BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - When Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets, the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize, if it ever came to be.

(Reuters) - The bond markets are treating Morgan Stanley like a junk-rated company, and the investment bank's higher borrowing costs could already be putting it at a disadvantage even before an expected ratings downgrade this month.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Things are shaping up for another hot summer on Wall Street, and there is a long, long way to go yet.

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc executives told shareholders they would not stand for unethical behavior at the world's largest retailer, whose shares have soared to 12-year highs as strong results more than offset concerns about bribery allegations.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell more than 2 percent on Friday, dragging the Dow into negative territory for the year after a dismal U.S. jobs report added to fears that Europe's spiraling debt crisis was dragging down the world economy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief regulator of U.S. national banks did not pay enough attention to how lenders process home foreclosures and underestimated the risks it posed until problems broke into the open in late 2010, the Treasury Department's inspector general said in a report released on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job growth braked sharply for a third straight month in May and the unemployment rate rose for the first time in nearly a year, raising chances of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve to support the sputtering recovery.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rating agency Moody's Investors Service said it had lowered its ratings ceiling on Greek domestic debt issuers due to the rising risk of the country exiting the euro zone, but added it did not consider that the most likely scenario for the country.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is considering steps to allow overseas firms to float shares in the country and foreign institutions to invest yuan they hold in domestic markets, state media on Saturday quoted a government document as saying.

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has returned about $600 million that was at the bank when MF Global Holdings Ltd went bust in October, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday citing people familiar with the matter.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's securities regulator plans to ask the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to cooperate in a widening probe of insider trading in Japanese shares, two sources with knowledge of the situation said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON, June 1 - Consumer spending rose modestly in April while incomes grew more slowly and inflation pressures eased, according to Commerce Department data published on Friday.