financial crisis

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Consumer Confidence Finds a New Low in January

Conference Board's index at half its year-ago value

(Newser) - Americans' mood about the economy darkened even more in January, sending a widely watched barometer of consumer sentiment to yet another new low as people worry about their jobs and watch their retirement funds dwindle. The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index edged down to 37.7 from a...

Geithner Cracks Down on Bailout Lobbyists

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner announced new rules cracking down on lobbyist influence over government bailout funds today, the Wall Street Journal reports. “American taxpayers deserve to know that their money is spent in the most effective way to stabilize the financial system,” the newly-minted Treasury secretary said. Contact with lobbyists...

Team Obama Nixes Citi's Private Jet Buy

Treasury tells bailed-out bank to ditch $50M plane

(Newser) - Hours after the New York Post trumpeted Citigroup's plan to go through with the purchase of $50 million, French-made private jet yesterday, Citigroup got a call from Treasury telling the bank to think again. The Obama administration has made a lot of noise about enforcing accountability on bailout funds, Politico...

Japan Throws $16.7B Lifeline
 Japan Throws $16.7B Lifeline 
Jan 27, 2009 7:03 AM CST

Japan Throws $16.7B Lifeline

The bailout aims to help smaller business outside of banking or corporate sectors

(Newser) - Following in the footsteps of America and Europe, Japan is offering $16.7 billion to companies threatened by the financial crisis, moving outside the banking sector to take equity stakes in smaller companies that otherwise can't find financing, the Financial Times reports. The 1.5 trillion yen package aims to...

25 People Responsible for the Crisis
25 People Responsible
for the Crisis
OPINION
Jan 26, 2009 3:25 PM CST

25 People Responsible for the Crisis

Greenspan, King, and Clinton all played a role, the Guardian writes

(Newser) - The current recession is a wholly man-made phenomenon, the Guardian reminds us, and they’ve got the names of those responsible. Here are four from their list of 25:
  • Alan Greenspan: Fed chair for 19 years, Greenspan kept interest rates low as the housing bubble developed, backed subprime lending and
...

Citigroup Drops $50M on Fancy Corporate Jet

... After taking $45B in federal bailout funds, fumes indignant Post

(Newser) - Citigroup may be going down in flames, but at least the seats will be nice. Citigroup is buying a brand-new $50 million corporate jet, the New York Post reports, headlining the sale, “JUST PLANE DESPICABLE,” on account of the $45 billion the company has received from Uncle Sam....

Dems Expect Fundraising Decline

Only consolation: GOP will probably do much worse

(Newser) - The economic slowdown is having its expected effect on Democratic fundraising, and the added effects of “donor fatigue” and the magnetic force that draws campaign cash to Barack Obama could leave them pinched for the next election cycle, Politico reports. But things could be worse—like they are for...

Finance Crisis Topples Iceland's Gov't

Leftist party likely to replace coalition; protests growing

(Newser) - Iceland’s coalition government collapsed today amid financial upheaval, with PM Geir Haarde planning to resign. “I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition. I believe that that would have been the best result,” he said. The coalition had been in turmoil since October, when...

Ousted Thain to Repay $1.2M Spent on Office

Lush renovation was a 'mistake,' says ex-Merrill CEO

(Newser) - Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain says he’ll repay the $1.2 million he spent on office renovations last year, Bloomberg reports. “The expenses were incurred over a year ago in a very different environment,” Thain wrote in a memo to Merrill execs. “They were a...

Just What Is an 'American' Car?
 Just What Is an 'American' Car? 
Analysis
Jan 26, 2009 11:02 AM CST

Just What Is an 'American' Car?

As automakers expand globally, just what helps US economy most?

(Newser) - Lawmakers hoping to give a boost to the American economy by investing in the auto industry might get as much bang for their buck by sinking money into Honda or Toyota as they would Ford, Chrysler, or General Motors, the Wall Street Journal notes. The auto industry has become too...

Home Prices Plunge Record 15.3%, Boosting Sales

Median US price was $175,400 in December, off 15.3%

(Newser) - US home prices took an unprecedented dive in December, Bloomberg reports, with prices of existing units dropping 15.3% over the same month last year—the biggest drop on record, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Sales, however, unexpectedly ticked up 6.5% in December, the National Association...

Big Banks' Lending Drops Despite Bailout Cash
Big Banks' Lending Drops
Despite Bailout Cash
ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2009 10:23 AM CST

Big Banks' Lending Drops Despite Bailout Cash

Banks say funds can't go straight to loans, and recession cuts down on would-be borrowers

(Newser) - Lending is down at some of the biggest beneficiaries of the $148 billion the Treasury hoped would get US banks lending again, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of 13 banks to receive major government backing, 10 saw a decline in their outstanding loan balances between the third and fourth quarters...

Congress Mulls Salary Freeze
 Congress Mulls Salary Freeze 
Jan 26, 2009 9:50 AM CST

Congress Mulls Salary Freeze

Both sides look to gain political capital in putting off raise

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s freeze on top White House salaries has put pressure on Congress to do the same for itself, reports Politico, but as with much on the Hill, that’s a lofty idea mired in the mud of political reality. Even those who support a pay freeze are scrambling...

Nationalizing Banks Looks More and More Likely
Nationalizing Banks Looks More and More Likely
Analysis
Jan 26, 2009 9:35 AM CST

Nationalizing Banks Looks More and More Likely

Case for Nationalization grows

(Newser) - Team Obama is coming closer and closer to using the N-word they've been studiously avoiding: nationalize. Already the government is the top shareholder at both Bank of America and Citigroup, and with both banks in freefall, many think buying the rest is the only option. “I would guess that...

US Biz Climate Worst in Nearly 3 Decades

Survey finds strapped firms are pessimistic about 2009

(Newser) - A deepening recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 has business conditions for US firms at their worst levels in 27 years, reports Reuters. A National Association of Business Economics survey also showed decreasing expectations for a turnaround in 2009, with most poll respondents expecting the recession to worsen and...

Congress Wants to Boost Fed's Oversight Role

But giving the agency power could stretch it thin, expose it to politics

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve would become more powerful under a congressional plan to give it increased oversight of banks, investment firms, insurance companies, hedge funds, and other firms that have enough economic clout to affect the entire US financial system, reports the Washington Post. “We need to give some regulator...

All Options on Table in Fight to Halt Foreclosure
All Options on Table in Fight to Halt Foreclosure
ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2009 8:54 AM CST

All Options on Table in Fight to Halt Foreclosure

Obama considering moratorium, gov't-sponsored refinancing

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering plans to stem the tide of foreclosures ranging from doubling the mortgage interest deduction to a six-month foreclosure moratorium to government-sponsored refinancing, reports the Los Angeles Times. But a strategy is still at least several weeks away and, regardless of what bandages are applied, “...

Home Depot Hacks 7K Jobs
 Home Depot Hacks 7K Jobs 
Jan 26, 2009 8:36 AM CST

Home Depot Hacks 7K Jobs

Home-improvement giant having rough time in slow housing market

(Newser) - Home Depot says it's cutting 7,000 jobs and closing its smaller Expo chain as the recession continues to batter the nation's housing market. The nation's largest home-improvement retailer says the cuts announced this morning will affect about 2% of its workforce. Its core Home Depot stores won't be affected.

Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs
 Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs 
Jan 26, 2009 7:50 AM CST

Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs

Don't they know Obama wants to heap money on infrastructure?

(Newser) - Caterpillar Inc will cut 20,000 jobs—or 18% of its workforce—after posting a 32% drop in fourth-quarter income, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We were whipsawed in the fourth quarter,” said CEO Jim Owens. “Key industries were hit by a rapidly deteriorating global economy.”...

Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B
 Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B 
Jan 26, 2009 6:11 AM CST

Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B

Merger would be largest pharma deal since GlaxoWellcome-SmithKline 2000 merger

(Newser) - The world’s largest drugmaker, Pfizer, is poised to become even more gargantuan after it agreed early this morning to buy rival Wyeth for $68 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal. In the first major merger to hit Wall Street in months, Pfizer will borrow $22.5 billion from four...

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