Fed signals half-point cut; BofA in talks to buy Countrywide

CBS

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[Music] investors will see if they can keep a rally alive today with assurances that the Federal Reserve will act aggressively to prevent a recession and some big merger talks stocks added to Wednesday's gains the Dow finished up 117 points the NASDAQ gained nearly 14 fed chairman Ben banki acknowledged the economic outlook for 2008 has worsened and strong hinted the FED will slash rates at its January 30th meeting many on Wall Street are now betting on a half point cut American Express is seeing signs of a weaker US economy card holders are having a harder time paying their bills the credit card company says it will take a pre-tax charge of about $440 million in the fourth quarter because of lower spending and more delinquencies from card holders and Countrywide Financial could soon be getting a bailout Bank of America is reportedly in Talks by the troubled mortgage lender which has been hammered by mortgage defaults and faced the possibility of bankruptcy and keep an eye on shares of Delta which soared more than 24% on renewed speculation of a merger with either Northwest or United Airlines and that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more at the New York Stock Exchange I'm Alexis christofis

Dow tumbles 246; Merrill Lynch may take $15B mortgage hit

CBS News

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[Music] fears that we may already be in a recession put an end to wall Street's rally investors started selling after more bad news out of the mortgage market and concerns that consumers are already feeling the pinch the Dow tumbled 246 points the NASDAQ closed off 48 investors are bracing for earnings news from the financial sector next week there are already reports that broker giant Merl Lynch may take a $15 billion hit because of bad mortgage Investments that's double its original estimate a warning from American Express that consumers are having trouble making their credit card payments also raised a red flag the news follows a similar warning from rival Capital One combined those two companies say delinquencies have left them with over a billion dollars in unpaid credit card bills Bank of America has agreed to pay over $4 billion do in stock for the nation's biggest mortgage lender Countrywide Financial the deal may be good news for struggling homeowners experts predict Bank of America will be able to restructure loans to help borrowers and with stocks tanking gold prices are soaring topping $900 an ounce for the first time ever and that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more at the New York Stock Exchange I'm Alexis christopherus