(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will launch the first of its mandatory health checks on big banks this week under a beefed-up inspection scheme to prevent another global crisis. The probes will start in Britain, three sources told Reuters, to be followed by IMF tests of banks in Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg ahead of wider tests by the European Union to assess the health of lenders.

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(Reuters) - After the stock market's fourth-quarter bang, investors expected a bigger boom than they got from leading custody banks State Street (STT.N) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N). The rally did lead to more fees for the quarter, but not enough to impress investors. Shares of BNY Mellon were unchanged, while State Street fell more than 3 percent.

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(Reuters) - Groundbreaking on new U.S. home construction fell more than expected in December to its lowest in over a year, suggesting the battered housing sector remains a major roadblock to economic recovery. U.S. housing starts dropped to an annual rate of 529,000 units, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, down from November's 553,000 and well below forecasts around 550,000 in a Reuters poll. At current levels, starts account for less than a quarter of their boom-time peaks.

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(Reuters) - American Express Co (AXP.N) said on Wednesday that severance costs and other charges related to shutting down customer service centers would reduce fourth-quarter earnings. The New York-based card payments company expects to record charges of $113 million, or $74 million after tax, reducing per-share earnings by 6 cents. That would reduce fourth-quarter net income to $1.1 billion, or 88 cents a share.

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(Reuters) - American Airlines parent AMR Corp (AMR.N) posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on a 10.3 percent revenue increase as the company aimed to control fuel and labor costs. AMR is the second major U.S. airline to post fourth-quarter results. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) on Tuesday posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

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(Reuters) - The S&P and Nasdaq dipped on Tuesday after Citigroup's quarterly results missed estimates and Apple's Chief Executive Steve Jobs took another medical leave. Citigroup Inc (C.N) fell 4.5 percent to $4.91 after the No. 3 U.S. bank posted a $1.3 billion quarterly profit but missed estimates as revenue slumped.

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(Reuters) - Clothing retailer J Crew Group Inc (JCG.N) is set to settle a shareholder lawsuit over its proposed takeover by private equity firms TPG Capital TPG.UL and Leonard Green & Partners LP. A $2.86 billion deal to acquire J Crew was announced on November 23, with TPG Group and Leonard Green & Partners LP agreeing to buy the company for $43.50 a share, a premium of about 15 percent.

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(Reuters) - Talk of an erroneous trade of U.S. government securities on its trading system early Tuesday are wrong, Tradeweb said. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. government bond prices dropped suddenly, which led to speculation of an erroneous trade on the TradeWeb electronic platform. "Reports of a multi-billion dollar customer trade error on Tradeweb this morning are completely false. Indeed, Tradeweb has a number of safeguards and warnings incorporated into its electronic markets to prevent 'fat-finger' errors of this type," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

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(Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) has put its Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants up for sale as it focuses on growth in China and other international markets, the company said on Tuesday. "We do not believe Long John Silver's and A&W-All American Food restaurants fit into our long-term growth strategy," David Novak, Yum's chairman and chief executive said in a statement.

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(Reuters) - Is the recovery real? Check the revenue. As analysts and investors brace for earnings reports from more than a dozen major U.S. manufacturers over the next two weeks, they will eye revenue growth as one of the surest signs of health for the industrial sector over the next year.

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