Sector Glance: Investment Banks

NEW YORK - Shares of investment banks fell Friday morning despite an increase in the broader markets. The broader market rose as a new Commerce Department report showed new home sales in June fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 530,000 units--better than the expected 505,000 units. Durable goods orders also topped expectations, rising 0.8 percent last month, double economists' projections of 0.4 percent. But investment banks slipped for the second straight day. The sector had mostly risen early in the week as a handful of national and regional banks posted declining profit or losses, but were not as bad as analysts had predicted. At midday, shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell $1.16, or 6.3 percent, to $17.36. The stock dipped amid a CNBC report that the company is mulling a sale of its asset management group,... [read full story]