IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the third-largest bank to be taken over by U.S. regulators, will be sold ''as soon as possible,'' Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair said.

Bair, whose agency began running the Pasadena, Calif.-based lender last week, said Tuesday the FDIC will try to sell all its assets to a single buyer. She said the government may offer to share losses to entice buyers to pay a higher price for IndyMac's assets, which include mortgages.

''Our target is three months,'' Bair said in an interview in San Francisco. ''That may be a little ambitious, but we would really like to get this bank back into the private sector as soon as possible.''

IndyMac, which specialized in mortgages that didn't require borrowers to document income, racked up almost $900 million in losses.

T. Boone Pickens

Oilman presses Congress on his wind-power plan

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens asked Congress on Tuesday to ''clear the path'' for his plan to boost use of wind and natural gas for U.S. energy needs.

Pickens has been on a $58 million publicity tour to promote his plan to erect wind turbines in the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed-up natural gas then could be used for transportation.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Pickens said the government should begin building transmission lines for wind-generated power or provide the right of way on private land and extend tax credits so the private sector can build the lines.

''If the government wanted to build a grid, I mean, do it,'' he said. ''But if they don't want to do it, I think the money is there to do it private."

World Trade Organization

Talks: U.S. offers lower limit on farm subsidies: $15B

The U.S. took the first bold step in a week of crunch-time trade talks Tuesday, slicing $1.4 billion from a previous offer to limit contentious, trade-distorting subsidies to American farmers.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told a news conference that Washington was prepared to rewrite elements of its recently passed farm bill to ensure that U.S. subsidies deemed to unfairly enhance the competitiveness of American farmers are limited to $15 billion annually.

While Congress may view the move skeptically, the Bush administration's top negotiator shifted pressure on Brazil, India and other emerging economies to open up their markets for industrial goods - a key demand of rich countries in the World Trade Organization's 7-year-old trade round.

Clear Channel

Deal to take firm private needs only shareholders' OK

The deal to take Clear Channel Communications Inc. private, announced 20 months ago, has been the subject of a lot of static from shareholders, firm officials and lenders.

Delayed and shrunken, the $17.9 billion deal for the nation's largest owner of radio stations and a global power in billboards is finally going to close a week from today if shareholders approve a $36-per-share offer Thursday.

The deal - in which private-equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners would assume about $5.9 billion in existing debt and borrow another $16.4 billion to take Clear Channel private - already has regulatory approval. The lenders have deposited their portion of the funding in an escrow account.

''They're prepared to close on the 30th,'' said Clear Channel spokeswoman Michele Clarke.

Automotive

Formula shows GM, Ford may bankrupt in five years

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, have about a 46 percent chance of default within five years, according to Edward Altman, a finance professor at New York University's Stern School of Business.

''Both are in very serious shape and the markets reflect that,'' Altman, the creator of the Z-score mathematical formula that measures bankruptcy risk, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The model shows that these companies are ''on the verge of bankruptcy,'' he said.

The Z-scores for GM and Ford give both a bond rating equivalent to a CCC ranking, though GM is in slightly worse condition than Ford, Altman said. GM reported a $38.7 billion loss in 2007, and hasn't posted a profit since 2004. The scores are based on the automakers' finances at the end of the first quarter.