financial crisis

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New Probe: Did Banks Dupe Credit Raters?

New York AG Andrew Cuomo investigates 8 big banks

(Newser) - More bad news for bankers: New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, is investigating whether banks deliberately misled rating agencies ahead of the housing market collapse. So far, authorities have focused on dealings between banks and clients who purchased mortgage-backed securities, notes the New York Times . Cuomo's crusade broadens the scope...

EU Forges $960B Bailout Fund
 EU Forges $960B Bailout Fund 
May 10, 2010 2:39 AM CDT

EU Forges $960B Bailout Fund

Officials hope it's enough to contain crisis

(Newser) - European officials hammered out a $960 billion bailout fund for nations facing the prospect of default. The bailout is nominally to provide the euro with stability, but is mainly pointed at Greece, with a secondary eye to Spain and Portugal, which are both teetering on economic chaos, reports the Times...

Congressmen Bet Against Stocks Amid Crisis

All while some were decrying short selling

(Newser) - You know those evil short-sellers at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere that lawmakers have been railing against since around the start of the financial crisis? Well pot, meet kettle. The Wall Street Journal has identified 13 members of Congress who in some way bet against the market during the 2008 financial...

Real Subprime Scandal Is Ratings Firms, not Goldman
Real Subprime Scandal Is Ratings Firms, not Goldman
paul krugman
Apr 26, 2010 5:48 AM CDT

Real Subprime Scandal Is Ratings Firms, not Goldman

99% of AAA-rated subprime securities now junk

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs won't come out of the Senate financial reform hearings smelling of roses, but it's the much bigger stink coming from credit ratings firms that lawmakers should focus on, warns Paul Krugman. Emails released by the Senate subcommittee probing the financial crisis show how corrupt the system of credit...

Obama to Banks: Quit 'Furious' Fight Against Finance Reform

Regulation will be good for Wall Street and Main Street

(Newser) - President Obama will today ask the banks to call off their "furious efforts" to block his proposed financial regulatory overhaul. "I believe that these reforms are, in the end, not only in the best interest of our country, but in the best interest of our financial sector,"...

Washington Mutual Wrote a Subprime Rap Song
Washington Mutual Wrote
a Subprime Rap Song
Not a joke!
Apr 14, 2010 10:12 AM CDT

Washington Mutual Wrote a Subprime Rap Song

'I like big bucks and I cannot lie'

(Newser) - “I like big bucks, and I cannot lie/You mortgage brothers can’t deny.” Those are actual lines from an actual horrible rap knockoff that was actually performed at the Washington Mutual President’s Club Awards Dinner in 2006—you know, around the same time that the company was...

WaMu 'Poisoned' Financial System: Senate Report

Senate panel says lender knowingly built 'mortgage time bomb'

(Newser) - Washington Mutual made subprime loans it knew would go bad, then packaged them into risky securities, creating a “mortgage time bomb,” according to a Senate report. The permanent investigations subcommittee is grilling former WaMu execs this morning. The report also says the bank packaged and sold loans it...

In Recession, Curves Are Beautiful
 In Recession, 
 Curves Are Beautiful 
STUDY OF PLAYMATES FINDS
Apr 11, 2010 11:55 AM CDT

In Recession, Curves Are Beautiful

Tough times add weight to Americans' ideal beauty

(Newser) - During recessions, Americans’ idea of female beauty has more curves. That’s according to a pair of studies, which compared the waist, bust and other measurements of popular actresses and Playboy Playmates to yearly economic data. And in down cycles, the extra few inches associated with maturity and strength are...

Villains of Financial Crisis Hide by Boring Us
Villains of Financial Crisis Hide by Boring Us
Peggy Noonan
Apr 9, 2010 5:30 AM CDT

Villains of Financial Crisis Hide by Boring Us

Tepid hearings reveal pretty much nothing

(Newser) - If you’re like Peggy Noonan, you devoured CSPAN’s coverage of this week's Financial Industry Inquiry Commission hearings, and you got to see, live, the dramatic testimony of ex-Citigroup CEO Charles Prince. “Let’s be real,” Prince said. “You, for political reasons, both Republicans and Democrats,...

Citi Execs 'Sorry' for Financial Crisis, But...
 Citi Execs 'Sorry' for 
 Financial Crisis, But... 
... ER, NEVER SAW IT COMING
Apr 8, 2010 1:02 PM CDT

Citi Execs 'Sorry' for Financial Crisis, But...

Prince, Rubin take no responsibility at inquiry hearing in DC

(Newser) - Citigroup's former CEO Chuck Prince and former chairman Robert Rubin sure are sorry that their bank’s toxic assets struck a near-fatal blow to the economy and necessitated a $45 billion federal bailout, but they really didn’t see it coming. That’s the gist of their testimony today in...

Greenspan: We Did 'the Best We Could'

Former Fed chief takes heat on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan is taking more heat on Capitol Hill today as a three-day series of hearings begins on the economic meltdown. “What we tried to do was the best we could with the data that we had,” the former Fed chief told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. “...

Top F***ing Books About the Financial Crisis

Maybe all the profanity will keep you reading

(Newser) - There are so many books about the financial crisis, how does one choose which to read first? One method: Go for the one with the most instances of the word “f---.” Conveniently enough, Paul Kedrosky has assembled a handy list. Not big on the idea of the f-word...

Financial Reform: 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats
 Financial Reform: 
 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats 
PAUL KRUGMAN
Mar 29, 2010 7:00 AM CDT

Financial Reform: 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats

GOP argument against reform is upside-down, writes Paul Krugman

(Newser) - With financial reform on deck, Senate Republicans are busily figuring out how many "can get away with claiming that war is peace and regulating big banks is doing those big banks a favor," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Alabama's Richard Shelby is portraying efforts to...

Economists Are Rediscovering Humility —and Humanity

Field should be seen as an art, not a science

(Newser) - The failure of economists to spot the financial crisis in advance is causing soul-searching that will redefine the whole field, writes David Brooks. The cutting-edge models economists built over decades ignored the complexities of human nature and economists are now rediscovering the humility of an earlier time and trying to...

Pay Czar to Examine Salaries at Bailed-Out Firms

Feinberg to review compensation for top 25 executives

(Newser) - The "pay czar" will review salaries and bonuses of executives at financial firms that have received government help. Kenneth Feinberg will examine the compensation of the top 25 executives at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and 417 other firms that took TARP money. If he finds evidence of risky...

Lehman Post Mortem Bares Shady Tricks

Execs may land in court for disguising bad investments

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers tried to buy itself time by manipulating accounting gimmicks to disguise its bad investments, according to a court-ordered report on the firm's demise. The exhaustive, 2,200 page report found that execs, including former CEO Richard Fuld, could be held legally liable for the "materially misleading" attempt...

Why Obama's Still the Fave for 2012

Incumbency carries plenty of advantages

(Newser) - Sure, things look glum for President Obama, but he’s still the odds-on favorite to win the 2012 presidential election. Carl Cannon tells us why:
  • A “generic Republican” doesn’t exist. Obama trails that very thing by double digits in a recent poll, but the GOP nominee will bring
...

FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks
FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks 
Mar 6, 2010 7:12 AM CST

FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks

Tally hits 26 this year; pace of closures expected to increase in coming months

(Newser) - Regulators yesterday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of US bank failures so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults. The pace of bank seizures this year is likely to accelerate , FDIC officials have said, as...

Fed Raises an Interest Rate
 Fed Raises an Interest Rate 
Feb 18, 2010 5:19 PM CST

Fed Raises an Interest Rate

But no change expected soon on benchmark rate

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve raised the discount rate—the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans—by a quarter point today. The central bank said the move, widely expected by the financial community, represented only the winding down of the extraordinary measures taken during the financial crisis to stimulate lending,...

McQueen&rsquo;s Label Had $50M Debt at Suicide
McQueen’s Label Had $50M Debt at Suicide
ANALYSIS
Feb 17, 2010 9:50 PM CST

McQueen’s Label Had $50M Debt at Suicide

Recession hit fashion designer hard; outfit's future unclear

(Newser) - Designer Alexander McQueen’s fashion business was $50 million in debt at the time of his suicide last week, an analysis of the firm’s recent statements shows. The Times of London reports that the brand, founded in 2001, didn’t break even until 2007—then made a profit in...

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