IN BRIEF

Investment banks’ era of pull perhaps over

The reorganization of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs marks a historic end to a period of investment banks driving Wall Street and leaves open what — if anything — will assume the role of taking big risks that have powered the market’s booms and busts.

The move to convert to a commercial bank structure will help the two companies avoid the fates of Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch by giving them broader access to borrow federal money and the ability to build a stable base of deposits.

But it also likely means an end to the sky-high profits that were topped by few other companies. The strict rules set by the Federal Reserve will limit opportunities for big payoffs from bets on the price of oil and other investments usually funded with borrowed money.

“The Fed is a much more intrusive regulator,” said Brad Hintz, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein and a former chief financial officer at Lehman Bros.

The telephone book lists two Las Vegas locations for Morgan Stanley in Las Vegas, two in Henderson and one in Pahrump. A press contact at Morgan Stanley headquarters declined to comment.

NEW YORK

Unease over bailout sends oil prices surging

Oil prices briefly spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday, shattering the record for the biggest one-day gain as unease about the government’s $700 billion bailout plan pummeled the dollar and spurred investors to buy safe-haven assets. An expiring crude contract added fuel to the frenzied rally.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery jumped as much as $25.45 to $130 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before falling back to settle at $120.92, up $16.37. The contract expired at the end of the day, adding to the volatility as traders rushed to cover positions.

The rally shattered crude’s previous one-day price jump of $10.75, set June 6.

The November crude contract, which became the front-month contract at the end of Monday’s session, settled at $109.37, up $6.62.

NEW YORK

Google will give away cell phone software

Google Inc.’s announcement last year that it would give away software that could run cell phones was met by dizzy accolades from analysts who thought it would let the search engine company conquer the world of mobile advertising.

Today, a fruit of that announcement is set to drop: T-Mobile USA will reveal the first phone to use Android, Google’s software platform, at a New York news conference.

Research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that T-Mobile could sell 400,000 phones this year, giving Google about 4 percent of the U.S. market for “smart” phones, a category dominated by Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry phones.

The new phone, called the G1, according to T-Mobile’s invitation, is widely expected to be a design from HTC Corp. of Taiwan.

Florida official seeks to stop tribal casino bets

Florida’s attorney general asked a federal official to stop “illegal” slot machine and blackjack gambling at Seminole Indian casinos in the state after the governor’s attempt to sanction it was blocked.

Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote Philip Hogen, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission in Washington, requesting that he halt the Seminole Tribe of Florida from operating Las Vegas-style slot machines and blackjack.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the tribe struck an agreement in November allowing the games, so-called Class 3 gambling that’s prohibited to private companies, in return for annual payments to the state.

The state Supreme Court invalidated the pact in July, saying the governor exceeded his authority.

SAN FRANCISCO

Microsoft to buy back $40 billion in stock

Microsoft Corp. announced a share buyback Monday morning worth $40 billion — the largest on record for a repurchase deal — after a week of turmoil on Wall Street.

The software giant was one of a trio of major U.S. companies to announce large-scale buybacks Monday, with Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nike Inc. joining the fray.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft unveiled a program to buy back up to $40 billion in stock. The new program replaced a previous one, now completed, and will run through September of 2013.

It is also the largest single announced share-buyback in history, according to Dealogic. The company announced a $30 billion buyback plan back in July of 2004, to which it later added $10 billion.

BOSTON

Litigation mounts over money-market funds

Litigation is mounting after Reserve Management Co., a firm that pioneered the money-market mutual fund nearly four decades ago, became the first ever to expose retail clients to losses by “breaking the buck.”

It was among a handful of funds that earned that dubious distinction last week — a first since 1994.

Though money funds are generally viewed to be nearly as safe as cash, plaintiffs can’t expect to recover losses just because fund managers allowed assets to fall below $1 for each dollar put in.

To win in court or recoup losses through any action by regulators, investors likely will have to show misconduct on the part of a fund’s managers, such as favoring certain clients over others, or making riskier investments than were allowed under the fund’s criteria, legal observers say.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates increase in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction to the highest levels in two weeks.

The Treasury Department auctioned $27 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.42 percent, up from 1.05 percent last week, and $27 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 1.79 percent, up from 1.55 percent last week.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices follow stocks downward

As oil prices jumped and stocks tumbled on Monday, Treasury prices declined.

On Monday, the 10-year Treasury note fell 0.06 points to 101.25, with a yield of 3.85 percent, up from 3.81 percent late Friday.

The 30-year Treasury bond slipped 0.59 points to 101.31, and yielded 4.42 percent, up from 4.41 percent.