SECURITIES

Breeden Softens Opposition to Foreign Trading: SEC Chairman Richard Breeden has toned down his vociferous opposition to the New York Stock Exchange’s plan to trade more foreign stocks, and insiders are predicting an agreement will be struck. But the nation’s top securities regulator has not divulged his intentions regarding the plan, which the exchange insists is vital to its future. The NYSE plan calls on regulators to bend U.S. accounting rules to permit overseas corporations--particularly those from Germany--to trade on the exchange.