Fed unveils plan to fund some business loans

European stocks were mixed on hopes that central banks around the globe would coordinate on rate cuts. In Britain, the FTSE 100 index ended 0.4 percent higher, France’s CAC-40 index in Paris gained 0.6 percent higher, but Germany’s DAX slipped 1.1 percent.

Iceland is facing the prospect of bankruptcy, according to the Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, after its banks went on a buying spree across Europe, accumulating massive debts in the process.

The Fed said it is creating a new entity to buy three-month unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper directly from eligible companies. It hopes to have the program up and running soon, Fed officials said.

Fed officials said they’ll buy as much of the debt as necessary to get the market functioning again. They refused to say how much that might be, but they noted that around $1.3 trillion worth of commercial paper would qualify.

“The commercial paper market has been under considerable strain in recent weeks as money market mutual funds and other investors” have become increasingly reluctant to buy commercial paper, especially longer-dated maturities. As the market for commercial paper shrank, the Fed said rates on the longer-term debt “increased significantly,” making it more expensive for companies to borrow.

The Treasury Department, which worked with the Fed on the program, said the action is “necessary to prevent substantial disruptions to the financial markets and the economy.”

The Treasury will provide money to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to support the new program, the Fed said. Fed officials would not say how much but believed it would be substantial. The money would not come from the $700 billion financial bailout President Bush signed into law on Friday.

If a company’s commercial paper is not backed by assets or other forms of security acceptable to the Fed, the company could pay an upfront fee, the central bank said. The amount of such a fee has not yet been determined.

The Fed said it hoped its effort would jolt the commercial paper market back to life.

“This facility should encourage investors to once again engage in term lending in the commercial paper market,” the Fed said. That should eventually spur financial companies to lend to each other and to their customers, including consumers, the Fed said.

The Fed said it planned to stop buying commercial paper on April 30, 2009, unless the Federal Reserve board agrees to extend the program. The Fed created a separate entity to pool and hold the commercial paper it buys. The Fed said this should allow the central bank to more easily manage the program and better control risk.

There was $1.61 trillion in outstanding commercial paper, seasonally adjusted, on the market as of last Wednesday, according to the most recent data from the Fed. That was down from $1.70 trillion in the previous week. Since the summer of 2007, the market has shrunk from more than $2.2 trillion.

Getty Images Home sales surge, boosting recovery hopes The recovery may have gotten off to a slow start in the third quarter, but a surge in sales of existing homes in November could presage a more robust end to the year. Advocates want more for black unemployed Economists: We don't need more stimulus NYT: Taxpayers at risk with mortgage giants Senate panel approves Bernanke nomination

As the number of failed banks has gone up sharply this year, Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., wants to boost fees to financial institutions to replenish the insurance fund that backs the nation’s deposits. The increase would double the average paid by U.S. banks and thrifts next year.

The lending lockup is a key reason why the U.S. economy is faltering. Unable to borrow money freely or forced to pay a high cost to borrow, employers are cutting jobs and reducing capital investments. Consumers have retrenched.

With just four weeks to go before the presidential election, the economy is issue No. 1 for voters.

Republican candidate John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama will meet for their second debate Tuesday night at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

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