Household HSBC Watch

Aug. 15 — Asian stocks trading in the U.S. fell to their lowest in nine months on concern mounting losses from the credit markets will reduce earnings. HSBC Holdings Plc declined $1.17 to $87.18. The company, which controls two of Hong Kong’s largest lenders, took over Household International Inc., a U.S. subprime lender, almost five years ago. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erased its gain for the year after Merrill Lynch & Co. said Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, might file for bankruptcy should a credit crunch in the mortgage industry worsen.