credit crisis

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Wall St. Disarray Leaves Mess for Nonprofits

Charitable giving suffers as firms fold, merge, cut back

(Newser) - The victims of the Wall Street tsunami aren't all investment bankers and McMansion brokers. Kids with diabetes, residents of low-income housing, and fans of classical music are among those who could take a hit as nonprofits that depend on philanthropy from financial services firms absorb the fallout, the Boston Globe...

Tight Budgets Pinch Health Care Spending

As consumers prioritize, medical expenses lose out

(Newser) - Yet another casualty of the recession could wind up being an irreplaceable one: Americans' health. Consumers are increasingly skipping doctor visits and skimping on prescription meds, the Wall Street Journal reports. "It's hard to get people to follow up when they're having to decide between the gas bill, the...

Japanese Firm Buys Lehman's Asian Assets

Nomura Holdings wins auction to pay $225M

(Newser) - Japan’s Nomura Holdings won an auction to buy bankrupt Lehman Brothers’ Asian assets for $225 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Healthy Japanese firms like Nomura are pouncing on the Wall Street crisis as a means to expand. Lehman has 2,940 workers in the region, where the company...

Market Meltdown Will Handcuff Next President
Market Meltdown Will Handcuff Next President
analysis

Market Meltdown Will Handcuff Next President

Crisis will tie the hands of the incoming president

(Newser) - It will be harder for the next president to pursue grand plans in the wake of this week’s financial meltdown, writes Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Beyond its immediate impact on the campaign, the crisis has “ripple effects.” The amount of money the Fed has...

WSJ : McCain's Populist Schtick Is 'Unpresidential'
WSJ: McCain's Populist Schtick Is 'Unpresidential'
editorial

WSJ: McCain's Populist Schtick Is 'Unpresidential'

Republican's new act relies on "easy, misleading answers"

(Newser) - Why is John McCain angrily calling for the head of Christopher Cox, the chairman of the SEC? Because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and needs a scapegoat, writes the Wall Street Journal in an editorial today. "This assault on Mr. Cox is both false and...

Morgan Stanley, WaMu Edge Closer to Deals

WaMu readies for sale while Morgan mulls merger options

(Newser) - Two of the biggest financial institutions in the midst of the market turmoil are moving closer to hammering out deals. Washington Mutual's suitors are believed to include Citibank, JP Morgan and Bank of America, insiders tell Bloomberg, while Morgan Stanley and Wachovia have stepped up merger talks, reports the New ...

McCain Wants SEC Chief Out; Obama Says It's Not Enough

Candidates at odds over blame for market meltdown; Dem faults all Bush cronies

(Newser) - John McCain said today he would fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and blasted federal regulators for being “asleep at the switch,” Bloomberg reports. McCain, who's lost ground in the polls during the recent economic turmoil, said the SEC “kept in place trading rules...

Wall Street's Falling Stars Burn Hollywood

Studios scale back films, lose capital

(Newser) - When Steven Spielberg is feeling a budget pinch, you know the financial crisis is bad. His hunt for financing on a new studio deal gets tougher with each day of bad news from Wall Street, Time reports. With credit as tough to come by in Hollywood as everywhere else, many...

Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession
Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession
OPINION

Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession

The end of easy credit marks a new era, writes Pearlstein

(Newser) - On paper, the losses from the credit crisis are probably "the greatest destruction of financial wealth that the world has ever seen," writes Steven Pearlstein. But the trillions that have disappeared aren't the biggest casualty of the last year. Rather, says the Washington Post columnist, we are undergoing...

Hirst Auction Yields $199M
 Hirst Auction Yields $199M 

Hirst Auction Yields $199M

Dealer-less London sale smashes records

(Newser) - Damien Hirst sold 223 pieces of artwork for $199 million by the end of a two-day auction yesterday, shattering the record for most revenue in an auction of a single artist’s work, Forbes reports. The previous mark was held by Pablo Picasso, with 88 sold for $20 million in...

Dow Plunges 449 Points
 Dow Plunges 449 Points 
MARKETS

Dow Plunges 449 Points

SEC moves to restrict short selling

(Newser) - Stocks plummeted again today as insecurity about the financial system gripped the markets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The AIG bailout proved to be of little comfort to traders, who quickly began betting on the next big firm to fall. The Dow closed down 449.36 points to 10,609....

Feds Search for WaMu Buyer
 Feds Search for WaMu Buyer 

Feds Search for WaMu Buyer

Falling share price stokes worries of a bank run

(Newser) - Washington Mutual, America's largest savings and loan, may be the next big financial institution to fail, the New York Post reports. Fearing a run on the struggling bank, federal regulators placed calls yesterday gauging interest in a WaMu buyout to Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, and others, but no...

Hank and Ben: Time to Play Offense
 Hank and Ben: 
 Time to Play Offense 
OPINION

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...

McCain Fumbles for Right Tone on Economy
McCain Fumbles for Right Tone on Economy
ANALYSIS

McCain Fumbles for Right Tone on Economy

Seeks to overcome charges he's out of touch, can't see trouble

(Newser) - John McCain struck his latest discordant note on Monday when he described the economy's fundamentals as "strong" even as the financial system shuddered under hammer blows. McCain swiftly backpedaled, calling America's workers its fundamentals, but the issue highlights the candidate's struggle to overcome Democratic charges that he's out of...

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...

Paulson, Wall Street Execs Let Lehman Die

11th-hour meeting exhausted all possible rescue options for investment firm

(Newser) - As the dust settles on Wall Street, details of the final frantic negotiations on Lehman Brothers reveal that Henry Paulson’s opposition to a government bailout ultimately sealed the investment bank’s fate, the Journal reports. Paulson summoned an emergency meeting of 30 Wall Street executives Friday to definitively state...

AIG Seeks $40B Fed Loan in Bid to Prevent Collapse

Insurance giant tries to stave off credit downgrade, aims to sell assets

(Newser) - In yet another Wall Street meltdown, floundering insurance giant American International Group has turned to the federal government in a bid to stave off a threatened credit-rating downgrade that could trigger the firm’s immediate collapse, reports the New York Times. AIG has requested a $40 billion bridge loan from...

Wait on Rate Hikes Until Crisis Eases
Wait on Rate Hikes Until
Crisis Eases
OPINION

Wait on Rate Hikes Until Crisis Eases

Fed should ignore critics, hold its ground until markets rebound

(Newser) - Critics claim the Federal Reserve has been too eager to cut interest rates, and that lax policy has exacerbated inflation. But the Fed should hold its ground, Desmond Lachman argues in the American, until the housing and credit markets are clearly on the rebound. The credit crunch has prompted banks...

Fannie-Freddie Merger: The Math Adds Up
Fannie-Freddie Merger:
The Math Adds Up
OPINION

Fannie-Freddie Merger: The Math Adds Up

As both companies plummet, combining them might make sense

(Newser) - With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac struggling to stay afloat, arguments for a merger are gathering steam. “Sometimes size can be a strength,” writes Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times. The companies spent $1.825 billion in total overhead in the first half of 2008 doing...

Darling: British Economy Is at 60-Year Low

UK economic chief bluntly warns of harder times ahead

(Newser) - The outlook for Britain's economy is the bleakest since the days when the country was rebuilding from the Blitz, Chancellor Alistair Darling tells the Guardian. Darling warns that the downturn for the UK and the wider world could be "more profound and longer-lasting" than people expect. He acknowledges that...

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