In a complaint filed in the Western District of Washington, Allen’s Interval Licensing LLC alleges that AOL, Apple, eBay, privately held Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot,Office Max, Staples, Yahoo and Google-owned YouTube are all illegally in use of e-commerce technologies patented by a technology research firm Allen co-founded in Silicon Valley more than twenty years ago. -CNBC

"We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously,'' said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes.

Sales of existing houses plunged by a record 27 percent in July as the effects of a government tax credit waned, showing a lack of jobs threatens to undermine the U.S. economic recovery.

Article:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-24/sales-of-u-s-existing-homes-drop-more-than-estimated-to-3-83-million-rate.html

Sales of existing homes plummeted 27.2 percent to a 3.83 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/62409982/

The yield on the 10-year note decreased 15 basis points to 2.67 percent, the lowest level in 16 months.

Bloomberg

The Treasury sold $34 billion of three-year notes at a record-low yield of 0.844 percent Aug. 10, $24 billion of 10- year notes the next day at 2.730 percent, the lowest yield since January 2009, and $16 billion of 30-year bonds on Aug. 12 at 3.954 percent, the lowest yield since March 2009. -Bloomberg

Paddy Hirsch explains new SEC rules on “Stub Quotes” and what they mean for the market-makers.

Full Article
Federal probes of the collapsed mortgage-bond boom are shedding light on how Wall Street firms sometimes created securities and sold them to one set of investors, while advising others to bet against them.-WSJ

Deutsche says that helping investors bet either way—either for or against an asset—is part of doing business for a securities firm. -WSJ

Gross domestic product grew at a 2.4 percent annual pace, less than forecast, after a 3.7 percent first-quarter gain that was larger than previously estimated, according to Commerce Department data issued today in Washington. -Bloomberg

The U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter as a scarcity of jobs eroded consumer spending, leaving the rebound dependent on a surge in business investment. -Bloomberg

A brief explanation of the “shadow banking” system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/business/global/24stress.html?src=me

A vast majority of European banks passed a round of stress tests meant to measure the likelihood that they could survive an economic or market calamity, regulators said on Friday. -NY Times

“The U.S. Senate passed the biggest overhaul of financial-industry regulation since the Great Depression, sending the bill inspired by the 2008 credit crisis to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.” -Bloomberg

The measure, once implemented, will touch all areas of the financial markets, affecting how consumers obtain credit cards and mortgages, dictating how the government dismantles failing financial firms and directing federal regulators' focus on potential flashpoints in the economy. - WSJ

“Two Senate Republicans said Monday they would support the Obama administration’s financial-overhaul legislation, and Democrats now believe they have the 60 votes needed to push the sweeping bill into law by the end of the week.” - WSJ

The bill would boost powers of agencies such as the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission, create a new regulator to monitor consumer lending rules, give the government the power to break up failing companies and toughen scrutiny over exotic financial products like derivatives. -WSJ

“A government program to bail out banks at the height of the financial crisis has so far turned a profit, according to a report by investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.” -CNBC

Full Article Here

About $137 billion, or two-thirds of the initial government investment, has been paid back. -CNBC

CNN Money

“The unemployment rate fell to 9.5% from 9.7% in May. Economists had forecast it would climb to 9.8%. But the improvement was due mostly to many discouraged job seekers not bothering to look for work and no longer being counted as part of the labor force.” -CNN Money

The recession killed off 7.9 million jobs. It's increasingly likely that many will never come back. -CNN Money

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors went public on Tuesday; Tesla sold 13.3 million shares at a price above its expected range of 14 to 16 dollars a share.
Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg

TSLA closed at $23.89, up $6.89 from its IPO price of $17 a share

Bloombeg LP

“Elevation, which bought the shares from equity owners in private transactions, has invested a total of $210 million in Facebook at an average valuation of $14 billion.”

Facebook is valued at 19.9 Billion USD according to Sharepost Inc.

Lawmakers from the House and Senate worked through the night in a 20-hour session to reach deals on a ban on proprietary trading by banks and oversight of the derivatives market. - Bloomberg

Full Article

The legislation still needs to be approved by the full House and Senate.

Federal Reserve officials retained a pledge to keep the benchmark interest rate at a record low for an “extended period” and signaled that European indebtedness may harm American growth. -Bloomberg

"The central bank, at a two-day meeting, left the overnight interbank lending rate target unchanged in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008." Bloomberg

CNBC: “Regulators have characterized the initial flash crash, which saw the Dow lose nearly 1,000 points in a matter of minutes, as a one-off occurrence possibly attributable to a “fat finger” trade or some other market anomaly.

But a growing chorus of traders and legislators believe the flash crash is symptomatic of a larger problem with high-frequency trading and a market that lacks visibility and is susceptible to similar events in the future.”