financial crisis – News Stories About financial crisis - Page 16

Paulson: BofA-Merrill Deal Saved US From 'Great Peril'

Jul 16, 2009 11:15 AM CDT

Paulson: BofA-Merrill Deal Saved US From 'Great Peril'

Actions saved nation from 'great peril,' he says

(Newser) - Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says his role in Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch was appropriate and necessary, MarketWatch reports. “I am confident that our responses were substantially correct and that they saved this nation from great peril,” Paulson told a House oversight committee today...

Bankruptcy Looms as Feds Refuse to Bail Out CIT Group

Jul 16, 2009 2:47 AM CDT

Bankruptcy Looms as Feds Refuse to Bail Out CIT Group

Treasury 'drawing line in sand,' says analyst

(Newser) - The Obama administration has rejected CIT Group's pleas for a bailout, and the troubled commercial lender is likely to file for bankruptcy as early as today, reports the Washington Post. CIT—which has already received $2.3 billion in TARP funds—provides financing to close to a million small- and...

Be Very Afraid: Goldman Sachs Is Smiling

OPINION

Jul 15, 2009 7:41 AM CDT

Be Very Afraid: Goldman Sachs Is Smiling

High-risk model hasn't changed, could lead to new crisis, says Reich

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs is back in the black, with trading and stock underwriting revenues at an all-time high—and that should scare you, former Clinton cabinet member Robert Reich writes in Salon. While Goldman's earnings may signal that the current crisis is abating, the bank hasn't modified high-risk strategies that forced...

Feds Probe Shady Market
for Derivatives

Jul 14, 2009 9:33 AM CDT

Feds Probe Shady Market for Derivatives

Banks may have unfair edge in information on credit-default swaps

(Newser) - The Justice Department is probing the market for credit-default swaps, the largely unregulated derivatives that contributed to the financial crisis, Bloomberg reports. Justice is investigating whether big banks have unfair access to price information through their ownership of a private company that provides data to investors. The Obama administration wants...

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time

Jul 13, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time

(Newser) - Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time. The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation; there's also concern about trying to reverse the deficit—by reducing government spending or raising taxes—in the midst of a harsh...

Pope Has
Best Take on Financial Crisis

OPINION

Jul 13, 2009 10:13 AM CDT

Pope Has Best Take on Financial Crisis

Goldman exec touts Benedict's 6-point plan for global economy

(Newser) - All of Pope Benedict XVI's gaffes and controversies have obscured his principal appeal, writes Brian Griffiths in the Times of London: he's a scholar, with an uncommon command of theology and philosophy. For Griffiths, a vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, the pope's recent encyclical on the economy is "without...

Paralyzed Dems
Ignore Slow-Burn
Crises: Krugman

OPINION

Jul 13, 2009 6:56 AM CDT

Paralyzed Dems Ignore Slow-Burn Crises: Krugman

(Newser) - When the economic crisis turned terrifying last winter, Washington finally got its act together and passed a massive stimulus package. But now, writes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the US faces a slower but more dangerous "jobless recovery" over the next few years and an "utterly terrifying"...

Boomers Turn to Annuities, Leaving Nothing for Kids

Jul 11, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

Boomers Turn to Annuities, Leaving Nothing for Kids

(Newser) - Now that the financial crisis has destroyed so many nest eggs, many soon-to-be retirees are buying annuities and leaving their kids to fend for themselves, the Wall Street Journal reports. Annuities turn a lump-sum payment into a guaranteed income for life. That’ll provide more peace of mind than living...

G8 Leaders Stumble
on Climate Change

G8 Roundup

Jul 8, 2009 2:57 PM CDT

G8 Leaders Stumble on Climate Change

Obama urges a tougher stance on Iran, N. Korea nuclear programs

(Newser) - World leaders gathered in L’Aquila, Italy, today for the G8 summit. Highlights from the day's meetings:

A forum organized by President Obama for the world’s 17 biggest polluters failed to approve a proposal to cut global emissions by 50% by 2050, the New York Times reports. The group

...

One Man to Blame at AIG

GLOSSIES

Jul 7, 2009 7:31 PM CDT

One Man to Blame at AIG

(Newser) - AIG’s contribution to the world financial crisis may be bafflingly complex, but a single villain is emerging, writes Michael Lewis in Vanity Fair. Joseph Cassano was a "cartoon despot" who ran AIG's Financial Products division, now infamous for its credit-default swaps. Cassano, unfortunately, "didn’t fully understand...

Biden: Obama
Team 'Misread'
the Economy

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Jul 5, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Biden: Obama Team 'Misread' the Economy

Colin Powell 'concerned' by Obama's spending

(Newser) - Joe Biden conceded today that the Obama administration “misread” how bad the economy actually was and that now the unemployment rate is “much too high,” The Hill reports. In an interview taped in Iraq with This Week, the vice president also said the US doesn’t intend...

Wall Street
Aims to Give Itself a Facelift

Jun 25, 2009 2:02 PM CDT

Wall Street Aims to Give Itself a Facelift

Trade group mounts effort to counter 'populist overreaction'

(Newser) - Wall Street’s top trade group is fighting to fix its image amid what it calls a “populist overreaction” to the financial crisis, Bloomberg reports. Top aides to former Treasury secretary Henry Paulson are leading the “city-by-city, grassroots” campaign focused on politicians and the media. The securities industry...

Credit Crisis
Snips Ranks
of Super Rich

Jun 25, 2009 3:15 AM CDT

Credit Crisis Snips Ranks of Super Rich

Millionnaires' club gets smaller as investments plummet in value

(Newser) - Won't somebody think of the poor millionaires? The global financial crisis has hit the world's "super rich" hard and left many of them merely extremely wealthy, the Financial Times reports. The number of "ultra high net worth individuals" with over $30 million to invest shrank by nearly...

Buffett: Economy Still
in 'Shambles'

Jun 24, 2009 2:32 PM CDT

Buffett: Economy Still in 'Shambles'

It'll take a while to 'wring out excesses'

(Newser) - The US economy is still in “shambles” even though the crisis in the financial system has abated, Warren Buffett told CNBC today. “It takes a while,” the investor said. “There were a lot of excesses to be wrung out and that process is still underway.”...

Fed Keeps
Interest Rates
at Record Low

Jun 24, 2009 2:04 PM CDT

Fed Keeps Interest Rates at Record Low

Economy picking up, but not enough that inflation is a worry

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve says the recession is easing, but that the economy likely will remain weak and keep a lid on inflation. Against this backdrop, the Fed held a key bank lending rate at a record low of between 0% and 0.25%, and pledged again to keep it there...

In Lieu of Bonuses, Citi
Gives I-Bankers 50% Raises

Jun 24, 2009 12:38 PM CDT

In Lieu of Bonuses, Citi Gives I-Bankers 50% Raises

(Newser) - Citigroup will raise salaries for investment bankers and traders as much as 50% to offset a steep falloff in bonus pay and keep the company’s compensation package competitive, Bloomberg reports. Other employees, like those in the consumer banking section, will receive smaller raises. Citi, which took $45 billion in...

Fed Mulls Overhaul
of Overnight Lending

Jun 22, 2009 1:15 PM CDT

Fed Mulls Overhaul of Overnight Lending

May create new entity to replace loan clearing banks

(Newser) - The Fed is planning an overhaul of the repurchase markets involved in banks’ overnight trading—including the creation of a new unit to oversee transactions, the Financial Times reports. Such a facility would take the place of clearing banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, that currently act as middlemen for loans,...

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power

ANALYSIS

Jun 19, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power

After decades of deference, legislators turn on central bank

(Newser) - Tim Geithner testified before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, but as the Washington Post reports, it's not the Treasury but the Fed whose growing powers most worry legislators. Republicans and Democrats are both venting that Ben Bernanke's office did little to stop the excesses of the boom years, only to...

Russia Bans Gambling as Mega-Casinos
Crap Out

Jun 17, 2009 9:23 AM CDT

Russia Bans Gambling as Mega-Casinos Crap Out

Planned mini-Vegases stall in financial crisis

(Newser) - Gambling has played a major role in Russian life since 1989, with high-rolling casinos—more than 30 in Moscow alone—echoing the cowboy capitalism of the post-Soviet years. But July 1, Russia is shutting down all gaming and slot machine halls, confining gambling to four Vegas-style zones across the country....

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation

INTERVIEW

Jun 17, 2009 6:07 AM CDT

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation

Oversight measures aim for 'minimum' to avoid meltdown

(Newser) - Today Barack Obama will announce a major financial reform package that will give the Fed, Treasury, and FDIC new powers of regulation and oversight. It's the most substantial shift in financial regulations since the 1930s—but stops short of some of the most radical proposals, including tough limits on derivatives...