financial crisis – News Stories About financial crisis - Page 83

Forget Arugula: Dems Should Hit GOP on Fiscal Crisis

OPINION

Sep 17, 2008 2:58 PM CDT

Forget Arugula: Dems Should Hit GOP on Fiscal Crisis

But they should ignore the arugula and hammer on GOP moves that created this mess

(Newser) - Put aside the arugula and forget "priggish" counter-attacks on Sarah Palin, Thomas Frank advises Democrats. The way to win the culture war being waged by Republicans is to point out what GOP dominance over the last quarter century has done: removed fiscal safeguards and brought us "to the...

Candidates Get the Economy Wrong: Pundits

OPINION

Sep 17, 2008 1:50 PM CDT

Candidates Get the Economy Wrong: Pundits

McCain is out of touch and off-message; Obama is reckless

(Newser) - With the economy in trouble, John McCain and Barack Obama have been talking economics. How are they doing?

Not very well, says the Wall Street Journal, declaring that the candidates “appear to know more about Mars than they do about financial markets.” Obama’s offering a return to

...

How Much More Will Taxpayers Have to Pony Up?

analysis

Sep 17, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

How Much More Will Taxpayers Have to Pony Up?

The US has pledged some $320 billion in bailouts for struggling enterprises

(Newser) - More than $320 billion in taxpayer funding has already been pledged to treat firms sickened by the subprime contagion—more than twice the $124 billion the government spent fixing the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s, reports the Los Angeles Times. The question, writes Michael Hiltzik, is how much...

Wall Street Meltdown Turns McCain Pro-Regulation

Sep 17, 2008 12:00 PM CDT

Wall Street Meltdown Turns McCain Pro-Regulation

Republican backs off earlier enthusiasm for deregulation

(Newser) - With Wall Street in extremis, John McCain is backing away from a long history as an opponent of financial regulation, reports the Washington Post. The paper cites McCain's record in backing banking deregulation, including the 1999 legislation, sponsored by then-Sen. Phil Gramm, a McCain campaign adviser, that removed the Depression-era...

Bears Send Dow Down 350

midday MARKETS

Sep 17, 2008 11:45 AM CDT

Bears Send Dow Down 350

Morgan Stanley down as much as 40%

(Newser) - Bears are running wild on Wall Street today, with the Dow down as much as 350 points by midday, MarketWatch reports. The Fed’s rescue of AIG seemed to do little to reassure investors, as the financial sector continued to plummet; Morgan Stanley fell as much as 40%, despite a...

What Is AIG?
(Now That We Own It)

Sep 17, 2008 9:49 AM CDT

What Is AIG? (Now That We Own It)

From aircraft leasing arm to wealth management group

(Newser) - For one thing, the insurance behemoth the Federal Reserve just acquired for $85 billion is profitable, explains the New York Times. AIG, which started out insuring assets in Asia, is wildly diversified and sprawling globally. Businesses range from retirement plans in the US to life insurance in the Philippines to...

Stocks Dive at Open on AIG Save, Weak Housing Starts

MARKETS

Sep 17, 2008 9:05 AM CDT

Stocks Dive at Open on AIG Save, Weak Housing Starts

Financials drive decline

(Newser) - Stocks took a nosedive at the opening bell, with the Dow falling 190.28 points within minutes, as the market absorbs an AIG bailout that prevented a body blow to the economy but was none too friendly to shareholders, the Wall Street Journal reports. The insurer fell 21% at the...

Why AIG Got a Bailout
(and Lehman Didn't)

ANALYSIS

Sep 17, 2008 7:40 AM CDT

Why AIG Got a Bailout (and Lehman Didn't)

Credit default business dooms, saves giant

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve seemed to draw a hard line against bailouts with Lehman Bros., but just days later it stepped over that line to save AIG. Why? First, says Time: Size. Its implosion would have been "as close to an extinction-level event" as we've been since the Depression. But...

Hank and Ben:
Time to Play Offense

OPINION

Sep 17, 2008 7:15 AM CDT

Hank and Ben: Time to Play Offense

Treasury and Fed need to start playing offense, says Leonhardt

(Newser) - If you'd told economists 18 months ago what lay ahead in the financial industry, predictions for the American economy would be dire. The fact that things aren't totally awful—we still haven't entered into a recession—is testament to the good defense of Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke. What they...

AIG Rescue Boosts Euro
Stocks; Asia Rally Fades

Sep 17, 2008 4:49 AM CDT

AIG Rescue Boosts Euro Stocks; Asia Rally Fades

Still 'edgy,' notes analyst

(Newser) - European stocks edged up today for the first time in three days on news of the US government's $85 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG—but an early rally in Asian markets faded, reports Bloomberg and the New York Times. Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed as much as 1.9% after...

Pols Pitch Federal Agency
to Take On Bad Debt

Sep 17, 2008 2:40 AM CDT

Pols Pitch Federal Agency to Take On Bad Debt

Agency would formalize what feds are already doing in money crisis

(Newser) - The idea of creating a federal agency to dispose of the toxic debt at the heart of the credit crisis is gaining traction in Washington, the New York Times reports. The proposed agency would resemble one set up in 1989 to resolve the savings and loan crisis—but in a...

Fed to Bail Out AIG
With $85B Loan

Sep 16, 2008 7:39 PM CDT

Fed to Bail Out AIG With $85B Loan

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is poised to rescue insurance giant AIG with an $85 billion loan, MSNBC reports. In return, the Fed will take an 80% stake in the company, which is one of the world's biggest insurers. The move is a reversal for the US government, but federal officials determined...

Fed Considers AIG Bailout; Ex-CEO Weighs Proxy Fight

Sep 16, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

Fed Considers AIG Bailout; Ex-CEO Weighs Proxy Fight

Hank Greenberg, forced out in 2005, among investors mulling options

(Newser) - Reversing course, the Fed is considering a bailout package to help boost the liquidity of suddenly beleaguered AIG, even as the mega-insurer's ex-CEO considers a move to take control through a proxy fight or buyout, Bloomberg reports. In a regulatory filing, Hank Greenberg, who retired under pressure in 2005, says...

Fluctuating Markets Close Up

MARKETS

Sep 16, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

Fluctuating Markets Close Up

Dow returns to 11K-plus territory

(Newser) - As AIG's future became somewhat clearer, the wildly fluctuating markets settled into positive territory at the end of today's session. Rumors that the Fed will bail out the mega-insurer helped nearly erase a 74% decline, Bloomberg reports. The Dow closed up 141.51 at 11,059.02, the Nasdaq gained...

Paulson Played Cards Well
in High-Stakes Showdown

ANALYSIS

Sep 16, 2008 12:27 PM CDT

Paulson Played Cards Well in High-Stakes Showdown

Paulson, remaining banks struggle to pull the market back together

(Newser) - Cue the Kenny Rogers, suggests Steve Pearlstein in the Washington Post; “Hank Paulson knows when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.” Paulson was so determined not to commit federal dollars to bail out Lehman Bros. that when the banks said they couldn't step in...

Speculation on New Fed
Rate Cut Tempers Losses

MARKETS

Sep 16, 2008 10:44 AM CDT

Speculation on New Fed Rate Cut Tempers Losses

Stocks dip early, then tick closer to even ahead of mid-afternoon announcement

(Newser) - Stocks swung upward after big opening losses today, the Wall Street Journal reports, helped by speculation that the Federal Reserve might step in to help AIG and cut interest rates. The Dow, down 155 early, was just barely negative before noon, with a similar pattern from other indices. “We're...

Stocks Down Again at Open

MARKETS

Sep 16, 2008 9:15 AM CDT

Stocks Down Again at Open

AIG, Goldman pace decline

(Newser) - Stocks declined at the opening bell today, sending the S&P 500 into its worst two-day slump since 2002, Bloomberg reports. Investors reacted to an overnight credit downgrade for liquidity-challenged AIG and a weak Goldman Sachs earnings report. Overnight lending rates took a record jump last night, as markets fell...

Goldman Profit Drops 70%,
Still Beats Estimates

EARNINGS REPORTS

Sep 16, 2008 8:37 AM CDT

Goldman Profit Drops 70%, Still Beats Estimates

Revenue cut by half, but firm helped by less mortgage exposure

(Newser) - Amid the financial industry's meltdown, survivor Goldman Sachs reported that third-quarter profit plunged by 70% —the sharpest decline in its history as a public company, but still enough to beat estimates of $1.71 per share. The bank dipped 7% in New York trading, Bloomberg reports, after reporting an...

Time for the
Dow to Ditch Ailing AIG

OPINION

Sep 16, 2008 3:45 AM CDT

Time for the Dow to Ditch Ailing AIG

Index should replace enfeebled AIG or GM with Apple or Cisco

(Newser) - The downsizing of American International Group should spur its ejection from the Dow Jones 30, Paul R. La Monica writes in CNNMoney. The company's inclusion in the index means its troubles will hurt the market even more than the tribulations of Lehman, Fannie and Freddie—its shedding of divisions will...

Asian Markets Plunge

Sep 16, 2008 3:25 AM CDT

Asian Markets Plunge

US financial turmoil sparks regional selling frenzy

(Newser) - Asia's markets took a huge hit today amid fears of a US financial meltdown, the Wall Street Journal reports. Markets in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea were spared from the global plunge yesterday due to a public holiday—but the respite proved to be short-lived. Japan and Hong Kong's...