subprime mortgages

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Fed to Crack Down on Subprime Loans

Also plans to extend low-cost overnight loan program for banks

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week restricting subprime lending and other exotic loans aimed at borrowers with weak credit, Ben Bernanke said today. He said the Fed is also considering extending the overnight low-cost loan program, which helps big banks in need of quick cash, a sign...

Rise in Renters Wiping Out Gains in Homeownership

Effects of subprime crisis evident as percentage of owners drops

(Newser) - Americans are shifting from being homeowners to renters in rising numbers, the New York Times reports, all but wiping out gains made during the boom. The percentage of homes headed by homeowners dropped from 69.1% to 67.8% this year, which sounds modest, but is, in fact, the biggest...

Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down
 Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down 
Jun 15, 2008 3:43 PM CDT

Embattled AIG CEO Steps Down

Board replaces Sullivan with Citi exec Willumstad

(Newser) - Martin Sullivan has stepped down as AIG's CEO, and the company's board named chairman Maurice Willumstad his successor, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The insurance giant's stock has plummeted more than 50% since October due to subprime writedowns, and Sullivan is still embroiled in legal battles with his former...

As Mortgages Melt Down, Owners Burn Up

Debt-motivated arson another facet of US subprime crisis

(Newser) - US homeowners are literally burning down their homes instead of paying their subprime mortgages. Last year saw a dramatic nationwide jump in apparently debt-motivated arson, the Los Angeles Times reports. “I'm busier now than a one-armed paper hanger,” said one investigator. “What is happening is terrifically economically...

Paydays That Make Even Wall Streeters Blush

Top hedge-fund guru earned $3.7B in 2007 as income gap widens

(Newser) - Some Wall Street hedge-fund managers earned billions betting against the market last year, with the top of the class, John Paulson, shaking loose $3.7 billion, the New York Times reports. With the US median family income at $60,500, the booty embarrassed even some of his Wall Street peers....

More Fed Help on the Way for Homeowners

More FHA-insured mortgages to be available for strapped consumers

(Newser) - Homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure are about to get a boost from the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA commissioner is expected to announce plans to expand an aid program that will allow borrowers saddled with negative equity to write down part of their mortgages and refinance their homes with cheaper...

Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout
 Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout 
Mar 29, 2008 6:48 AM CDT

Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout

Aid plan would back new loans for homeowners in 'upside-down' mortgages

(Newser) - Homeowners facing foreclosure could soon be getting a helping hand from the Bush administration, the Washington Post reports. Details are being finalized on a plan that would see portions of loans forgiven for people who now owe the bank more money than their house is worth. The remainder would be...

Crisis Is More of Confidence Than Credit
Crisis Is More
of Confidence Than Credit
ANALYSIS
Mar 19, 2008 11:39 AM CDT

Crisis Is More of Confidence Than Credit

Times scribe connects dots from housing boom to Bear Stearns

(Newser) - The credit crisis that’s roiled financial markets has its genesis in the housing boom that began in 1998, David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times. The boom led lenders to create new financing options—including subprime loans—as investors saw potential for huge returns. Low interest rates encouraged...

Stocks Rally After Big Losses
 Stocks Rally After Big Losses 
MARKETS
Mar 13, 2008 4:01 PM CDT

Stocks Rally After Big Losses

Dow gains for the second straight day

(Newser) - Stocks rallied in the afternoon to recover big early losses, buoyed by a prediction from Standard & Poors that the end was in sight for banks' subprime writedowns. The Dow—at one point down more than 230 points—finished up 35.5 points to close at 12,145.74, MarketWatch...

Feds Outline New, Tougher Credit Rules

Paulson pushes stricter standards for mortgage lenders

(Newser) - A panel led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking a major overhaul of rules affecting mortgage lenders and a credit market decimated by risky subprime loans and loose oversight, the Wall Street Journal reports. Among panel recommendations to be released today:
  • Strengthen mortgage lender and broker oversight
  • Establish licensing
...

Senate GOP Stymies Dem Housing Relief

Republicans say plan to aid homeowners would inflame crisis, hurt lenders

(Newser) - Capping a week of gridlock, GOP senators yesterday blocked consideration of a Democratic-backed housing-relief bill. The mortgage industry had fought hard against the proposal, which would allow judges to slash interest rates for low-income homeowners facing bankruptcy, the Washington Post reports. The bill also included billions of dollars for local...

Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans
Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans
Feb 28, 2008 7:06 AM CST

Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans

Says taxpayers shouldn't finance 'bailouts' for reckless lenders and borrowers

(Newser) - Homeowners burned by the subprime mortgage meltdown shouldn't be looking to the federal government for help, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Facing down mounting congressional pressure for stronger measures to stem an epidemic of foreclosures, Paulson dismissed proposals on the table as "bailouts" for...

Despite Fed, Silicon Valley Bullish on Economy

Many tech workers not seeing US slump

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke’s report to Congress on monetary policy offered a grim outlook on the economy, but ABC News sees some signs that good news may be around the corner: workers in Silicon Valley, a national economic bellwether, feel good about their prospects. Rising exports, the recently-passed stimulus package and...

Feds Ponder Rescue Plans as Housing Slump Worsens

More than 10% of homeowners are 'upside down' on mortgages

(Newser) - With one in 10 US homeowners owing more on their homes than they’re worth, the highest proportion of negative-equity loans since the Depression, the government is weighing plans that would apply the brakes to the rapidly accelerating housing market collapse, the New York Times reports. Possibilities include federal loan...

SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss
SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss
Feb 21, 2008 9:54 AM CST

SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss

Subprime writedowns and fraud drop bank's annual profit 82%

(Newser) - Societe Generale's annual profits plummeted a whopping 82% after a record $4.9 billion fourth quarter loss fueled by subprime woes and the actions of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, reports Bloomberg. France’s second-largest bank today said net income was 947 million euros, compared to 5.22 billion euros in...

Markets Drop as KKR Unit Delays Payment

Concern about liquidity in the US has investors selling off in Asia

(Newser) - Asian stocks slumped today after reports in the Financial Times that a struggling arm of private equity heavyweight Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. missed a second payment on billions of dollars of commercial debt just 6 months after two of its founders poured $270 million into the company. Investors cashed out as...

How Bad Is Northern Rock?
How Bad Is Northern Rock?
OPINION
Feb 19, 2008 1:08 PM CST

How Bad Is Northern Rock?

Pundits examine the fallout of unavoidable nationalization

(Newser) - The subprime crisis has forced the British government to do what it dreaded: nationalize a bank. What's the fallout from the Northern Rock takeover?
  • Gordon Brown "put quite a good face" on an unpalatable decision, says Philip Stephens of the Financial Times. Nationalization hasn't hurt him much, but the
...

Citi Blocks Hedge Fund Withdrawals
Citi Blocks Hedge Fund Withdrawals
Feb 15, 2008 1:35 PM CST

Citi Blocks Hedge Fund Withdrawals

Move is latest black eye for bank's alternative investments

(Newser) - Still struggling with billions of dollars in subprime losses, Citigroup blocked nervous investors from bailing out of a hedge fund specializing in corporate debt, reports the Wall Street Journal. Investors tried to pull more than 30% of $500 million in assets from CSO Partners, which posted an 11% loss last...

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
OPINION
Feb 14, 2008 12:12 PM CST

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders

Says feds barred states from halting predators

(Newser) - The Bush administration was a “willing accomplice” to predatory lending practices that cost thousands of Americans their homes and endangered our economy, Eliot Spitzer writes in the Washington Post. When state attorneys general (including Spitzer at the time) tried to act against a spike in deceptive and even illegal...

UBS Posts Record $11.2B Quarterly Loss

Swiss bank also posts its first annual loss on $13.7B subprime writedowns

(Newser) - Swiss banking giant UBS today reported an $11.23-billion fourth-quarter loss—the largest ever by a bank—and its first full-year loss ever, after taking $13.7 billion more in subprime mortgage writedowns, reports the Telegraph. UBS, which still has a $27.59-billion exposure to subprime securities, is likely to...

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