Wachovia Securities

The number of U.S. housing starts slid in August, but building permits and mortgage applications increased, according to reports showing a strong housing market despite a trend of rising interest rates. "All of the data that we're seeing in the housing market is incredibly encouraging. It suggests to me that the bump up in rates is not a threat to the housing market," said Mark Vitner of Wachovia Securities. Housing starts slipped 3.

As many as nine employees from Morgan Stanley's trading unit are leaving the company en masse to go to a competitor, Associated Press confirmed Friday. According to two sources close to the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, three managing directors and as many as six others have left the company's equity derivatives desk, which handles trading in options and futures contracts and works closely with hedge funds and big institutional investors.

Shares of Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. fell 8% on Wednesday as two analysts downgraded the stock a day after the retailer presented a disappointing profit projection for the current quarter. The stock dropped $1.88 to $21.93 and is down 12% this year. Analyst Lyn Rhoads Walther of Wachovia Securities downgraded shares of the Anaheim-based parent of the PacSun and d.e.m.o. chains to "market perform" from "outperform."

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the investment firm headed by billionaire Warren Buffett, has offered to buy Shaw Industries Inc., the world's largest carpet maker, for about $2 billion, or $19 a share, in cash. The news sent Shaw's shares up $6.44, or 53%, to $18.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. Berkshire's Class A shares dropped $1,250 to $58,000 and its Class B shares fell $35 to $1,910, also on the NYSE.

The huge discounts automakers offered on new cars last month did more than clear out dealers' inventory -- they helped boost activity in the nation's service sector at a faster-than-expected pace. The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its index of business activity in the non-manufacturing sector rose to 62.2 in June from 58.5 in May, well above the 58.9 that analysts had expected. It was the 27th consecutive month of expansion.

Label maker Avery Dennison Corp. on Tuesday reported a 15% gain in fiscal third-quarter net income and said it hoped to save $70 million in the next two years in a restructuring that could cut 500 jobs worldwide. Pasadena-based Avery also disclosed that it was under investigation in Australia regarding its label stock business and that it could face fines or other penalties after it reported potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act regarding its business in China.

Boeing Co. shares stumbled Monday after a Wall Street analyst said that aircraft orders might have peaked and that the company could face delays in producing the new 787 passenger jet. Last year, Boeing booked 1,044 orders for its airplanes, topping its previous record of 1,002 in 2005 and enabling the company to beat European archrival Airbus for the first time since 2000.

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. posted a narrower quarterly loss Monday after higher sales of recreational vehicles helped mitigate a slumping prefab housing business. But the loss was still worse than some analysts' estimates, and the Riverside-based company said it does not expect to post a profit in the current quarter. Fleetwood shares fell more than 11% to their lowest level in more than five years. "They just missed by a mile," said Robert Marshall, an analyst at Wachovia Securities.

U.S. manufacturing expanded further in July, fueling more hiring, but outlays for U.S. construction fell unexpectedly in June to hint at a slowing of the housing boom, reports released Monday showed. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, which rose to 62.0 in July from 61.1 in June, suggested that a "soft patch" in the U.S. economy in June might have been the blip that Federal Reserve officials have suspected and not a change in direction.

Record crude oil prices, a tidal wave of quarterly earnings reports and anxiety ahead of the presidential election may pin stocks down this week. A steady stream of economic data -- including the government's first read on third-quarter gross domestic product and reports on durable goods and Midwest manufacturing activity -- will also provide investors with grist for trading. This is the last full week of trading before the Nov. 2 presidential election.