Reuters reports that an 'unusual' surge in Goldman Sachs' share price in the 10 minutes before the closing bell Tuesday has aroused suspicions that something dodgy was going on. Just two hours later came the news that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was to make a large investment in the firm.

The news agency quotes Dave Rovelli, managing director, US equity trading at Canaccord Adams, who said: 'Obviously, someone knew the Buffett news that was coming out.........(and) someone is going to get caught, because that is easy to track'.

Bloomberg reports that the sale of Lehman Brothers' Investment Management Division is said to have been held up over spats about how the unit will be run, and how fund managers will be rewarded. Lehman remains hopeful, however, that the deal for the unit sale to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman will close in a few days.

CNBC reports that the tentative merger talks between Morgan Stanley and Wachovia have now officially ended, in the wake of Morgan Stanley's decision to change its status to become a bank holding company, and the announcement that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is to take a sizable stake in the firm.

In the meantime, Bloomberg, reports that Morgan Stanley is to seek US regulatory approval to retain its oil tankers, metals dealing and raw-materials businesses, after becoming a bank holding company earlier this month.

Reuters reports that Bank of New York Mellon confirmed Wednesday that it is to take a $425m charge in the third-quarter to bail out at least 10 funds affected by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (4 money market funds, five commingled funds and an institutional fund).

Bloomberg reports that Swiss Re, the world's second-largest insurer, says that it has lost an estimated $256m on structured credit default swaps since the end of the second quarter.

Finally, The Financial Times reports that hedge funds have collectively 'parked' some $100bn in money market funds, vehicles which are normally seen as among the safest places to invest cash.

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