Asian stocks mixed, Europe up as market focus turns to outlook for interest rates + MORE Jul 20th

WASHINGTON – U.S. businesses’ outlook on sales in the coming months has darkened after sales growth slowed in the second quarter, according to a survey released Monday.
More companies also expect to cut back on their investment in equipment and buildings in the July-September quarter, the survey found. However, hiring and wage and salary increases are likely to continue at about the same pace in the third quarter as they did in the previous three months. The overall survey results, compiled by the National Association for Business Economics, portray an economy muddling along at a steady, if tepid, pace.
Fifty-nine per cent of businesses expect their sales to grow in the next three months, down from the 71 per cent who forecast sales growth three months ago from the 68 per cent who projected growth in January.
The relatively pessimistic outlook may reflect that sales growth was not nearly as widespread in the second quarter as many companies hoped. Just 46 per cent of firms said their sales rose in the April-June quarter, down from 49 per cent in the first quarter and 54 per cent in the final three months of last year…

The law has crushed small banks, restricted access to credit, and planted the seeds of financial instability.

(Getty Images/Catherine Lane)
Buying a house or investment property? We often hear how important it is to get pre-approved for your mortgage amount: It helps us understand our maximum house-price, the down-payment required and the monthly payments we’ll need to make once we purchase the property. But the difference between the pre-approval and the approval process is so vastly different that many buyers are often left feeling stressed and anxious during the week or two that financing is being finalized.
To help you avoid this aggravation and anxiety, I’ve put together a little mortgage approval cheat sheet. This should help you understand what documents and paperwork you will need to actually get a mortgage—and reduce the stress during this period of the home buying process.
Mortgage pre-approval process
This isn’t actually a process—it’s more of a marketing tool. By setting up mortgage calculators, online instantaneous pre-approval applications, and advertising low mortgage rates banks and lenders are really trying to capture your mortgage business…

BEIJING, China – Asian stocks were mixed and Europe rose Monday as investors put Greece’s debt crisis behind them to focus on the outlook for interest rates, corporate earnings and China’s economy.
KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, France’s CAC-40 rose 0.5 per cent to 5,151.91 and Germany’s DAX added 0.4 per cent to 11,720.11. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent to 6,798.53. Wall Street looked set for gains. Dow futures were up 0.2 per cent to 18,025.00 and S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 per cent to 2,121.10.
GREEK DEBT: Greece’s debt deal cleared a hurdle Friday when German lawmakers approved a third bailout plan. The European Union said it would get Athens enough money for it to keep making its debt payments. Greek Banks were scheduled to re-open Monday, though it was unclear whether capital controls would remain in place.
CHINA WOBBLES: Plunging stock markets appear to have stabilized at least temporarily following government intervention. On Friday, the Shanghai index gained 1…

Under oath in a hotel — away from the TV cameras and the soapbox where he did his public moralizing — Bill Cosby sketched a very different image of America’s Dad: a philanderer who plied young women with quaaludes, claimed to be adept at reading their unspoken desires and used his wealth to keep “Mrs. Cosby” in the dark.
The portrait comes from Cosby’s own words in a transcript of a 2005-06 deposition taken in Philadelphia that represents the only publicly available testimony he has given in response to accusations he drugged and sexually assaulted women. Cosby has denied the allegations, calling the sexual contact consensual.
There’s no clear-cut evidence in the documents that he committed a sex crime, but his testimony adds to the unsavoury details that have all but wrecked his nice-guy reputation as TV’s Dr. Cliff Huxtable and made a mockery of his preaching about decency and personal responsibility.
The transcripts, obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday, are from a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee who accused the actor and comedian of drugging and molesting her…