financial crisis

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Banks Probed for Betting Against Own Securities

Firms bundled bad debt then sold it short

(Newser) - Congress and financial regulators are probing several Wall Street firms for bundling bad debt, selling it to clients, and then profiting from betting that those same securities would fail, insiders say. Clients at Goldman Sachs and other firms lost billions of dollars on the mortgage-related securities as the housing market...

Stocks Finish Worst Decade Ever

Yes, even worse than the 1930s

(Newser) - Unless something really drastic happens in the next few days, the 2000s will be the worst decade in recorded stock market history—and that’s going back to 1820, folks. You would have been better off putting your money under your mattress than investing in stocks in 1999; since then,...

Spitzer to AIG: Show Us the Email

Ex-gov wants answers before feds ditch their stake

(Newser) - The Treasury Department's shopping its 80% stake in AIG, but before it sells, all Eliot Spizter wants for Christmas is for the financial behemoth to finally disclose exactly how it triggered the financial crisis. "Who knew what, and when? Who benefited, and by exactly how much?," questions the...

Economy Curbs Holiday Travel
 Economy Curbs Holiday Travel 
sleighs need fuel, too
Dec 18, 2009 4:20 PM CST

Economy Curbs Holiday Travel

Americans stay home or scale back vacation plans

(Newser) - The weak economy is taking a toll on Americans' plans for holiday travel, forcing cash-strapped would-be vacationers to alter trips or abandon them altogether. A recent poll found that, of those who planned to travel more than 100 miles for the holidays, a third said they had been forced to...

B+? Obama Must Be Joking
 B+? Obama 
 Must Be 
 Joking 
KARL ROVE
Dec 17, 2009 5:33 AM CST

B+? Obama Must Be Joking

Prez deserves his failing grade from the public, writes Karl Rove

(Newser) - President Obama has the lowest approval ratings of any postwar president at the end of year one, and he's done plenty to earn them, writes Karl Rove. Poor policies at home and abroad have helped send his ratings downward, as has the increasingly blatant slipperiness of the president's words. These...

Bank of America Hires News CEO From Within

Giant can't lure a star, turns to Brian Moynihan to succeed Ken Lewis

(Newser) - Bank of America's board of directors today chose consumer banking chief Brian Moynihan to replace Ken Lewis as CEO on Jan. 1. Their pick of an internal candidate followed unsuccessful attempts to hire a star industry executive for the top job at the nation's largest bank. Those negotiations were stymied...

Citigroup to Repay $20B in TARP Loans

Will issue $17B in common stock to meet capital requirements

(Newser) - Citigroup and the US government have reached a deal that will allow the bank to repay $20 billion in TARP loans, after weeks of wrangling over the bank's health. Citi will raise $20.5 billion, $17 billion of it in common stock, the company said in a statement, a sign...

House Passes Financial Regulations Overhaul

Bill passes 223-202, with Senate to act next year

(Newser) - The House today passed a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations that would govern Wall Street and reconfigure the power of the agencies overseeing the banking system. The vote was 223-202, with nearly all Republicans in opposition because of fears over too much government intrusion. The bill is designed to address...

Obama Sold Us Out to Wall Street
 Obama Sold Us Out 
 to Wall Street 
MATT TAIBBI
Dec 11, 2009 3:45 AM CST

Obama Sold Us Out to Wall Street

He pulled a bait-and-switch on America

(Newser) - President Obama's change from man of the people to friend of Wall Street is one of the biggest political turnarounds in history, writes Matt Taibbi. As soon as he was elected, Obama ditched his moderate economic advisers and built an economic team of Wall Street insiders with ties to "...

Goldman Won't Dole Out Cash Bonuses

Top execs will get stock that can't be cashed for five years

(Newser) - No cash bonuses for top Goldman Sachs executives this year. Instead, the Wall Street giant will pay its 30 top execs bonuses in the form of restricted stock that can't be cashed for five years. And the company can get the shares back if the performances they were based on...

Geithner Defends TARP Extension

Says it would 'irresponsible' not to extend bailout

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a skeptical watchdog panel today that a "limited, qualified extension" of the unpopular bank bailout program until October was necessary. "It would be irresponsible to do otherwise," Geithner said. Oversight chairman Elizabeth Warren seemed unconvinced, saying that though the program was "...

Foreclosure of Shelter Leaves Animals at Mercy of Bank

Evicted owner takes Wells Fargo to court

(Newser) - After being evicted by Wells Fargo, the owner of a Rhode Island animal shelter wants a judge to force the bank to provide food and care for the animals—which he says haven't been properly cared for since Monday’s foreclosure. Dan Mackenzie has seen “total strangers walking off...

Volcker to Bankers: 'Wake Up, Gentlemen'

Former Fed chief blasts them on pay, 'innovation'

(Newser) - Former Fed chair Paul Volcker had some harsh words for international bankers and regulators about the poor practices that led to the global financial crisis—and continue to this day. Volcker, who advises President Obama, surprised a forum in Britain with this broadside on pay: “Has there been one...

'Formidable Headwinds' Hinder Recovery: Bernanke

Weak credit and labor markets mean recovery will be slow: Fed chair

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke painted a stark picture of the economy today, warning that "formidable headwinds" are working against the incipient recovery. Despite an unexpectedly positive jobs report, the pace of expansion is likely to remain "moderate," the Fed chair said. “Despite the general improvement in financial conditions,...

Geithner: Goldman Woulda Failed Sans Bailout

Execs dreaming if they think they wouldn't have failed

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs fatcats were musing this week about how they might have been fine without a federal bailout, but Tim Geithner is having none of it: “None of them would have survived,” he tells Bloomberg , without federal intervention. “The entire US financial system and all the major...

Ignore Dubai at Your Own Peril
  Ignore Dubai 
  at Your Own Peril  

note to investors
Dec 4, 2009 10:08 AM CST

Ignore Dubai at Your Own Peril

$30B default could still take out other economies

(Newser) - The Dubai disaster should have been a wake up call. But investors, seduced by an "extraordinarily precarious" recovery, basically ignored it and kept busy building yet another bubble, writes Sebastian Mallaby in the Washington Post . Even if Dubai, with its artificial island and indoor ski resort, is an extreme...

Choose, America: Big Banks or Middle Class
 Choose, America: 
 Big Banks or Middle Class 
ELIZABETH WARREN
Dec 3, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Choose, America: Big Banks or Middle Class

Bank shenanigans are destroying the building block of America

(Newser) - The inevitable consequence of letting big banks run wild is nothing less than the extinction of the American middle class. "Unthinkable,” Elizabeth Warren writes—but a real and dire possibility. Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel on the bailouts, has seen the numbers, and they aren't pretty....

Sen. Sanders Puts Hold on Bernanke Nomination

Independent's move could force Dems to scrape up 60 votes

(Newser) - Saying that Ben Bernanke is too tied to the roots of the current financial crisis and too beholden the institutions that helped cause it, Sen. Bernie Sanders put a hold on the nomination process for a second term for the Federal Reserve chief. The Vermont independent’s move—not much...

Advertisers: Take a Cue From Ketel One

TV spots hint at hard times, and does it well

(Newser) - Advertisers trying to market to recession-bruised consumers could take a cue from Ketel One vodka, suggests Seth Stevenson in Slate . Rather than playing Debbie Downer and addressing the recession with coupons—or ignoring it entirely à la Grey Goose’s glamorous yachting women—Stevenson says Ketel One has made “...

'Debt Bomb' Nations Could Follow Dubai Into Crisis

Investors fear emirate is canary in coal mine

(Newser) - Dubai's financial implosion could be the beginning of a fresh financial crisis as investors lose faith in the ability of heavily indebted countries to pay their bills. Analysts warn that in the worst-case scenario, the Dubai crisis could lead to mass defaults in emerging markets and even in heavily leveraged...

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