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Dow rose on Thursday, a day after the blue-chip average entered a bear market, on relief payrolls data was not as weak as some had feared and with another record oil price boosting energy shares.

Reuters - Hedge fund swindler Samuel Israel III faced a fresh charge of bail jumping on Thursday and was ordered to jail immediately, one day after his mother convinced him to end a high-profile run from justice.

Reuters - The deteriorating U.S. economy and slumping stock prices will frame discussions among top media and technology executives at the 26th annual Allen & Co confab in Sun Valley, Idaho, next week.

AP - The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

Reuters - A federal judge in Miami has authorized U.S. officials to seek information from UBS AG about U.S. taxpayers suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to evade income taxes, part of a probe that could crack open Switzerland's tradition of bank secrecy.

Reuters - Blockbuster Inc , which abandoned its offer to buy Circuit City Stores Inc this week, may try to acquire the electronics retailer later, the New York Post said Thursday citing insiders.

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages, which had been rising for five straight weeks, posted a decline this week as signals from the Federal Reserve eased worries about imminent rate increases.

Reuters - An even gloomier scenario may be in store for an already ailing U.S. housing market if the overall economy slips into a recession, according to UBS Securities analysts.

AFP - Bank of America said Tuesday it completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial, the largest US mortgage lender that had been at the center of the country's subprime loan crisis.

Reuters - CIT Group Inc said on Tuesday it agreed to sell nearly $10 billion of mortgage assets, in a deal that removes problem loans from the commercial lender's balance sheet and lifted its shares 14 percent in premarket trading.

Reuters - Florida sued mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp on Monday for predatory lending practices, alleging the company at the center of the U.S. mortgage crisis made subprime loans to people who could not repay them.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday he believes in a strong U.S. dollar and that U.S officials were working to resolve the country's economic problems, including regulatory mistakes that led to excesses in the mortgage and banking sectors.

AP - Wall Street ended a depressing week with another big loss on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 100 points amid ever-escalating worries about high oil prices and fallout from the credit crisis. The major indexes are all down more than 3 percent for the week.

AFP - British investment group Resolution said Friday it had abandoned its funding plan for home-loans provider Bradford & Bingley because of opposition from management at the group it sought to buy.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp on Thursday said it expects to eliminate about 7,500 jobs over the next two years after it completes its acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp , the largest U.S. mortgage lender.

Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp , widely blamed for helping foment the U.S. housing crisis through free-wheeling lending, was sued for alleged deceptive mortgage practices by officials in its home state of California and in Illinois on Wednesday.