The Statesman Journal reports the complaints filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland accuse Countrywide of making false statements that inflated the prices of Countrywide's stock and bonds.

The state bought and sold shares of Countrywide stock and bonds from 2004 to March 2008. State officials said Countrywide claimed to deal in prime quality mortgage loans different from riskier loans by competitors when it was actually writing a higher volume of riskier loans.

Oregon opted out of a class-action settlement with Countrywide, which could have netted the state less than $500,000.

Goldman's move shows how banking has become so international that companies can sidestep the SEC's rules with ease. It also shows that the commission's rules regarding stock sales are crippling for U.S. investors.

Facebook will raise just as much capital, $1.5 billion, as was planned originally. The terms of the deal are also the same: Investors will still put up a minimum of $2 million and commit to hold the shares until 2013.

The deal won't hurt Goldman either—it will earn at least as much in fees and commissions as before. The reality is that investment banks like Goldman have been moving brokerage and banking business offshore for decades. They are well positioned in Asian and European capitals to continue to do so.

Schwab reported its net income fell to $119 million, or 10 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $164 million, or 14 cents per share, a year ago.

Without the settlement charges disclosed last week, the San Francisco–based company said its profit rose 33 percent, to $218 million.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $1.13 billion from $986 million a year ago.

Total client assets rose 11 percent to $1.57 trillion. Schwab ended the year with nearly 8 million clients, up 4 percent from a year ago.

However, Schwab's pre–tax profit margin slipped to 20.3 percent from 27 percent in the year–ago quarter.

Excluding the charges, Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said the company's pre–tax profit margin rose 9 percentage points compared with this year's first quarter. He attributed the improvement to revenue growth and cost controls.

The company reported a 12 percent increase in asset management and administration fees to $497 million in the latest quarter, compared with the same quarter a year ago. The gain was partly due to higher interest revenue.

Shares of MGIC Investment Corp. tumbled more than 20 percent Wednesday after the private-mortgage insurer posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and said it can't predict when it will become profitable again.

The Milwaukee-based company reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss than it did a year earlier: $186.7 million, or 93 cents per share, compared with $280.1 million, or $2.25 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Still, the latest quarter's loss was wider than the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet, who expected a loss of 57 cents, on average.

Shares of MGIC dropped $2.39 to close at $9.26. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $5.78 to $13.80.

For the full year, MGIC reported a loss of $363.7 million, or $2.06 per share, compared with a loss of $1.32 billion, or $10.65 per share, in 2009.

The earnings news release included a warning that the company doesn't see a return to profitability anytime soon: "We have reported net losses for the last four years, expect to continue to report annual net losses, and cannot assure you when we will return to profitability," the company said.

Shares of regional banks advanced Friday after improving credit trends lifted quarterly results across the industry.

The positive news stemmed in part from improving credit trends, as SunTrust Banks Inc., Fifth Third Bancorp, Huntington Bancshares Inc. all reported easing loan losses.

In afternoon trading, SunTrust shares were up $1.61, or nearly 6 percent, at $29.48. Fifth Third stock gained 27 cents, or nearly 2 percent, at $14.49. Huntington shares rose 18 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $7.03.

On Friday, SunTrust easily beat Wall Street expectations with its second-consecutive quarterly profit. The Atlanta-based bank reported stronger interest and noninterest income, along with a steep drop in the money it set aside for loan losses.

Huntington Bancshares also said earlier this week that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as souring loans continued to decline. The bank based in Columbus, Ohio, said its results included a one-time charge of 7 cents a share for the deemed dividend resulting from Huntington's previously announced repayment of federal government aid during the financial crisis.