| US Stocks Gain for 2nd Day; Bear Stearns Lifts Bank Shares
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market climbed a second day on fading home-loan concerns after Bear Stearns Cos.' earnings report and the acquisition of a mortgage company by General Electric Co. and Blackstone Group LP. Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Alcoa Inc. led gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Dow Chemical Co. posted its biggest advance since July 2003 on expectations it will merge some assets with India's Reliance Industries Inc. Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, joined Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in assuaging concern that defaults among the riskiest borrowers will drag down profits at financial companies. The bank's outlook helped lift 14 of 16 homebuilders in S&P indexes and alleviate concerns raised by accelerating inflation and a prediction by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that mortgage defaults will hurt the economy.
US mortgage woes could hit regional banks
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Rising defaults on subprime home loans spelled trouble for New Century, but rising defaults on another kind of mortgage considered less risky could mean trouble for many regional banks' shares in coming weeks, analysts and portfolio managers said on Monday. Shares of M&T Bank Corp. (MTB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) dropped more than 8 percent on Monday, after the bank said it was writing down mortgages in its portfolio of loans to people unable to document regular income, known as "Alt-A mortgages." Such mortgages are considered less risky than subprime ones, which were the mainstay of New Century Financial Corp. (NEWC.PK: Quote, Profile, Research), New Century filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the latest casualty amid a surge of homeowner defaults.
UPDATE: Info on protestors released
Madison - A Capitol hearing room could have passed for a preschool or group play date today when dozens of parents turned up to testify in favor of a bill protecting the right of mothers to breast feed in public or private places.
Current laws banning lewd behavior in public do not apply to breast feeding. But the bill would clarify the right of mothers to breast feed in public and private places where they are authorized to be, and would prevent anyone from interfering with that right. Those who do could be subject to a fine of $200.
Gurgling babies and chatting toddlers - one in a "Got Breastmilk?" sweatshirt - added a different atmosphere to what is a normally staid process of taking testimony on a bill. Parents, both moms and dads, turned out in strong support for the bill, with more than 80 people registering in favor of the bill and nearly another 20 asking to speak for it, according to records of the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform.
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