Here are the top five most read stories on the Bloomberg in the last day with selected excerpts (and my comments, if any, in italics).

As of 20-Sep-2007 at 9:54:29 (Beijing time):

1. Morgan Stanley Profit Drops After Losses on LBO Loans

“While equity-trading revenue rose 16 percent to $1.8 billion, it included a $480 million loss ‘resulting from unfavorable positioning’ in Morgan Stanley’s Quantitative Strategies group.”

The Peter Muller story in the WSJ … will Tiny Pete one day be in the unfavorable position of having to sing for his supper?

2. Subprime Borrowers to Lose Homes at Record Pace as Rates Rise

“Twenty-seven percent [of subprime borrowers] have already missed a payment … ‘A lot of the folks who are in trouble are in trouble even before their mortgage rate resets. They can’t refinance because they shouldn’t have gotten their mortgages in the first place.’”

3. Absolute Capital Halts Redemptions After Homm Quits

“Absolute Capital told investors they shouldn’t expect to withdraw money for a year while it restructures the funds. Seven of the pools hold over-the-counter U.S. stocks that can’t be sold at the prices the firm has on its books, affecting as much as $530 million of assets.”

4. U.S. Stocks Extend Biggest Rally in Four Years; AT&T Gains
5. Bernanke Cuts on Slump `Potential,’ Adopting Greenspan Approach

“‘FOMC now stands for Friend of Market Committee,’ said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York … Gold futures climbed to a 27-year high of $735.50 an ounce.”

Friend of market, or enemy of inflation-adjusted returns? (EOIaR — a new Dines-ism)