| Leading light behind the Aurora empire The patriarch who built Magna International bred vast holdings out of his small car parts business  Overview: US jobs data sideline risky investments Investors recoiled from more daring assets after a sharp drop in US employment set back hopes for a quick revival of the world's largest economy Jobs data dash recovery hopes The US economy shed another 467,000 jobs last month, signalling aggressive government stimulus measures are failing to unshackle the labour force from the grips of the recession, official figures showed Wall Street slides on jobs report US stocks took a pounding, with the benchmark S&P 500 index turning negative for the year as investors reacted to data showing many more people lost their jobs in June than expected Short View: Jobs downer Unemployment is a lagging indicator, while stocks are a leading indicator; stocks can rationally gain while payrolls are falling. But this was taken too far. It makes sense that US stocks are no higher than they were two months ago, says John Authers Overview: Upbeat data fuel risk appetite Global risk appetite gathered steam as the second half of the trading year began and investors digested manufacturing reports from the major economies Supermarkets adapt tactics in price wars US national and regional supermarket chains compete against Wal-Mart's low-cost supercentres and small hard discounters with a cacophony of price cutting promotions US private sector sheds 473,000 jobs US companies cut nearly a half million jobs last month as the recession continued to cut into the labour market in spite of other recent signs of hope in the economy AIG chief fails to assuage investors' concerns Edward Liddy tells shareholders he could give 'no assurances' that the government's 80% stake would be reduced, and expresses hope that plans to repay debt are succeeding Radical shift in the banking power base For the strongest banks, the second quarter of 2009, which closed on Tuesday, has confirmed the upbeat trends of the first three months US trading volumes drop as volatility eases Flows in Treasuries and equities have slowed considerably, with the 10-day moving average of US rates futures trading volume down to 3.5m contracts per day, from nearly 5m at the start of June Oracle hits glitch in Sun Micro deal The software maker has failed to win regulatory clearance from the Department of Justice for its $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems within the expected deadline Citi faces retail sales ban in Japan Citigroup suffered a fresh setback when Japan's financial regulator banned it from selling retail financial products for a month after finding the US group had failed to take sufficient measures to prevent suspicious transactions, including money laundering. AIG clinches $25bn debt deal AIG took a small step in the long road to recovery, clinching a $25bn debt for equity swap with the Federal Reserve that will give the authorities a large stake in two of the government-owned insurer's most prized businesses Delphi attacks challenge by hedge funds Delphi and its backers have accused a group of hedge funds of holding General Motors and the US government to ransom by challenging a deal to sell the bulk of the bankrupt parts maker's assets to Platinum Equity, a California-based private equity firm News Wizard |