NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Partners Bank of Naples, Florida was closed on Friday, the 100th bank failure of 2009, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    The failed bank was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.

    As of Sept. 30, 2009, Partners Bank had total assets of 65.5 million U.S. dollars and total deposits of approximately 64.9 million dollars.

    Stonegate Bank of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will assume all of the deposits and essentially all the assets of the bank. Partners is the seventh bank to fail in Florida this year.

U.S. existing home sales show big rebound

   WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. existing-home sales bounced back strongly in September with first-time buyers driving much of the activity, marking five gains in the past six months, the U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a press release on Friday.

   According to NAR statistics, existing-home sales -- including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops -- jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.10 million in August, and were 9.2 percent higher than the 5.10-million-unit pace in September 2008. Full story

U.S. may lose AAA-rating, Moody's warns

    NEW YORK, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States my lose its AAA-rating if it can not control its deficit hike, rating agency Moody's Investors Service warned on Thursday.

    Steven Hess, Moody's lead analyst for the United States, said in a TV interview that the AAA rating of the United States is "not guaranteed." He said if the U.S. deficit does not drop to a sustainable level in the next three to four years, the U.S. rating will be "in jeopardy." Full story

U.S. unveils new rules to slash executive compensation

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled a set of rules to slash excessive executive compensation in a move to comfort the furor over executive pay at companies bailed out with taxpayer money. Full story

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis