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The outlook for U.S. stock markets improved dramatically Wednesday morning after the Federal Reserve and European central bankers announced a coordinated emergency rate cut.

The Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark discount rate by 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent. The European Central bank reduced its benchmark to 3.75 percent and the Bank of England cut its benchmark to 4.5 percent. Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland also reduced rates. In a joint statement, the central bankers said they were taking the acting because “the recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth.”

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped to a 24.10 point gain to 1,029.90 at 7:02 a.m., two minutes after the Fed’s announcement. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 512 points to 9,690 (payday loan).00 and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 27.25 points to 1,364.25.

Prior to the Fed’s announcement, the S&P 500 futures contract had tumbled as much as 43 points on the heels of steep declines overseas. The Nikkei 225 declined more than 9 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as investors fretted about a global recession and the S&P 500 Index below the 1000 level for the first time in five years Tuesday.

European stock markets rebounded swiftly; nearly erasing loses of as much as 5 percent. The FTSE 100 Index was down 20 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4585.11 on the London Stock Exchange at 7:06 a.m.

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A N.Y. judge has put a temporary hold on Wells Fargo & Co.’s proposed $15.1 billion buyout of Wachovia Corp., Citigroup announced Saturday night.

Judge Charles Ramos of the N. Y. Supreme Court has ordered Wachovia (NYSE:WB) to court on Friday. He will hold a hearing on whether the Wells deal violates Wachovia's earlier agreement to sell its banking operations to Citigroup for $2.16 billion.

Until then, his order issued stops Wachovia and Wells from consummating the deal.

The Wachovia/Citigroup deal was brokered Sept. 29 with the help of federal regulators. Citigroup (NYSE:C) says it includes an exclusivity agreement that prevents Wachovia from negotiating an acquisition by anyone else.

On Oct. 2, Wachovia announced it negotiated a deal with San Francisco-based Wells (NYSE:WFC). That calls for the sale of the entire bank holding company to Wells for $15.1 billion. The Wachovia board approved that deal last Friday.

Wells has insisted there is no bar to its deal with Citigroup, based in New York (fast cash). Now Ramos has called Wachovia into court to defend that position.

The court records were not available Sunday morning. But Citigroup says Wachovia objected to the proceedings and attempted to head off the order.

Citigroup says it is prepared to resume its negotiations to buy most of Wachovia’s assets. Some parts of the bank, such as Wachovia Securities, are not part of that deal, which involves financial guarantees from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The proposed Wells deal would include no such guarantees.

Citigroup says it has been providing funds to Wachovia to preserve its liquidity since the Sept. 29 agreement. It says it was completing the requirements of the deal when Wachovia made its surprise announcement late last week.

Wachovia officials could not be reached for comment.

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Wachovia was in advanced merger discussions with Wells Fargo late Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Wachovia was also in talks with Citigroup (NYSE: C) in New York over the weekend. But by late Sunday, Wells Fargo was emerging as the preferred bidder. Wells has a better track record of successfully integrating a major bank merger and has escaped the current credit crisis relatively unscathed.

In contrast, it was only last fall that Citi was criss-crossing the globe with tin cup in hand, seeking to raise billions to offset its substantial losses amid the credit crisis.

Both Wells (NYSE: WFC) and Citi see an acquisition of troubled Wachovia's extensive branch network in the Eastern United States and deposits as a rare prize.

Details on the Wells-Wachovia negotiations were not available late Sunday.Even though Wells would have the upper hand in acquiring Wachovia, the combined bank's name, its management team and its headquarters location were still open questions late Sunday.

In March, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf told the San Francisco Business Times that he was not averse to conducting a Fed-assisted deal similar to the help the central bank gave J.P. Morgan Chase to acquire faltering Bears Stearns in March. As of Sunday, the government was reportedly quite reluctant to provide similar aid to a buyer of Wachovia.

This month, Wells Fargo Chairman Dick Kovacevich told those attending a Beverly Hills business conference that the bank "often buys fixer-uppers.

"Given the financial conditions today, I feel like a kid in a candy store," Kovacevich said.

Spain's Banco Santander also was reportedly interested in Wachovia, but long-time industry observers were dubious that the U.S guaranteed approval cash advance loans. government would be interested in working with a foreign bank to rescue Wachovia.

A combination of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and Charlotte-based Wachovia (NYSE: WB) has long been the subject of speculation among those following the banking industry. Wells brings to the table its dominance in the West, which would fit nicely with Wachovia's strong presence in the East.

Reports late last week indicated that struggling Wachovia was seeking a suitor. The bank fumbled badly on its ill-timed purchase of Oakland-based Golden West Financial, parent of World Savings. Much of the bank's mortgage woes stem from that $25 billion deal completed in 2006. Many analysts said that deal was a huge mistake even before it closed.

The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve were reportedly involved in Sunday's negotiations, presumably to help spur a deal that would put Wachovia in stronger hands. An acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo would represent a departure from the San Francisco bank's long-running strategy of focusing on internal growth and concentrating on selling more products and services to customers within its current branch territory in the western half of the United States.

But last week's government-orchestrated deal in which J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) acquired failed Washington Mutual created the nation's second coast-to-coast bank, after Bank of America. (NYSE: BAC) Large branch networks allow banks to spread their costs over more customers, while providing those customers with greater convenience and access to ubiquitous branches and ATMs throughout much of the country.

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Just like recess vanished in a number of public schools across the nation, lunch breaks in the workplace might also become a thing of the past, based on findings in a recent survey.

Company executives polled said their average lunch break dwindled to 35 minutes, compared to 42 minutes five years ago, according to a survey published by OfficeTeam, an administrative staffing firm.

On top of that, some managers also admitted they worked through lunch more than half of the workweek.

The survey was conducted via telephone to 150 randomly selected senior executives at the 1,000 largest companies in the nation.

"In today's 24/7 workplace, a lunch break often takes a back seat to e-mails, phone calls, meetings and pressing deadlines," said Dave Willmer, executive director of OfficeTeam. "Many people are doing more work with fewer resources and, therefore, putting in more time at their desks. Some may also be working across time zones and forgoing lunch breaks to accommodate their colleagues' schedules."

As lunch breaks keep shrinking, so are the number of tony restaurants offering the midday meal.

Glen Sanders Mansion served its last lunch Aug. 1.

Angelo Mazzone saw it coming: During its heyday 20 years ago, the Scotia restaurant was serving 100 lunches a day. In the end, a good day was 20.

"I should have done it 10 years ago, but I didn't have the heart," Mazzone says.

He isn't the only proprietor responding to the waning lunch crowd at upscale venues.

Anne Trimble, owner of the posh La Serre in downtown Albany, started offering a "bistro" menu two years ago to boost noontime business.

Lunch patronage had declined 70 percent over the last 20 years, from more than 100 a day to 30 payday loan. Over the years, the 30-person staff La Serre employed in the 1980s has been reduced to 16.

Trimble also adjusted for a crowd that was eating lighter and spending less.

Known for its haute French cuisine, La Serre now offers a lunch menu with burgers and sandwiches. It's a stark contrast to the leg of lamb and roast pork lunch specials Trimble's diners demanded 20 years ago.

"We started offering a menu for people who don't want to have a $25 entree," Trimble said.

Lunches started falling off in 1984, the same year the Internal Revenue Service's Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 kicked in, Trimble said. The legislation reduced from 85 percent to 50 percent the percentage of entertainment expenses that businesses could claim as tax write-offs.

It's the same time that lunch business started declining at Glen Sanders Mansion, which once was a popular spot for General Electric Co. executives.

"Everything changed when the business guys stopped going in and having martinis at lunch," Mazzone said.

At the same time, brown-baggers reached a new high in 2007, increasing to 38 per person per year from 35 in the previous year, according to a June 2008 study from the NPD Group, "How Brown Bagging Is Affecting Food Service Lunch." The number translates to 8.5 billion bagged adult lunches per year.

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Mexico's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, breaking a streak of three consecutive increases, as policy makers said economic growth may slow and inflation will probably remain within forecasts.

The bank's five-member board, led by Governor Guillermo Ortiz, left the key lending rate at 8.25 percent.

While inflation may continue to accelerate, the bank's statement that price increases will probably remain within its forecasts signal policy makers will leave rates unchanged for the rest of the year, said Gabriel Casillas, an economist at Banco UBS Pactual. The bank raised rates three quarters of a point since June in a bid to tame the fastest inflation in five years.

“It's a less hawkish statement,'' said Casillas, who is based in Mexico City. “Saying inflation will be within the forecasts confirms that the hiking cycle is finished.''

The bank said in a statement that the economy was more likely to weaken because the global economic slump has intensified, and that consumption and job creation have been reduced in Mexico.

“The risks of slower economic activity have increased,'' the statement said.

The bank's decision to leave rates on hold matched the forecast of 22 of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. One economist forecast a quarter point increase.

Consumer Prices

Higher food and energy costs helped push consumer prices up 5.57 percent in August from a year earlier. Still, inflation remains within policy makers' third-quarter forecast of 5.25 percent to 5.75 percent.

In July, the bank increased its inflation forecasts through 2010 because of higher-than-expected commodity costs. Since then, the prices of crude oil, wheat, soy and corn have dropped at least 30 percent since their record highs.

Policy makers may also have been hesitant to increase rates because of the turmoil caused by the world's worst credit crisis since the Great Depression, said Alberto Bernal, an economist with Bulltick Securities Corp. in Miami.

“It's better just to stay pat,'' Bernal said in a telephone interview paydayloans. “The uncertainty is just too much.''

Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said earlier this week that economic growth will be reduced by the financial crisis in the U.S. and the fall in global oil prices may have a “serious'' effect on Mexico, which gets 40 percent of its federal budget from crude.

Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product would have expanded 4 percent this year without the problems in the U.S. housing and credit markets, compared with the government's forecast of 2.4 percent growth, Carstens said in an interview on the Televisa network.

Mexico's monetary policy in coming months will depend in part on the U.S.'s ability to resolve its financial crisis, said Rafael de la Fuente, a senior economist at BNP Paribas SA in New York.

“Worse-than-expected headline numbers won't push the central bank to hike if there are problems in the U.S.,'' said de la Fuente, who forecasts an increase in the fourth quarter. The Mexican bank won't raise rates so long as the U.S. credit crisis puts a drag on the Mexican economy, he said.

The central bank forecasts that inflation will peak at 6 percent in the final quarter of this year then subside in 2009. It isn't expected to reach the central bank's goal of 3 percent until at least 2010.

Economists surveyed by Citigroup Inc.'s Banamex unit predict the bank will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the remainder of the year, according to a survey released yesterday.

Economists forecast that Banco de Mexico will reduce the key lending rate next year, the survey said.

Mexico's weakening economy makes the central bank wary of tightening consumption more with a rate increase, said Vitoria Saddi, an economist with RGE Monitor in New York.

“They don't have any interest in forcing the slowdown even further,'' Saddi said.

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A Mainland lender has foreclosed on a Kauai hotel owned by a subsidiary of developer Brian Anderson’s Anekona companies.

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., filed the lawsuit in 1st Circuit Court in Honolulu on Aug. 29 claiming Anderson and Anekona Aloha Ownership LLC owe $13.66 million on a mortgage for the Aloha Beach Resort Kauai.

Anderson’s Anekona Aloha Ownership purchased the 216-room hotel in April 2006 for $9.2 million, according to public records. The hotel, whose 10.36-acre site next to the Wailua River and Lydgate Park is on land leased from the state, came under the Resortquest flag on Feb. 1.

According to the lawsuit, Anderson borrowed $13.66 million on April 27, 2006, from American Property Financing, Inc., which later assigned the note to Wells Fargo. The full amount of the loan was due on May 8.

The Wells Fargo lawsuit is the third foreclosure action filed against Anderson and one of his companies in the last two months.

Last month, iStar Financial of New York filed a foreclosure claiming Anderson and two of his companies were in default for $72.6 million on the residential and retail units they own at the Ilikai hotel-condominium in Waikiki.

In July, iStar foreclosed on the Kauai Beach Resort, claiming Anderson and his KB Resort LLC were in default on nearly $29.5 million.

Honolulu attorney Gary Dubin, who is representing Anderson and his companies in the foreclosure lawsuits, declined to comment because he said Anderson hadn't yet been served with the court papers cash advance loans. Anderson has previously said he was negotiating with his lenders and told PBN last month that he felt “very good that we’re going to work all this out.”

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The News & Observer is offering voluntary buyouts to 320 employees – the latest effort at cost-cutting at the daily newspaper.

Employees were given word of the voluntary buyouts Wednesday morning, the newspaper reports. Every member of the news staff will be offered a buyout.

In all, the newspaper is offering buyouts to roughly 40 percent of its employees.

According to The N&O, Publisher Orage Quarles III expects a small percentage of the people offered buyouts to take them. By way of comparison, of the 200 people who were offered voluntary buyouts in April, 33 wound up taking the packages and leaving the newspaper.

Like most daily newspapers, The N&O is suffering from an advertising slump fueled by an economic downturn and competition from online ads paydayloans. In addition to the April buyouts, the newspaper also cut 70 jobs in June. Then, in August, parent McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) said it would freeze wages for a year.

The N&O also has shut down its Durham office, moving those workers into the offices of its Orange County bureau in downtown Chapel Hill.

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In a night of speeches, capping the biggest political event in Denver’s history, music did a lot of the talking.

Closing night at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field at Mile High had the trappings of a summer rock festival: A lot of swinging and swaying to the music, a fair amount of singing along, and generous applications of sunscreen.

Yes, Barack Obama delivered a 45-minute speech Thursday that frequently roused a packed house that spilled out onto the field.

Yes, former Vice President Al Gore and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — who preceded Obama to the stage — were greeted with thunderous responses.

But many of the best moments of Thursday’s six-hour grand finale to the 2008 DNC came between the speeches and the video clips, when an assortment of musical stars took the stage.

Obama and party leaders booked some fine pop and soul performers, helping lend a celebratory spirit to the proceedings that counter-balanced the litany of national woes contained in many of the speeches.

It helped the mood that Denver was having one of those impossibly perfect August days that turn visitors into residents. On a night when many speakers sang the praises of Colorado, the most effective marketing was provided by the weather.

Not everyone was able to get into the stadium early enough to experience all the event. The lineup at the main security gate on the east side of Invesco snaked back a mile or more onto the Auraria campus.

Hours after the program started at 3 p.m., many seats were still empty.

Those few who did make it inside when the convention was called to order were treated to a short set by Colorado’s own Yonder Mountain String Band, which unleashed a whitewater run of progressive bluegrass, Rocky Mountain style.

“We’ve been a band for 10 years and this is probably the coolest thing we’ve ever done,” a bandmember enthused.

Soon, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was unleashing the fury of her gospel-informed voice on the national anthem, with the assist of a brief volley of fireworks.

Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am and R&B crooner John Legend dueted in a reprise of will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” online video repeating applause lines from Obama speeches.

On the stadium floor, where the delegates were arranged in a fan around the stage, there was an Olympics closing-ceremonies feel to the evening, with dancing and flag waving during many musical interludes.

Then sultry singer Sheryl Crow offered a slight rewrite on one of her hits to play off an Obama slogan: “A Change Will Do Us Good.”

Her wrapup tune, “Every Day Is a Winding Road,” was perhaps inspired by a ride on one of the wayward buses that carried the media from their hotels during DNC week payday loans lenders. In any case, the song had even the sign-language interpreter bobbing and weaving along.

Soul legend Stevie Wonder had the crowd joining in for much of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” (What, no “Higher Ground”?) And snowy-haired former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald offered a take on “America, the Beautiful” that inspired flag waving en masse.

Even tapes of Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen (the latter did not appear, despite earlier rumors) got big reactions from the delegates. And when renewable-energy advocate Gore took the stage, the “let the sunshine in” refrain from “Hair” was playing.

Gov. Bill Ritter quoted a musical icon — Merle Haggard — in his speech: “If God doesn’t live in Colorado, at least that’s where he spends most of his time.”

There was also a tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 45 years after his “I have a dream” speech to remind the crowd of the evening’s place in history, as the conclusion of the first major-party convention to nominate an African-American.