IN BRIEF

Community Bank loans to be auctioned off

First Financial Network Inc. of Oklahoma City will be auctioning 23 loans for a total of $77 million made by failed Community Bank of Nevada. It also will sell one loan for $4 million from Community Bank of Arizona.

The loans are part of a group of loans being auctioned for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Bidders must be financial institutions and must submit sealed bids by Nov. 3.

Regulators seized $1.5 billion asset Community Bank of Nevada and the smaller affiliated bank in Arizona in August.

NEW YORK

Official calls on banks to accept new rules

A top White House official called on financial institutions to accept new rules in order to help the economic system avoid future "devastating consequences for workers, consumers and taxpayers."

"Financial institutions that have benefited from government support can, should and must use this moment to think about what they can do for their country -- by accepting the necessary regulation to protect the American people," White House chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers said Friday at a conference sponsored by The Economist magazine.

Summers said it was "a bit rich" for institutions that received billions in taxpayer money to complain that the proposed U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Agency would inhibit financial innovation.

CHICAGO

Wal-Mart starts new price war over books

Taking a page from its original playbook, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com Inc. and a nation of book retailers, lowering online prices on certain highly anticipated hardback titles to $9.

The volley of discounts, which began Thursday when the retailer listed prices for some upcoming hardcover releases such as Dean Koontz' "Breathless" and Stephen King's "Under the Dome" at $10, was answered with a similar price cut by Amazon, the largest online bookseller. Then the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9.

The book discounts, the latest in a series of aggressive online maneuvers by the world's largest retailer, could position the company to do to the online marketplace what Walmart stores did to local merchants decades ago.

The price war also is foreboding news to the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., which have been squeezed by Amazon.com's discounting.

WASHINGTON

Fierce competition for holiday jobs expected

Competition for holiday retail jobs could be fierce this year, according to several recent surveys, as stores cautiously hire in the face of flatlining sales and budget-conscious customers.

Stores typically begin bringing on temporary workers in October to handle the crush of Christmas shoppers, but several recent surveys predict hiring will be slow this year -- when it occurs at all.

According to consulting firm Hay Group, about 40 percent of retailers plan to reduce the number of people hired by a quarter. Meanwhile, the growing unemployment rate has prompted more people to fill out applications.

"Retailers are planning for a challenging Christmas season," said Craig Rowley, vice president of Hay's retail practice.