Finance Space

Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday that its first quarter profit fell on costs to integrate the acquired Wachovia and rising provisions.

The firm said some operating metrics improved and that credit issues appear to have “turned the corner.”

Wells said Wednesday that it earned $2.55 billion, or 45 cents a share in the quarter, compared to $3.05 billion, or 56 cents a share a year ago.

Wells was expected to make 42 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 20 analysts polled by FactSet. Forecasts ranged from 20 cents to 51 cents a share.

One million desperate consumers shunned by High Street banks have turned to a sub-prime credit card – charging rates as high as 60 per cent. Credit firm Provident Financial today revealed it was receiving more than 2,700 applications a day for its Vanquis credit card. This card is aimed at borrowers who have a bad credit history and have been turned down by more well-known firms.

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, in his first week leading the largest U.S. lender, said the recession’s impact is fading and the bank’s biggest acquisitions are over, allowing him to focus on rebuilding relationships with customers.

“The worst is behind us in the sense of credit,” Moynihan, 50, said today during an interview on Bloomberg Television in Raleigh, North Carolina. “As an industry, we over-lent and customers over-borrowed, and that led to a fairly significant bubble,” he said. “If you could rewind the clock, you wouldn’t do those things again.”

BALTIMORE -

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development said investors began applying Tuesday for $6 million in biotechnology tax credits.

The program encourages investors to provide seed and early stage funding to qualified, privately held Maryland biotechnology companies. The department said the program has leveraged more than $24 million in private investment since it began in 2006.

The Maryland Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit program provides tax credits equal to 50 percent of an eligible investment. Companies must be less than 12 years old, headquartered in Maryland, employ fewer than 50 people and be certified by the state agency.

Credit Suisse has secured regulatory approval to set up a Chinese securities joint venture, a decision expected to herald a wave of foreign investment in the sector following a two-year ban.

Over the weekend, Credit Suisse received clearance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to establish an entity that will provide investment banking services to mainland clients.

The vehicle will be 33.3 per cent-owned by Credit Suisse, the maximum allowed, with the remainder held by its partner Founder Securities, a subsidiary of a mainland conglomerate. It is expected to begin operations later this year.

An owner can sell a house for less than its value and the lender can forgive the loss — but that’s not all.

BUYERS AND sellers who choose the short-sale option need to understand the choppy waters they’re entering, lenders and agents say.

Buyers complain, justifiably, that the wait for bank approvals of short sales — typically 60 to 90 days, but sometimes considerably longer — seems endless and the transactions often fall apart.

Sellers, on the other hand, may face tax and credit problems.

NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) – Finance ministry and central bank officials around the world on Monday again expressed worries about the U.S. dollar’s weakness in the past year, boosting the prospects that U.S. monetary authorities may step in to support the greenback.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson kicked off Monday’s chorus to support the dollar saying he was not ruling out intervening in the foreign exchange market to stabilize the U.S. currency.
“I would never take intervention off the table or any policy tool off the table.” Paulson said in an interview with CNBC television. “I just can’t speculate about what we will or won’t do.”
Paulson’s comments boosted the dollar across the board on Monday, pushing the euro down 1.0 percent against the dollar at $1.5620 .

Looking for a student loan? They’re still available, but you’ll need a clean record.

While most attention has been focused on faltering credit and housing markets, the federal student-loan market received a fairly quiet bailout.
more stories like this

* Students turn to websites for college loans
* The bank of family and friends: new student-loan wrinkle
* S&P 500 Leaders & Laggards: Moody’s, Sallie Mae
* Midday Leaders & Laggards: S&P 500
* SLM Director Puleo busy 15,000 shares of common stock
*

College loans will still be widely available, although with greater scrutiny of credit records.

The credit card balance transfer is popular with credit card users.

The balance transfer can offer interest-rate savings on credit card debt. A balance transfer simply means moving debt from one or several credit card accounts, to a low or no-interest credit card account. These super-low teaser rates will last for about six months to a year, on average, with most card issuers. A cardholder may be offered a low-interest balance transfer rate by one of their current credit card issuers, or they may choose to apply for a new credit card to get this tempting rate.