Andrew Ackerman

WASHINGTON — Retail sales rose 0.4% in July, buoyed by rising auto-related and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON - Retail sales rose 0.4% in July, buoyed by rising auto-related and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department reported this morning.

WASHINGTON — Dealers are urging regulators not to impose fees on them to help fund the Governmental Accounting Standards Board until after a congressional watchdog agency completes a study of the standards setter.

A direct feed of the reset information for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations that dealers submit to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will cost $10,000 annually if the Securities and Exchange Commission signs off on a proposal submitted by the board Tuesday.

A federal judge in Birmingham last week denied motions filed by two former JPMorgan bankers to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission suit that alleges they committed securities fraud in connection with municipal bond and swap transactions with Jefferson County, Ala.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Wednesday filed ­changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a ­controversial proposal that would dictate the priority of retail and other customer orders in primary offerings, as well as dealers’ related record-keeping responsibilities.

WASHINGTON — At the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is moving forward with rule changes for priority of orders in primary offerings. The changes are more in line with the original proposal the MSRB floated late last year rather than a pared-down version it agreed to in April.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims rose 37,000 to 464,000 the week ending July 17, the Labor Department reported Thursday, higher than economists predicted.

WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims rose 37,000 to 464,000 for the week ending July 17, the Labor Department reported this morning, a figure that was slightly higher than economists had predicted.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to propose new rules designed to revamp the sales and distribution fees some mutual funds charge and to provide better disclosures of them to investors.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering holding five field hearings between September and January as part of a nationwide inquiry on the municipal market that is expected to lead to recommendations for statutory and regulatory changes to better protect investors.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency needs to hire 800 people to implement provisions in the financial regulatory reform legislation that President Obama is expected to sign into law today.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is soliciting public comments through Aug. 9 on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to change its EMMA site to reflect new materiality standards for continuing disclosures as well as changes to a list of event-based disclosures that borrowers may voluntarily submit to the system.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 60 to 39 Thursday to approve sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system that will significantly alter the landscape of municipal securities regulation.

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted 60 to 39 this afternoon to approve sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system designed to address the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 60 to 38 this morning on a procedural vote to limit debate on financial regulatory reform legislation and is set to approve the bill this afternoon.

WASHINGTON — Municipal bond analysts worry that issuers increasingly are drawing on bond insurance to temporarily pay for debt service without disclosing the action to investors.

WASHINGTON — Retail sales dropped a greater-than-expected 0.5% in June to post their first consecutive monthly decline since early last year, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Retail sales excluding autos dipped just 0.1%.

WASHINGTON - Retail sales dropped a greater-than-expected 0.5% in June, marking the first two consecutive months of decline in the indicator since early last year, the Commerce Department reported this morning.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday secured the 60 votes they will need to ensure passage of the most sweeping changes to financial regulations since the Great Depression, after Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson said he would vote for a version of the bill hammered out by a House-Senate conference late last month.