financial crisis

Stories 781 - 800 | << Prev   Next >>

Spielberg Pays Bills for Ailing DreamWorks

Credit crunch forces director into personal bailout for studio

(Newser) - Perhaps for the first time, Steven Spielberg is using personal funds to pay half of a $26.5 million bill his company, DreamWorks, owes ex-partner Paramount so it can keep 17 film projects under its wing. Due to cash shortages, the studio has already lost the rights to as many...

Firms Choose Pay Cuts Over Layoffs
Firms Choose
Pay Cuts
Over Layoffs
Jan 15, 2009 10:03 AM CST

Firms Choose Pay Cuts Over Layoffs

Some deem sharing the pain preferable to axing workers

(Newser) - Employers increasingly are opting to cut salaries rather than staff as they tighten budgets, a plan that helps keep them ready to respond to an economic rebound but could hurt morale, reports the Los Angeles Times. Companies also are looking to trim operating costs by eliminating bonuses, requiring employees to...

Critics Question Toughness of Obama's SEC Pick

Confirmation hearing today for Schapiro

(Newser) - As Mary Schapiro, Barack Obama's nominee to lead the SEC, heads to Capitol Hill to face Senate confirmation hearings today, questions linger about her light touch with big Wall Street firms. A seasoned regulator, Schapiro nevertheless spent much of last year cracking down on small brokerages and minor players, reports...

Banks Lining Up for More Rescue Funds

Experts are saying 2009 is looking like a tougher year for banks than 2008 was

(Newser) - US banks are poised to release a new round of losses in the coming weeks that show just how deeply submerged in red ink the industry still is—as this year begins to look worse for banks than last, the Washington Post reports. Pressure is mounting for more injections of...

Citi Paces Dow's 248-Point Drop
 Citi Paces Dow's 248-Point Drop 
MARKETS
Jan 14, 2009 3:29 PM CST

Citi Paces Dow's 248-Point Drop

Economic news and financial upheaval mean losses for stocks

(Newser) - Financial shares led stocks to deep losses today as a set of economic reports did little to reassure investors, MarketWatch reports. Citigroup lost 23.05% on news it will shed several units, while an index fund of financial shares dropped nearly 5%. The Dow closed down 248.42 at 8,...

Obama Will Get Next $350B, Pelosi Signals

Speaker sees close vote on authorizing remaining bailout funds

(Newser) - Barack Obama will get the $350 billion in bailout funds he’s asking for, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated today on ABC’s Good Morning America. The Democrat didn’t explicitly guarantee victory in what’s expected to be a close vote, but said she believed Obama would get the...

Poll: Americans' Trust in Gov't Plummeted in '08

62% trust feds less than a year ago; 65% think US is on wrong track

(Newser) - 2008 wasn’t a great year for the federal government’s reputation, with a Politico poll finding that 62% of Americans say their confidence in Washington has decreased in the past year. The main worry is the economy: 45% say that economic stimulus should be the highest priority (no other...

Drivers Learning to Love Older Cars

Maintenance cheaper than payment for newer models, consumers find

(Newser) - Thanks to the ongoing recession, drivers accustomed to trading in their vehicles often are warming to the idea of a longer covenant with their cars, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the concept might puzzle the less well-heeled, “the 3-year ownership mentality has crumbled,” one insider said. And...

Senate Delays Hearing on Geithner
Senate Delays Hearing on Geithner
Jan 14, 2009 11:08 AM CST

Senate Delays Hearing on Geithner

Troubled Treasury bid must wait until after Inauguration

(Newser) - The incoming administration's attempt to fast-track Tim Geithner's confirmation hearing has failed in the wake of trouble with his personal finances, and the session will now take place on Jan. 21, the New York Times reports. The delay of the Senate hearing until after the Inauguration, motivated by Republican lawmakers'...

Retail Sales Take Steep Plunge

Fall twice as far as anticipated

(Newser) - Retail sales fell more than twice as much as analysts predicted in December, thanks to mounting job losses and reduced credit, Bloomberg reports. Sales fell 2.7%, extending the longest string of declines on record to 6 consecutive months. Purchases excluding automobiles slid 3.1%. “Consumers are pulling back,...

Obama Team Scrambles to Save Geithner

PR blitz tackles nominee's tax, immigration issues

(Newser) - Barack Obama's transition team distributed talking points defending Timothy Geithner within minutes of emerging news on the Treasury nominee's tax and immigration issues, Politico reports. The PR push stressed that Geithner had paid off all his back taxes and that his former housekeeper's legal status did not lapse until the...

Germany Moves to Rein In Future Borrowing

Constitution will be changed to ban excess borrowing: Merkel

(Newser) - As Berlin rolls out a record $65 billion stimulus package, it's also making excessive government borrowing a constitutional crime. The new amendment—which will limit the national deficit to .5% of GDP "in normal economic times"—is a sign of the government's discomfort with its new stimulus, which...

Smarting, Credit Card Companies Cut Rewards

That airline ticket won't be so easily obtained in recession

(Newser) - Smarting from the sour economy, many credit-card companies are cutting back on rewards programs born out of 1980s excesses, USA Today reports. The cutbacks are akin to moves made by the airline industry last year as fuel prices skyrocketed. “You’re going to see more and more of the...

Illegal Hire, Tax Issues May Trouble Geithner

GOP's Grassley on Treasury nominee's case ahead of hearings

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner’s Treasury secretary nomination could be threatened by allegations he hired illegal help and didn’t pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while self-employed, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Senate Finance Committee members are meeting privately to discuss the issues, raised by GOP Sen. Charles Grassley. Aides...

Bummer Economy? Move Home!
 Bummer Economy? 
 Move Home! 
Jan 13, 2009 2:08 PM CST

Bummer Economy? Move Home!

More adult children are moving in with parents

(Newser) - A bleak job market and skyrocketing rents have college grads—even working adults—boomeranging back to their childhood homes, something that's fast losing its social stigma, the Boston Globe reports. About half of adults ages 18 and 24 live with their parents.

Stockbrokers in High Demand on Back-to-Basics Wall St.

Some, unlike disgraced investment bankers and traders, even command bonuses

(Newser) - With investment bankers and trading desks disgraced by crippling losses, the everyday stockbroker is enjoying a renaissance as Wall Street firms look to stay relevant to customers and investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The likely deal between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup that would create the world’s largest brokerage...

CEO Axings Up
 CEO Axings Up 
Jan 13, 2009 6:43 AM CST

CEO Axings Up

Downturn puts bosses in the firing line as investors lose patience

(Newser) - Americans are losing their jobs at the fastest rate in many years and chief executives are far from immune, reports the Wall Street Journal. Six publicly held firms have chucked their CEOs in the last 8 days alone. Many others—including big names like GM's Rick Wagoner, Vikram Pandit of...

Fed Push Likely Behind Citi Breakup

Citi's brokerage sale could signal regulators' plans for 'new order' in banking industry

(Newser) - The expected sale of Citigroup's brokerage business could be the first step in a government-instigated plan to cut the financial behemoth down to a manageable size, analysts tell Marketwatch. Citibank's CEO said only last month that the group had the right business mix, and many believe his sudden about-face is...

Dairy Farmers Going Udders Up
 Dairy Farmers Going Udders Up 
Jan 12, 2009 4:48 PM CST

Dairy Farmers Going Udders Up

Economy slams cow tenders

(Newser) - Dairy farmers are struggling to survive in the face of huge drops in the price they get for milk, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Though grocery store prices have stayed relatively constant, farmers are now getting just $10 for each hundred pounds of milk they sell, down from $20 in...

In Tough Times, America Relearns Thrift

(Newser) - Staring down a recession, Americans are turning tail and running to their nearest shoe repair shop, reports the Christian Science Monitor, in a look at the reversal of the United States' "throwaway" society. Thrift stores and repair shops are doing brisk business while their retail counterparts languish, or...

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