Wall Street Roundup: Employment numbers. Bank investigations everywhere

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Good employment news. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits declined again, though only slightly, the Labor Department reported.

Bank investigations everywhere. A few weeks after reporting that Goldman Sachs was under criminal investigation, and a day after reporting that Morgan Stanley was, the Wall Street Journal reports that federal prosecutors are considering bringing criminal charges against a number of other large banks for misleading investors about mortgage-backed securities before the credit crisis. Yet another investigation. Eight of the largest banks are also being investigated by the New York attorney general about whether they tricked the ratings agencies grading mortgage-backed securities, according to the New York Times.

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York