Spanish bank, Banco Santander SA is fast moving ahead with its plans for acquiring US thrift Sovereign Bancorp Inc, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

Sources close to the negotiations have revealed that Banco Santander is in “advanced talks” to acquire ownership stakes in the Philadelphia-based Sovereign Bancorp. Banco is expected to pay around $2.53 billion for the acquisition, based on the Friday’s closing price of Sovereign stocks at $3.81 per share at the New York Stock Exchange. The Wall Street Journal also reported that insiders believe the deal will be in place by Monday even though officials of neither company have chosen to comment on the speculation.

Banco Santander already owns 25% stake in Sovereign Bancorp but is seeking a full-fledged takeover of the thrift in order to protect its investment. The acquisition will land Banco Santander with a large presence in America especially in the Northeast. Sovereign Bancorp is the parent company of Sovereign Bank which has a well-established network of branches. According to an estimate, the bank employs around 12000 people and has a network of 750 branches. Sovereign has been seeking a buyer ever since it incurred massive mortgage-related losses in the US housing slump.

Venture capitalists across the Silicon Valley are advising portfolio companies to cut costs and tighten belts in the aftermath of the US financial meltdown which has wiped out several Wall Street giants as independent entities and ushered in a credit crisis not witnessed since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Over the last couple of weeks, the impact of the US market crisis has been reverberating in the Silicon Valley too as lending freezes and funding comes down to a minimum. Reputed venture firms like Sequoia Capital have asked their portfolio companies to restrict spending while prominent angel investor Ron Conway advised his companies to reduce their cash burn rates and gear up to deal with the effects of a finance crisis.

Another respected firm, Foundation Capital had apparently sounded the alarm as early as September 29 when one of its partners, Adam Grosser sent e-mails to the CEOs of the 70-odd companies funded by the firm warning of difficult times ahead. The e-mails advised the start-up companies to cut down on unnecessary costs, raise money and restrict the use of debt. However Grosser pointed out a few positive aspects of the meltdown too which brings with it more acquisition opportunities as well as contraction of the competitive landscape.

US federal regulators have ordered mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy around $40 billion of tainted mortgage bonds every month in an attempt to thaw the credit freeze and revive the economy.

An article in Bloomberg News on Saturday reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have told their bond traders that each company is required to buy at least $20 billion every month in mostly subprime, Alt-A as well as non-performing prime mortgage securities. Federal regulators had earlier placed restrictions on the growth of the two firms’ mortgage portfolios. However the recent market meltdown in US has necessitated an urgent infusion of credit into the financial system and this is the reason, the two mortgage firms are being asked to accelerate their mortgage bond purchases.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the US government in September as their impending collapse threatened to take down the entire housing finance market in the country. The firms are two of the biggest housing finance firms in the US and together they own or guarantee more than half of all the housing loans in the county. The federal take over was the first step in the series of bail-outs initiated by the government to halt the spread of mortgage-fuelled credit crisis.

Stock markets in Moscow have plunged to the lowest trading since 1998 when Russia was wracked by economic and political turmoil. Values have fallen by two-thirds since the all-time highs of May when the markets were driven by shooting oil prices.

Even though, Russia largely remains protected from the toxic debt issues and the credit crunch crippling the Western financial markets, the chaos in its stock markets can be gauged from the now-on and now-off trading sessions at both the stock markets of Moscow, the Micex where the larger part of trading takes place as well as the RTS which is seen as the economic benchmark. In the past ten days alone, values have fallen almost by half at the stock markets.

Many finance experts in Moscow see the sell-off as a reflection of the panic of Western portfolio managers who are keen to get rid of apparent risky emerging-market stocks in the face of cooling relations between Russia and Western nations. However some industry experts see this as a buying opportunity where they can use the low prices to buy back shares. Oil and gas company Lukoil for instance says that it will go ahead with a $3 billion scheme to buy back around 1.4 billion shares over the next three years.

Leaders of European countries agreed on Sunday to work together towards a bank rescue plan which will guarantee inter-banking lending and inject liquidity into credit markets in an attempt to stem the impact of a global financial crisis.

Representatives of fifteen European nations that use the Euro currency came together at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France to present a front of unity and action before financial markets open this week. The summit was followed by announcement of a Europe-wide finance plan which would guide and co-ordinate rescue packages cross the continent in an attempt to ease lending activities which have been virtually frozen by the effects of the global financial meltdown.

The details of the European bank rescue plan however were not revealed immediately but was indicated that they would be unveiled by individual national governments in the days to come. More would be forthcoming only after a meeting of the 27 member states of the European Union at Brussels on Wednesday. Even then, among the major lines of action agreed upon by the fifteen Euro nations are an active role for each government which will guarantee bank debt through the end of 2009, provide urgent recapitalization to prevent banks from collapse as well as buy preferred shares in financial institutions.

Aesthetics can make the world of difference between what is good and classy and what is a wannabe. Aesthetics can make your look your home look good and add flavor to your home. In good aesthetics comes Indoor Water Fountains. Not only do they look great, they also in terms of meta physics create the right energy if placed in the right direction. A good Feng Shui expert would be able to tell you which direction suits you and it may just open floodgates of prosperity of love, abundance and romance in your life.

Back to talking about homes aesthetics and wall fountains. Soothingwalls is a great site for making your purchase of water fountains. They have an awesome range. Consider the case of just wall fountains. Just in this category they have Wall Fountains, Logo Wall Fountains,Slate Wall Fountains, Marble Wall Fountains, Mirror Wall Fountains, Pebble Wall Fountains, Built-In Wall Fountains, Easy Installation Fountains. Now isn’t that some variety?

The range of water fountains too is simply great on this site. One of the best things is the price factor. What does your pocket allow? $299 or lets say you fancy that $1999 one. This site has it all. Overall a great site for your water fountain needs.

Life can be easy or not so easy depending on the way you look at life. Life looked as glass half full can lead to problems and as a chain continues it can lead to alcohol and drug abuse. Life is abundant and the glass is always filling. Whether it’s a case of alcohol rehabilitation in San Francisco life is waiting to you to restart at Narconon Vista Bay. They say it is the most effective and affordable residential treatment facility.

Today one of the biggest causes of concern in our generation is drug and alcohol abuse. Life is the fast lane needs energy and we do have that energy. Its only sometimes we think its not there and resort to this artificial means. In the long run they harm.

Call it grace or blessings but facilities like this one drug treatment in San Francisco make life happen, get energy and life back to the life of addicts. Overall an absolutely wonderful video you all should watch.

So if you want to see a great video on San Francisco affordable alcohol treatment programs then this is the one.

One of the biggest drawbacks of a credit card is the speed with which one accumulates debt and the exorbitant amounts of money a credit card holder is forced to pay up in interest every year. According to an estimate an average consumer spends around $140 for every $1000 of credit card debt every year. This means that someone who has a credit card debt of $3000 is shelling out at least $400 on interest alone each year. an easy way to reduce this debt is to go for balance transfer which is the act of transferring debt from one credit card to another that has a lower interest. SmartBalanceTransfers.com is an online portal which offers information on a variety of 0% Balance Transfer deals in the credit card market.

SmartBalanceTransfers.com offers an easy comparison table for 0% APR Balance Transfer which enable consumers to make an informed choice when deciding to transfer credit card balance into a new one. Some of the top picks of 0% balance transfer schemes are Discover More SM Card, Citi Platinum Select MasterCard and Chase Platinum Visa Card.

However lately credit card companies have withdrawn the one year, no fee balance transfer deals and thus in such a scenario where credit card laws are changing the best balance transfer bet is the low fee 0% deals which last for a whole year. SmartBalanceTransfers.com has a variety of resources to help a consumer look into the pros and cons as well as the details of every kind of 0%APR Balance Transfers before taking a decision.