Financial and banking regulators in America, including the Federal Reserve, issued a joint statement that encouraged banks and mortgage lenders to take “appropriate loss mitigation strategies to preserve homeownership”, including restructuring the loans of those who are at risk of losing their homes. The communiqué forms part of a government-wide effort, including a package of measures unveiled by George Bush on August 31st, to help some homeowners with mortgage difficulties. A surge in defaults among holders of subprime mortgages has fed the recent problems in the credit markets. See article

The OECD gave its first reaction to the turmoil in financial markets. The club for industrialised countries said that the shake-out in America's housing market had caused it to lower its forecast for America's economic growth rate in 2007. It also thought “there may be a case for some easing” of the federal fund rate by the Fed.

Mattel issued a third safety recall. This time some 850,000 Chinese-made toys, including Barbie playsets, were deemed to have “impermissible levels of lead”. As Congress scheduled a hearing for mid-September on product safety, China stepped up its campaign to reassure consumers that goods made in the country are safe.

Not all plane sailing

Boeing pushed back the date of the first test flight for its 787 Dreamliner to either November or December. Despite the shortened length of the aircraft's test programme, Boeing said the first deliveries of the Dreamliner remain on schedule for next May.

After 18 months of negotiations Gaz de France and Suez at last agreed to merge, creating the world's third-biggest utility. The energy companies struck a deal after some prodding by Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, for Suez to spin off its environmental-services arm. The French government retains a blocking stake in the entity, raising questions about how it will use its influence and whether the merger is against the spirit of the European Commission's energy-liberalisation policy. See article

Algeria's state-owned power company rescinded a deal to develop a $7 billion gas project with two Spanish energy firms. Sonatrach blamed the Spanish for delays and cost overruns, described as an “industrial fiasco”; the Spanish firms called it an illegitimate appropriation by the state. All parties are seeking arbitration.

MetroPCS, a mobile-phone operator, proposed buying Leap, a rival, for around $5.5 billion. Both companies direct their business at the cheaper end of America's mobile-phone market.

Coming through

Most of America's carmakers had a bad month in August. The surprising exception was General Motors, which sold around 6% more cars and trucks compared with the same month last year. Ford's sales fell by more than 14%, allowing Toyota to shift into second place behind GM in terms of total sales for the month.

Nissan appointed Alain Dassas, the head of Renault's Formula One team, as its chief financial officer. The position was vacant for four years, but Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of both Nissan and Renault (which holds a 44% stake in Nissan), wants someone to concentrate on increasing Nissan's shareholder value.

It was a busy week for Mr Ghosn, who also signed an agreement in Tangiers to open a factory in the city. Carmakers are increasingly keen to make low-cost no-gadget models for export to emerging markets. PSA Peugeot Citroën unveiled a turnaround strategy this week that emphasised the importance of China, Russia and South America to its future growth.

Apple cut the price of its iPhone from $599 to $399 to boost sales. Its share price fell on the news.

Microsoft lost a vote at the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) to have its Office Open XML file format accepted as the industry-wide standard.

Valentino Garavani announced his retirement from the Valentino fashion group he founded. Mr Garavani, who counted Jackie Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor among his clients, recently celebrated 45 years in the business. The fashion house, which is owned by a private-equity firm, named Alessandra Facchinetti, a former Gucci designer, as its new creative director.

It costs more bread

Wheat prices continued to rise amid fears that Australia's imminent harvest will be smaller than forecast because of drought. Wheat from Australia was meant to help replenish worldwide stocks, which are depleted in part because of flooding that damaged the harvest in Europe. See article