Who wants to buy some toxic assets?

It may not sound like the most tempting offer -- but don't be shocked if you hear this same pitch from your financial adviser sometime soon.

New York-based fund giant BlackRock is launching a closed-end mutual fund aimed at allowing ordinary investors to put their money into the kind of toxic mortgage-backed securities that nearly brought down the financial system a few months ago. Shares are expected to go on sale in about a month.

The BlackRock Legacy Securities Public-Private Trust will be sold through brokers and advisers. It will try to buy mortgage-backed securities at distressed prices from banks looking to shore up their battered balance sheets. The fund will invest alongside the U.S. Treasury as part of the Public-Private Investment Partnership, or PPIP, launched earlier this year. BlackRock is among a small group of firms picked to take part in PPIP.

Should you invest?

It's hard to make a compelling case at the moment. But the fund is worth watching. For one, it goes against the herd. Some of the best investments come from assets that everyone else is too scared or uncertain to buy. Financial salvage can be very profitable for the brave.

Some of the banks holding these securities may be eager to sell because they need the money. Other banks already have written down the value of these securities on their books to very little. If they can sell

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as natural gas and crude oil prices slid from a year ago and the global recession hurt demand for fuel.

Exxon shares fell 1.6 percent in early trading.

Exxon, which raked in record profits last year, has seen earnings wither as crude oil prices have fallen by more than half from a year ago. Refiners have also seen margins under pressure as weakness in industrial demand for fuels like diesel has caused a buildup in stockpiles.

"It looks disappointing," said Phil Weiss, an analyst at Argus Research. "They missed on margins and production."

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said second-quarter net income was $3.95 billion, or 81 cents per share, down from $11.68 billion, or $2.22 per share, a year earlier.

Earnings excluding one-time items were $4.09 billion, or 84 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected $1.02 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 46 percent to $74.46 billion.

"Global economic conditions continue to impact the energy industry both in the volatility of commodity prices and reduced demand for products," Rex Tillerson, Exxon's chief executive, said in a statement.

Warren Buffett's bet on a Chinese electric car company is generating sparks.

Bloomberg notes that Berkshire Hathaway's stake of almost 10 percent in BYD has soared in value by about $1 billion since it was first announced last fall.

The purchase was completed today at the September price after the China Securities Regulatory Commission gave its approval for the deal.

When Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings agreed last fall to make its $230 million investment in BYD, the Chinese company was trading just over HK$8 in the Hong Kong market.

Now BYD's stock is over HK$42, an increase of about 400 percent. That means Berkshire's original $230 million investment is now worth about $1.2 billion on paper.

Buffett's willingness to back the company has helped boost the stock price, of course. BYD soared 42 percent in the day after it was announced, but at that point it was still below its high of HK$20 from the previous year.

BYD's all-electric e6 automobile made its Detroit debut last January at that city's auto show, and then got major attention in April when a Fortune magazine cover story highlighted Buffett's investment in the "car of the future."

That story also notes that Buffett doesn't get all the credit for this particular billion-dollar profit. The

NEW YORK (AP) -- The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff's assets sued the disgraced money manager's wife on Wednesday, asking for nearly $45 million that he says was spent on a "life of splendor."

Trustee Irving H. Picard spelled out his claims in a lawsuit against Ruth Madoff in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Ruth Madoff several weeks ago moved out of a $7 million Manhattan penthouse where she and her husband had lived during their 49-year marriage.

Ruth Madoff's lawyer, Peter Chavkin, said in a statement that Picard's action was "wrong as a matter of law and fairness."

He said the lawsuit was "particularly perplexing and totally unjustified" because his client has already forfeited to the federal prosecutor's office nearly all of the assets described in the lawsuit.

"At the same time, after a thorough and comprehensive investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office determined that Ruth Madoff was entitled to keep property of $2.5 million because that property could not be linked to the fraud," Chavkin said.

Picard said Ruth Madoff for decades lived "a life or splendor" using money that belonged to customers of her husband's investment firm.

He said she had no good-faith basis to believe she was entitled to the money, whether she knew of the

HOUSTON (AP) -- ConocoPhillips became the second oil major in as many days to report plunging profits for the second quarter, saying Wednesday its earnings fell a whopping 76 percent because of the year-over-year fall in oil and gas prices and lousy refining results.

The dismal outcome for the third-largest U.S. oil company followed BP PLC's report Tuesday of earnings 53 percent below the April-June period a year ago, when crude prices were at triple-digit levels.

Profit declines of 50 percent or more are expected to be the norm for producers, but they still could cause a double-take for an industry that only a year ago was notching the fattest profits on record.

ConocoPhillips took a beating in both of its major businesses -- finding and producing oil and natural gas and refining and selling gasoline and other types of fuel.

The company said it still expects full-year production to be up slightly from a year ago, and it stuck by its $12.5 billion capital spending budget announced in January. That's down from Conoco's $19.9 billion outlay in 2008, but the company continues to spend money on drilling and refining projects.

ConocoPhillips' results are likely to be down farther than larger competitors such as Exxon Mobil Corp., in part from Conoco's extensive refining operations, which have been pounded by weak demand.

In recent years, the company also has had to adjust to acquisitions including its $35.6 billion purchase of Burlington Resources in 2006. As recently as the final quarter of 2008, the company was stung by $34

NEW YORK (AP) -- American Express Co. said Wednesday it repurchased outstanding warrants issued to the government as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program for $340 million.

New York-based American Express issued the warrants, which could have been converted to common stock, to the Treasury Department as part of the loan package it received last fall from the government.

American Express was one of hundreds of financial firms that received funds as part of TARP's capital purchase program amid the mushrooming credit crisis that led to the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and a bailout of insurer American International Group Inc.

As part of that program, American Express received $3.39 billion in funding from the government to help bolster its balance sheet as credit markets essentially shut down. In return, American Express issued the Treasury Department warrants to purchase common stock at a set price over the next 10 years and preferred shares that carried a 5 percent annual dividend rate.

In June, American Express repaid the $3.39 billion loan, eliminating the outstanding preferred shares. Since being issued the loan package, American Express paid $74.4 million in dividends to the government.

Between the dividend payment and repurchase of the warrants, the government earned an annualized 26 percent return on its investment.

The repurchase price for the warrants "reflects, in part, the appreciation of American Express' share price

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has finally roped Yahoo Inc. into an Internet search partnership, capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and setting the stage for them to make a joint assault against the dominance of Google Inc.

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the Internet's second-largest search engine audience, beefing up the software maker's arsenal as it tries to better confront Google, which is by far the leader in online search and advertising.

Microsoft didn't have to give Yahoo an upfront payment to make it happen, as many Yahoo investors had been counting on ever since Microsoft dangled $1 billion last summer in an attempt to forge a search partnership then.

Google tried to stop Yahoo from falling into Microsoft's camp. Last year it formed its own proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo, only to be forced to retreat from that alliance after U.S. antitrust officials threatened to sue.

Now the extended reach Microsoft is gaining will let it introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker believes Bing is just as good, if not better, than Google's search engine. Taking over search responsibilities on Yahoo's popular site gives Microsoft a better chance to convert Web surfers who had been using Google by force of habit.

"Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be," said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. "This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. is intensifying its focus on the fast-growing market for prepaid cell phone service with a $483 million deal to buy Virgin Mobile USA Inc.

The acquisition announced Tuesday calls for Sprint to pay $5.50 in stock for each Virgin Mobile share. Sprint already owned 13.1 percent of Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint's network to offer service.

The offer is a 31 percent premium to Virgin Mobile's closing share price Monday of $4.21. In early trading Tuesday, the shares rose $1.05, or 25 percent, to $5.26.

Virgin Mobile resells access to Sprint's wireless network for people who lack the credit or income to sign monthly plans. It has 5.2 million subscribers who pay an average of $20 per month. Sprint has 49.1 million subscribers, including those using the network through wholesalers like Virgin Mobile.

The deal reinforces this year's main trend in wireless: The top two carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., are grabbing the high-value contract customers, while Nos. 3 and 4, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, are left to compete for prepaying customers with smaller upstarts like MetroPCS Communications Inc. and Leap Wireless International Inc.

Sprint roiled the industry by introducing a $50-per-month prepaid unlimited plan in January under its Boost brand. That made for an awkward relationship with its customer Virgin Mobile, which had a $80-a-month

On Friday, the federal minimum wage rises for the third year in a row, sparking the perennial argument among economists: Will it help workers at the bottom of the ladder, or will it kill their jobs?

The U.S. minimum wage goes to $7.25 an hour, from $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Most states have their own minimum wage, and employers are required to pay whichever is higher. That means minimum wage workers will get a raise in 29 states. In the remaining 21 states and Washington, D.C., they'll see no change.

In some states, the increase will be more modest. In New York, the state minimum wage is $7.15 an hour, so workers there will be paid an extra dime an hour, which means another $4 for a 40-hour week. But in states like Georgia, Virginia and Texas, workers are paid the current federal minimum of $6.55, so they'll get the largest raise of 70 cents, which translates into a $28 bump for a full-time week, or more than $1,400 a year.

Injecting money into the economy?

Kai Filion, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, estimated that more than 2.8 million workers will have their wages lifted to $7.25 an hour on Friday. More than 1.6 million workers will also be indirectly affected, according to Filion, meaning their above-minimum wages will increase as the rising tide lifts all boats.

That adds up to nearly 4.5 million workers who would get a raise. The impact varies widely from state to state, depending on state minimum wages and population. In New York, with its $7.10-an-hour state

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) -- The best thing Volkswagen AG can do when it carries through its proposed merger with Porsche is this: Leave Porsche alone and reap the revenue from a glossy brand with loyal, rich customers, analysts say.

Having emerged Thursday atop a power struggle among members of the Piech and Porsche families -- who control Porsche Autombil Holding SE -- and cost Wendelin Wiedeking his job as chief executive, Volkswagen is left to gather the spoils, namely the marquee Porsche name that will soon be counted with Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, already among its stable of luxury brands.

"I don't think Volkswagen will change it much, Porsche is such a brand," Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners told The Associated Press. "There's huge value in just the brand, it'd be best to leave it alone."

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who ran luxury brand Audi under VW ownership, said that is just what Europe's biggest automaker by sales plans to do.

"Like Audi today, Porsche can also continue its independent development under the aegis of Volkswagen and preserve its own identity," he said after announcing plans to put the luxury sports car maker under VW's umbrella through a merger.

Porsche also saw its board agree to seek a capital increase of at least euro5 billion ($7.1 billion) and throw its weight behind talks with a Qatar investment fund.

"We welcome the involvement of the Qatar fund, and assume that they will take 17 percent of Volkswagen shares from the options of Porsche SE, which will make them the third biggest shareholder in

NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T Inc.'s earnings fell 15 percent in the second quarter as it subsidized a record-setting launch of the newest iPhone. The weak economy also continued to sap its landline business.

The profit beat Wall Street estimates, however, and investors sent AT&T's shares up.

Cutting-edge products like the iPhone and AT&T's new cable TV service continue to do well, said Rick Lindner, AT&T's chief financial officer. But with businesses laying off workers and shutting down offices, AT&T's business services division has suffered.

"The sectors where we've seen the most impact, as you would expect, are finance, transportation and manufacturing," Lindner said.

AT&T has tried to keep pace by cutting its own costs, and reduced its employment by 6,000 workers in the quarter. That followed 8,000 cuts in the first quarter. It now has 289,000 employees.

The country's largest telecommunications provider said Thursday it earned $3.20 billion, or 54 cents per share, in the April to June period. That was down from $3.77 billion, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 51 cents per share.

Dallas-based AT&T's revenue fell 0.6 percent to $30.7 billion, matching analyst expectations.

In midday trading, AT&T shares rose 94 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $25.78. While the stock held up well in

NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's Corp. said Thursday the stronger dollar and a gain that boosted results a year ago led its second-quarter profit to dip 8 percent.

The company also said its new espresso-based McCafe drinks had added to sales and help boost market share in the U.S. The drinks are being rolled out to all 14,000 of the company's U.S. locations -- a move the company began heavily promoting in ads nationwide during the quarter.

The earnings dip was expected because the company had predicted a hit to profit from exchange rates earlier this year.

Most U.S. companies that sell goods internationally convert those sales from foreign currencies into dollars when they report their financial results. If the dollar is stronger than those currencies, the translation results in fewer dollars in revenue.

Excluding that and the gain a year ago, operating income rose and sales at established locations continued to grow despite as consumers continued to turn to fast food to save cash.

Still, shares fell $2.11, or 3.6 percent, to $56.71 in morning trading.

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast-food chain said net income fell to $1.09 billion, or 98 cents per share, from $1.19 billion, or $1.04 per share in last year's quarter.

Excluding a 10-cent-per-share gain a year ago from the sale of McDonald's minority interest in Pret A

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) on Wednesday said quarterly profit increased 47 percent as strong mortgage banking results and the acquisition of Wachovia Corp offset rising credit losses.

The San Francisco-based bank has been adding market share since buying Wachovia on December 31 and as rivals, including Countrywide Financial Corp, reduce risk or vanish.

Many analysts, though, have expressed worry that Wells Fargo will need to raise more capital to cover potential losses from real estate loans, including the option adjustable-rate mortgages it inherited when it bought Wachovia.

Despite getting $25 billion of federal bailout money, Wells Fargo was found under a federal "stress test" to have a $13.7 billion capital shortfall.

Second-quarter net income applicable to common shareholders rose to $2.58 billion, or 57 cents per share, from $1.75 billion, or 53 cents, a year earlier.

Before payment of dividends, net income rose 81 percent, the bank said. Revenue nearly doubled to $22.51 billion, with 39 percent of the total coming from Wachovia.

Results reflected per-share charges of 8 cents tied to helping replenish a federal deposit insurance fund, and 3 cents tied to merger and restructuring costs.

Chief Credit Officer Mike Loughlin said the bank expects credit losses and nonperforming assets to

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Exelon said Tuesday it has ended its $7.4 billion, all-stock bid for power generator NRG Energy.

Chicago-based Exelon Corp. withdrew its offer shortly after NRG shareholders rejected a proposal that would have expanded NRG's board, preferably with new and existing seats going to people that would support the takeover. Princeton, N.J.-based NRG has rejected two offers for the company from Exelon, calling them undervalued.

The deal would have created the nation's largest power generator, a company big enough to provide electricity to about 45 million homes.

NRG said a preliminary vote count at its annual meeting showed shareholders voting to re-elect the company's nominees to the board over a slate of nominees from Exelon. At the same time, they also rejected Exelon's bid to expand the board and fill the five spots with its nominees.

NRG did not release a vote count. It said final results will be released in August.

"NRG stockholders understood that this vote was all about value and they voted overwhelmingly to send a message that Exelon's current offer was unfair to NRG stockholders," David Crane, president and CEO, said in a statement.

Crane said the company will continue to evaluate offers from Exelon and any other company.

Exelon said in a statement that after bidding twice for NRG, it was unwilling to sweeten its offer again.

Long-time personal finance columnist Scott Burns writes that by working for four summers starting at age 16, putting the money in a Roth IRA, investing it wisely and waiting until age 67, it's simple to become a millionaire. That's the 51-year plan. But what if you're not that patient - or that young? Lucky for you, there are many ways to hit the million-dollar mark, but the faster you try to get there, the harder it becomes.

$1 Million the Hard Way

Let's say you want to become a millionaire in five years. If you're starting from scratch, online millionaire calculators (which return a variety of results given the same inputs) estimate that you'll need to save anywhere from $13,000 to $15,500 a month and invest it wisely enough to earn an average of 10% a year. That means taking calculated risks, diversifying and avoiding investment fees like loads and broker commissions.

Obviously, in order to regularly save this much money each month, you'll need to have a fantastic income. At the low end, to meet the $13,000 a month savings goal, you'd probably need to make around $265,000 annually. The specific number will vary considerably depending on your income tax situation, but the point is, it's high.

According to the salary calculator at PaycheckCity.com, if you make $265,000 a year, are single, claim two exemptions on your federal tax return and live in one of the nine states with no state income tax, you'd take home around $185,000 a year, or about $15,400 a month. Saving $13,000 would leave you