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Dotcom stocks: Germany scraps Neuer Markt
A symbol of the dotcom era was consigned to history Thursday as the German stock exchange announced the demise of its once high-flying technology market, the Neuer Markt. During the technology boom companies scrambled to become part of the Neuer Markt. The London Stock Exchange devised its own equivalent, TechMark, as a response to the success of the German initiative, itself inspired by America's Nasdaq. At its peak in March 2000 Neuer Markt companies had a combined market value of US$227 billion, but that collapsed to less than US$12.6 billion as the market was hit by the global slump in hi-tech stocks and a string of corporate scandals. Officials at the Frankfurt-based Deutsche Borse insisted that the changes were being driven by a desire to boost the transparency and attractiveness of the overall market.

Investment banks: SEC may penalize IPO scams
The US Securities and Exchange Commission may impose sanctions on company executives who are given preferred access to initial public stock offerings (IPOs) by investment banks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the regulator. The SEC has been investigating the practice known as "spinning," in which investment banks give allocations of sought-after IPO stock to favored clients in return for business from their companies, the newspaper said. More scrutiny of executives' share-dealing is on the way after a congressional committee was told that Bernard Ebbers, formerly the chief executive officer of WorldCom Inc, made a profit of US$11 million from dealing in IPO stock he bought through Citigroup Inc's Salomon Smith Barney unit, the Journal said.

Economics: US showing signs of strength
The US economy showed signs of strength for the first time in two weeks as claims for unemployment benefits fell the most in two months, orders for durable goods declined less than expected and new home sales increased. Stocks rose and Treasury securities dropped after the government reported the number of jobless claims decreased 24,000 last week, the biggest drop since mid-July, and durable goods orders fell 0.6 percent. Economists had expected August orders to decrease 3 percent, based on the median of 59 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. New home sales unexpect-edly rose to a record rate of 996,000 last month. "We think the recovery is going to progress here," said Michael Reynnells, an economist at International Strategy & Investment Group in New York.

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