Mid-day Update

PODCAST: Employers add 117,000 new jobs, Bank fee for holding big cash

Daryl Paranada Aug 5, 2011

Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.

The economy added 117,000 jobs in July while the nation’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 9.1 percent. That’s according to the Labor Department, out just minutes ago with its monthly employment report.

Today investors are watching for news coming out of a conference call between French and German leaders, that will discuss what more can be done to bailout weaker European countries.

The Senate approved a bill to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Oil is rising slightly as investors weigh worries about the global economy with positive news about U.S. hiring.

Government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae said Friday that its second-quarter loss widened as it continues to seek loan modifications to help reduce defaults amid the ongoing difficulties in the housing and mortgage markets.

Viacom today said higher cable ad sales and TV show licensing helped profits rise by half-a-billion dollars.

New Hampshire police are looking a “remorseful robber.” The thief stole $90 and a GPS device from a woman’s purse in a grocery store. But the man apparently felt so bad about what he’d done, he later returned the items. The robber went to the woman’s house, gave her the 90 bucks back — with $10 interest — and a new cord for her GPS. He also left a note before he ran off that said he was sorry, had fallen on hard times, and signed it: “Stupid.”

You know things are getting bad when a bank essentially hangs a sign on its door that says, “We don’t want your money.” One bank just announced it’s going to start charging its biggest customers a fee — a little more than a-tenth of a percentage point — to stash their big wads of cash. Now we’re talking deposits of more than $50 million — the Bank of New York Mellon handles lots of very big accounts as banker to many big financial institutions. But still: Isn’t it kind of weird to be charging your best customers because they’re depositing too much money? Note to you big investors: I’ve still got some space under my mattress, and I promise I won’t charge you a penny.

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