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NEWS AT A GLANCE

Freddie Mac gets foreign vote of confidence

European and Asian investors snatched up a $3 billion offering of Freddie Mac bonds at near-record yields, in a sign that foreign central banks have faith in the beleaguered U.S. mortgage giant. Foreign investors, including central banks, snapped up 61 percent of the 2-year notes, up from 55 percent in May. (Bloomberg) Freddie is reportedly considering selling $10 billion in new shares to raise capital. That could make the new government rescue plan unnecessary. Freddie's shares rose this week, though they are still down 76 percent on the year. Freddie's board is looking at "the full array of options before us," said Freddie CEO Richard Syron, adding, "We're not at the stage of talking about the exact when." (The Wall Street Journal)

Merrill posts steep loss

No. 3 U.S. securities firm Merrill Lynch reported a much-worse-than-expected $4.65 billion quarterly net loss, after writing down $9.7 billion in credit-related assets. Moody's downgraded Merrill's credit rating and Merrill's stock sank in extended trading. (Bloomberg) Merrill confirmed that, to cushion the loss, it is selling about $8 billion in assets, including its Financial Data Services unit, worth $3.5 billion, and its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg LP for $4.43 billion. (MarketWatch) "They are raiding the crown jewels to raise capital," said analyst Doug Roberts at Channel Capital Research. (The Washington Post) Citigroup, the No. 1 U.S. bank, posted a less-than-expected $2.5 billion loss, on $7.2 billion in writedowns. (AP in Yahoo! Finance)

Google, Microsoft disappoint

Tech giants Google and Microsoft reported slightly-lower-than-forecast quarterly profits, sending their shares down in extended trading. Google earned $1.25 billion, a 35 percent gain, and Microsoft's profit rose 42 percent, to $4.3 billion. Microsoft trimmed its forecast for the new fiscal year, however, and Google reported high research and legal expenses and a slowdown in ad click growth. (Bloomberg) "In this market, any sign of any weakness or bad news at all is seized upon, and no prisoners are taken," said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay. (Los Angeles Times) IBM, meanwhile, beat expectations with a 22 percent rise in profit, to $2.77 billion, and raised its full-year profit outlook by 25 cents a share. (AP in Yahoo! Finance)

Greenwashed

Companies of every stripe, from banks to dishwasher makers, have been touting their environmental bona fides, but ad firms say "greenwashing" -- making misleading claims about a product's ecological benefits -- is dragging down all such ads. Some of the weaker or more dubious green claims -- a Japanese SUV "conceived and developed in the homeland of the Kyoto accords," for example -- are making consumers skeptical off all environmental advertising, or angry. Ad agencies recommend making specific, verifiable claims, and they have created new green ad teams to help. "Green is ubiquitous, and you have to do something pretty different to distinguish yourself," said Seattle ad executive Arlene Fairfield. (The New York Times)

BEST COLUMNS OF THE DAY

The market's mixed messages

Does the unfolding financial crisis reflect "the reality of economic fundamentals," says Steven Pearlstein in The Washington Post, or "irrational herd behavior?" Are commodities spiking because of rising demand or speculative investing? And IndyMac, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac -- are they "really insolvent or just victims of old-fashioned, rumor-driven bank runs"? The answer: it's a bit of both. In commodities, speculation and large investments by funds are clearly "a significant factor" in the record prices; in financials, "investors have become overly pessimistic." Market fundamentals will prevail, eventually. In the meantime, "the only thing more dangerous than assuming the best is for everyone to assume the worst."

Know when to spend it

"Nine times out of 10 cutting costs makes sense," says Marshall Loeb in MarketWatch, but there are times when cutting back "can do more harm than good." Don't ignore car maintenance, for example -- "it will only come back to bite you." That means pay attention to leaks, odd sounds, and regular tune-ups. Also, pony up for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for each area of your home. Faster broadband Internet connections will usually save you enough time to be worth the extra money. And buy a comfortable mattress. If you shop around, you can spend less than $1,000. If you're tempted by a cheaper model, "remember you're going to be sleeping on it every night."

GOOD DAY FOR: Le Big Mac, as Frenchman Denis Hennequin, in three years as head of McDonald's European operations, has turned Europe into the fast-food chain's biggest region by revenue. Despite having about a quarter the number of locations as in the U.S., McDonald's Europe earned $8.9 billion last year, versus $7.9 billion in the U.S. Europe is expected to outperform again when McDonald's reports earnings July 23. (BusinessWeek.com)

BAD DAY FOR: Crossing Barbie, after Mattel won a huge federal patent-infringement lawsuit against MGA Entertainment over MGA's blockbuster Bratz dolls. The jury agreed with Mattel that the Bratz line was developed while its creator, Carter Bryant, was under exclusive contract as a Barbie designer at Mattel. Mattel is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and an injunction against Bratz sales. (Reuters)

NOTED: Advanced Micro Devices, the No. 2 computer chip maker, promoted chief operating officer Dirk Meyers to CEO, pushing CEO Hector Ruiz out and up to executive chairman. Ruiz was CEO for six years, and was AMD's second chief executive. AMD posted a worse-than-expected $1.2 billion loss yesterday, its seventh straight quarter in the red. (Los Angeles Times)

This column was written by Peter Weber and edited by Harold Maass of TheWeekDaily.com.