U.S.

Stocks Fall for Third Week, Longest Drop Since March, on Recession Concern U.S. stocks fell for a third straight week, the longest losing streak since March, on concern deeper- than-estimated job cuts and a drop in consumer confidence will prolong the recession.

India Joins Russia, China in Questioning Dominance of U.S. Dollar Reserves Suresh Tendulkar, an economic adviser to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said he is urging the government to diversify its $264.6 billion foreign-exchange reserves and hold fewer dollars.

U.S. Regulators Seize Seven Banks in Busiest Year for Closures Since 1992 Six banks in Illinois and one in Texas were seized by regulators as the deepening financial crisis pushed the toll of failed U.S. lenders this year to 52, the most since 1992.

Stanford's Antigua Liquidators Win Control of $196 Million in U.K. Assets R. Allen Stanford’s liquidators from Antigua were awarded control of 120 million pounds ($196 million) in U.K. assets seized in a fraud probe in a London court battle with U.S. receivers.

Private-Equity Firms Say FDIC Rules Will Thwart Takeovers of Failed Banks Private-equity firms said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may be diminishing the appetite for future bank takeovers by demanding buyout groups put more capital at risk.

GM Says Beijing Auto Submitted Opel Bid as Magna Talks Remain `On Track' General Motors Corp. said Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. submitted an offer for its Opel division, giving the bankrupt U.S. automaker more options in the event negotiations with Magna International Inc. fail.

Latin America

Cemex May Sue After Strabag Pulls Out of $434 Million Purchase in Europe Cemex SAB, the world’s third-largest cement maker, said it may take legal action after Strabag SE withdrew from buying the Mexican company’s Austrian and Hungarian assets because it failed to gain antitrust approval.

Emerging-Markets Share of World Stocks Hits Record; China Tops $3 Trillion Developing countries’ share of worldwide equity value climbed to a record as the fastest- growing economies lured investors amid the first global recession since World War II.

Repsol in Talks With China's CNPC, Cnooc to Sell Stake in Argentinean Unit Repsol YPF SA is in talks with China National Petroleum Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. about a sale of a stake in its Argentinean unit, three people familiar with the discussions said.

Brazilian Stocks Fall, Capping Weekly Drop; Petrobras, Usiminas Decline Brazilian stocks fell, capping a weekly decline, as a drop in oil and metal prices sent Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA lower.

Venezuela, China May Sign New $4 Billion Loan-for-Oil Accord, Chavez Says Venezuela and China Development Bank Corp. are discussing a third $4 billion infrastructure loan to be paid in oil, President Hugo Chavez said.

Colombia's Central Bank Signals Rates May Not Drop Further at Next Meeting Colombia’s central bank policy makers signaled they may pause after their half-point reduction at their June 19 meeting, where they also considered a smaller rate cut or even keeping the rate unchanged.

Exclusive

Treasury Debt-Purchase Plan May Be Smaller Than Anticipated at $20 Billion The U.S. Treasury Department may begin its program to spur purchases of mortgage-backed securities from banks with about $20 billion in public and private money, down from as much as $100 billion when it was announced in March, two people familiar with the matter said.

Wiedeking Era at Porsche Runs on Fumes as Volkswagen Takeover Backfires Wendelin Wiedeking, hailed as “the man who outfoxed the market” by Fortune magazine in January, is fighting to save Porsche SE -- and his job -- as a strategy to take over Volkswagen AG unravels.

Australia Facing `Full Brunt' of Global Recession as Exports, Lending Drop Australia’s economy, which has so far skirted the global recession, may stall after reports showed exports dropped to a 14-month low, bank lending fell and home- building approvals declined by the most since 2002.

Ferrovial, Westfield Shift Cash to Conservatives as Brown's Support Wanes British units of companies including Grupo Ferrovial SA, Westfield Group and Deutsche Bahn AG are shifting cash to the Conservative opposition from the Labour Party as Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s popularity ebbs.

GM to Hold `Garage Sale' for Hazardous Plants, Golf Course, Parking Lots As General Motors Corp. prepares to sell its best assets to a streamlined new entity, the worst of what it owns will be auctioned off in bankruptcy court, including contaminated factory sites, parking lots in Flint, Michigan, and a nine-hole golf course in New Jersey.

Geneva Sees Opportunity in Bern's Predicament of Conceding on Bank Secrecy On a hot Saturday morning in May at the Rolle yacht club on Lake Geneva, Guy de Picciotto, chief executive officer of Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privee, smears on sunblock as he rallies a professional, lycra-clad crew of six to race his 35-foot, $600,000 catamaran.