Low Flying Military Helicopters Over Boston Buzz Buildings During Traini...

500 Point Drop in the Dow: The Third Wave is Upon Us

BNY Mellon Slaps Fee on Some Deposits Above $50 Million

BNY Mellon Slaps Fee on Some Deposits Above $50 Million - WSJ.com

By LIZ RAPPAPORT

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. on Thursday took the extraordinary step of telling large clients it will charge them to hold cash.

Bank of New York Mellon is preparing to charge some large depositors to hold their cash, in the latest sign of the worries roiling global markets. Liz Rappaport has details.

The unusual move means some U.S. depositors will have to pay to keep big chunks of money in a bank, marking a stark new phase of the long-running global financial crisis.

The shift is also emblematic of the strains plaguing the U.S. economy. Fearful corporations and investors have been socking away cash in their bank accounts rather than put it into even the safest investments.

The giant bank, which specializes in handling funds for financial institutions and corporations, will begin assessing a fee next week on customers that have been flooding the bank with dollars, Bank of New York told clients in a note reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

One day late with mortgage payment, gas station owner could lose business to foreclosure

One day late with mortgage payment, gas station owner could lose business to foreclosure - St. Petersburg Times

ST. PETERSBURG — Saji Mathew missed the Oct. 12 mortgage payment on the Mobil gas station he co-owns.

On Oct. 13, he took the money to the bank, thinking that would make things right.

He tried to make his November and December payments as well. But each time, BB&T kicked back his money.

Ten months later, Mathew is still trying to pay. In circuit court on Tuesday, he offered BB&T $50,000, the total amount due since October.

BB&T didn't want the money.

It wants the gas station.

"They won't take my money,'' said Mathew. "I want them to take it. I was one day behind paying the mortgage."

BB&T's stance flabbergasted the judge in the case.

Surge in Demand for Food Stamps Across the United States

Surge in Demand for Food Stamps Across the United States - ABC News

By LYNEKA LITTLE

Aug. 4, 2011

Alabama is responsible for much of the 1.1 million increase in food stamp recipients after horrific storms tore through the area and led some residents to seek disaster relief, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Some 45.8 million people collected food stamps in May, up from 44 million in April, according to the USDA. That's an all-time high, up 12 percent from a year ago and an astonishing 34 percent from two years ago. Comparing May 2010 to May 2011, more than 20 states have seen double-digit percent growth in individuals seeking food assistance benefits.

"The rise in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program indicates that the economy is still in tough shape and for a lot of people the recession has not ended," Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist for ConvergEx, told ABC News.

Of Alabama's more than 4.7 million residents, 1.7 million are receiving assistance for food based on figures from the USDA. The figure has more than doubled from May 2010 to May 2011 for the state's residents.

The uptick is steep in parts of the Midwest. In Illinois, food stamps have risen by 46 percent in Cook County, 133 percent in DuPage County, 84 percent in Lake County, 96 percent in Kane County, 168 percent in McHenry County and 74 percent in Will County, according to the Daily Herald.

Dow Plunges On 'Total Fear'

Dow Plunges On 'Total Fear' - National News Story - WJAC Johnstown

By Annalyn Censky

Posted: 9:55 am EDT August 4, 2011Updated: 12:25 pm EDT August 4, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks plunged, with the Dow losing more than 350 points Thursday, as investors remain on edge about the global economy.

There's "total fear" in the market right now, said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at BlackRock.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 350 points, or 2.5%, with Alcoa, Caterpillar and Bank of America among the biggest drags on the blue chip index. The only gainer was Kraft, following news that the company plans to split itself in two.

The S&P 500 was down a staggering 41 points, or 3.2%, with only nine of the index's components showing modest gains.

The Nasdaq lost 91 points, or 3.4%. Some of the better performing tech stocks, Apple, Google and Netflix were all down between 2% and 3%.

All three indexes have now erased their gains for the year and are in 'correction' territory - defined as a 10% from their cyclical highs. Over the past 10 days alone, the indexes have dropped more than 8%.

The market's fear gauge -- the VIX -- surged 16% to a reading of 27. That's still just shy of 30 -- the level that signals a high degree of fear. With the VIX up 53% from the start of the year, it's clear that fear has been on the rise.

It should come as no surprise that investors flocked to assets perceived as low-risk, including U.S. bonds and gold.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.48% from 2.6% late Wednesday, and gold futures for December delivery rose $2.40 to $1,668.70 an ounce. Earlier in the session, gold hit a record high of $1,684.70 an ounce.

Thursday's losses came as European stocks also plunged. Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 3.4%, Germany's DAX lost 3.9% and France's CAC 40 fell about 3.4%.

Economy: Fears about a global economic slowdown are at the forefront of investors minds amid recent weak economic data.

Early Thursday, the latest reading on jobless claims showed a large number of Americans remain unemployed. But economic woes weren't contained just to the United States.

Taking dramatic steps to shore up their financial markets, Japan's government stepped in to weaken the yen, and the European Central Bank decided to re-enter the European bond market.

"It's true that we are in a period of a high level of uncertainty, not only in euro area but at the global level," ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a press conference Thursday.

Thursday morning, the Labor Department's weekly initial jobless claims report showed that first-time unemployment claims totaled 400,000 last week. Economists had expected weekly unemployment claims to rise to 405,000 from last week's revised 398,000 claims.

While the number was mildly better than expected, it still indicated weakness in the labor market.

Investors are on edge ahead of Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report, which is expected to show that the U.S. economy created 75,000 jobs in July, according to a consensus of 19 economists surveyed by CNNMoney.

In June, the economy added a paltry 18,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2%.

Companies: Auto giant General Motors' second-quarter earnings nearly doubled to $2.5 billion, as revenue rose 19% and topped expectations. Shares of GM slid 2.6%.

Insurance company AIG and newly public LinkedIn are scheduled to report financial results after the closing bell Thursday.

In addition to quarterly financial reports, retailers were also announcing July sales results.

Costco Wholesale Corp. said its same-store sales climbed 10% last month, while Limited said sales rose 6%.

World markets: The European Central Bank met to discuss the region's monetary policy, and the debt problems facing Italy and Spain. The ECB left interest rates unchanged at 1.5% and initiated a 6-month refinancing operation to add liquidity to European markets.

Meanwhile, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged European Union officials to reassess the recent bailout funds, as "markets remain to be convinced that we are taking the appropriate steps to resolve the crisis."

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5%.

The Bank of Japan took steps to stem the yen's rise, by easing its monetary policy and selling a trillion yen or $12.6 billion. Japan's move came a day after Switzerland intervened to curb the Swiss franc's rise.

Currencies and commodities: Following Japan's pledge to lower the value of the yen, the dollar surged almost 2.6% against the Japanese currency.

The dollar also rose versus the euro and British pound.

.

Dow Plunges On 'Total Fear'

Dow Plunges On 'Total Fear' - National News Story - WJAC Johnstown

By Annalyn Censky

Posted: 9:55 am EDT August 4, 2011Updated: 12:25 pm EDT August 4, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks plunged, with the Dow losing more than 350 points Thursday, as investors remain on edge about the global economy.

There's "total fear" in the market right now, said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at BlackRock.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 350 points, or 2.5%, with Alcoa, Caterpillar and Bank of America among the biggest drags on the blue chip index. The only gainer was Kraft, following news that the company plans to split itself in two.

The S&P 500 was down a staggering 41 points, or 3.2%, with only nine of the index's components showing modest gains.

The Nasdaq lost 91 points, or 3.4%. Some of the better performing tech stocks, Apple, Google and Netflix were all down between 2% and 3%.

All three indexes have now erased their gains for the year and are in 'correction' territory - defined as a 10% from their cyclical highs. Over the past 10 days alone, the indexes have dropped more than 8%.

The market's fear gauge -- the VIX -- surged 16% to a reading of 27. That's still just shy of 30 -- the level that signals a high degree of fear. With the VIX up 53% from the start of the year, it's clear that fear has been on the rise.

It should come as no surprise that investors flocked to assets perceived as low-risk, including U.S. bonds and gold.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.48% from 2.6% late Wednesday, and gold futures for December delivery rose $2.40 to $1,668.70 an ounce. Earlier in the session, gold hit a record high of $1,684.70 an ounce.

Thursday's losses came as European stocks also plunged. Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 3.4%, Germany's DAX lost 3.9% and France's CAC 40 fell about 3.4%.

Economy: Fears about a global economic slowdown are at the forefront of investors minds amid recent weak economic data.

Early Thursday, the latest reading on jobless claims showed a large number of Americans remain unemployed. But economic woes weren't contained just to the United States.

Taking dramatic steps to shore up their financial markets, Japan's government stepped in to weaken the yen, and the European Central Bank decided to re-enter the European bond market.

"It's true that we are in a period of a high level of uncertainty, not only in euro area but at the global level," ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a press conference Thursday.

Thursday morning, the Labor Department's weekly initial jobless claims report showed that first-time unemployment claims totaled 400,000 last week. Economists had expected weekly unemployment claims to rise to 405,000 from last week's revised 398,000 claims.

While the number was mildly better than expected, it still indicated weakness in the labor market.

Investors are on edge ahead of Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report, which is expected to show that the U.S. economy created 75,000 jobs in July, according to a consensus of 19 economists surveyed by CNNMoney.

In June, the economy added a paltry 18,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2%.

Companies: Auto giant General Motors' second-quarter earnings nearly doubled to $2.5 billion, as revenue rose 19% and topped expectations. Shares of GM slid 2.6%.

Insurance company AIG and newly public LinkedIn are scheduled to report financial results after the closing bell Thursday.

In addition to quarterly financial reports, retailers were also announcing July sales results.

Costco Wholesale Corp. said its same-store sales climbed 10% last month, while Limited said sales rose 6%.

World markets: The European Central Bank met to discuss the region's monetary policy, and the debt problems facing Italy and Spain. The ECB left interest rates unchanged at 1.5% and initiated a 6-month refinancing operation to add liquidity to European markets.

Meanwhile, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged European Union officials to reassess the recent bailout funds, as "markets remain to be convinced that we are taking the appropriate steps to resolve the crisis."

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5%.

The Bank of Japan took steps to stem the yen's rise, by easing its monetary policy and selling a trillion yen or $12.6 billion. Japan's move came a day after Switzerland intervened to curb the Swiss franc's rise.

Currencies and commodities: Following Japan's pledge to lower the value of the yen, the dollar surged almost 2.6% against the Japanese currency.

The dollar also rose versus the euro and British pound.

.