financial crisis

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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...

Beyoncé Hit Is Soundtrack for More Market Chaos: Prof

Analysis of pop charts finds steady songs predict turbulent finance

(Newser) - Beyoncé’s smash hit "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" might be the harbinger of continued chaos in the financial markets, the Guardian reports. Hit songs with steady, regular rhythms—or “low beat variance”—throughout correlate with volatility in the American markets, an NYU professor...

Citi Denies Rumors CEO Is on Chopping Block

Feds have criticized Pandit's strategy; company likely to see $6B quarterly loss

(Newser) - Even as it prepares a fourth-quarter report that’s expected to miss its target by billions, Citigroup says CEO Vikram Pandit’s job is safe, the Wall Street Journal reports. Pandit’s barely had the job a year, but rumors have flown he’d be a casualty of the company’...

Jobs to Ditch Before the Recession Does It for You

Auto industry, real estate among worst fields

(Newser) - Want to keep your job this year? Steer clear of these professions, which a new study says will be hard-hit by the recession, Australia's News Network reports:
  • Car salesperson
  • Real estate agent
  • Investment banker
  • Prawn fisherman

Cheap and Comforting: Food Trends for 2009
Cheap and Comforting:
Food Trends for 2009
GLOSSIES
Jan 11, 2009 9:34 AM CST

Cheap and Comforting: Food Trends for 2009

Gourmet outlines how we'll eat well in the downturn

(Newser) - With a recession weighing on our minds (and wallets), Gourmet breaks down new home cooking trends for 2009:
  • Drinking will, unsurprisingly, be on the rise, with a wider variety of high-end spirits for simple homemade cocktails.
  • Simple ingredients like large beans will be central in a new wave of easy,
...

Don't Say 'Recession,' Say 'Recovery'

Obama uses focus groups, polls to sell stimulus package

(Newser) - It’s not “infrastructure,” it’s an “investment.” It’s not a “recession,” it’s a “recovery.” Such are the pearls of wisdom Team Obama is spreading to congressional allies, Bloomberg reports. Gleaned from focus-group research and polling, these linguistic tweaks are...

Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143
 Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143 
MARKETS
Jan 9, 2009 3:26 PM CST

Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143

Index down 4.8% since Monday

(Newser) - Stocks posted losses today as news that US unemployment hit 7.2% moved the markets to the finish of a dismal week, MarketWatch reports. The Dow lost 143.28 to close at 8,599.18, with losses perhaps limited because investors were expecting the bad jobs news. The Nasdaq fell...

Companies Fly to Unload Private Planes

Putting jets on block may be more about image than money

(Newser) - The business-jet industry couldn’t have asked for worse PR than members of Congress ripping auto executives for traveling by company plane to beg for taxpayer money. By the time the Big Three execs returned—by hybrid car—to Washington, the corporate jet was a symbol of bloated corporate excess,...

Former Fugitive Marc Rich Lost With Madoff

Disgraced financier's latest victim is a disgraced financier

(Newser) - Many of Bernard Madoff’s former clients are seeking legal recourse to recover their money, but onetime fugitive Marc Rich likely won’t be among them, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times. Rich, who lost $10 million to $15 million through a third party who invested with...

Report Rips TARP Strategy (or Lack Thereof)

Failure to track funds or evaluate effectiveness troubles panel

(Newser) - So much for transparency. A blistering draft report being issued by a congressional oversight panel today says Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system and failed to answer questions asked by the watchdog group, the Wall Street Journal reports. But worse still, it’s done...

Lehman to Spin Off $4.5B Private Equity Arm

A strategy of hold and manage, rather than sell into weakness, has emerged

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers, bleeding out but not quite dead, will spin out its private equity arm into an independent firm, which will take on new investment from a South African billionaire investor, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Lehman estate will retain a small interest in Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking, which...

Obama's Cure Not Potent Enough for Economic Ills

Call for bold action on economy followed by plan that falls a long way short

(Newser) - Barack Obama's call for aggressive action on the economy hasn’t been backed up by a plan bold enough to do the job, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. Plunging levels of investment and consumer spending will leave a gap of around $2 trillion between what America produces...

Dems Don't Like Obama Tax Cuts
Dems Don't Like Obama Tax Cuts
Jan 9, 2009 5:35 AM CST

Dems Don't Like Obama Tax Cuts

Hill leaders doubt plan's stimulus power, say prez-elect trying too hard to woo GOP

(Newser) - Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts are opening a rift with his former congressional colleagues, the Hill reports. Democratic lawmakers are skeptical as to whether the cuts—which are 40% of the proposed stimulus package—will give the economy the necessary boost. Some think the president-elect is trying too hard to...

Stocks Mixed on Retail News
 Stocks Mixed on Retail News 
MARKETS
Jan 8, 2009 3:32 PM CST

Stocks Mixed on Retail News

Wal-Mart falters, but Sears posts strong forecast

(Newser) - Stocks ended mixed today amid largely negative retail news and nervousness on unemployment, MarketWatch reports. Investors were shaken by poor December earnings and a reduced quarterly forecast posted by Wal-Mart, which managed to perform well through 2008. The Dow fell 27.24 to close at 8,742.46. The Nasdaq,...

Commercial Real-Estate Loans Begin to Sour

Once a bright spot, commercial paper is looking grim

(Newser) - Commercial real estate is beginning to feel the same pinch as the housing market, with delinquency rates rising in the fourth quarter and forecasts that they could reach the highest point in more than a decade by the end of 2009, reports the Wall Street Journal. Both individual mortgages held...

Obama Pitch: We're Doomed Without Stimulus

(Newser) - Barack Obama went for the hard sell today, making the case for his huge stimulus plan. “I don't believe it's too late to change course,” Obama said in a speech at George Mason University, “but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as...

'India's Enron' Imperils Booming Industry

$1B scandal threatens India's role as major outsourcing center for top companies

(Newser) - A $1 billion accounting fraud at Satyam is being described as India's Enron, and it could have a major impact on how Fortune 500 companies use Indian companies for outsourcing critical computer and IT functions, reports the Financial Times. The CEO of Satyam, India’s fourth-largest IT services company, resigned...

401(k) Decay Spurs Calls for Change
401(k) Decay Spurs Calls
for Change
Jan 8, 2009 10:17 AM CST

401(k) Decay Spurs Calls for Change

Critics question if plans are robust enough to survive tough times

(Newser) - Americans depending on 401(k) plans for their retirement have taken a hammering as the stock market plunged during the past year, prompting critics to question the shortcomings of the system, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some 50 million American have 401(k)s, and Congress is weighing a revamp. "It's so...

Cash-Strapped Calif. May Shorten School Year

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting a week out of the public school calendar, the latest desperate measure in California's struggle with a $41 billion budget shortfall. The Governator says the $1.1 billion savings will ward off other cuts to education, which makes up 40% of the state budget. Schools...

Porn Kings Want Federal Bailout

$5B sought to 'rejuvenate sexual appetite'

(Newser) - Recession depression has hampered America's sex drive, claim Larry Flynt (of Hustler fame) and Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild). The adult-entertainment kings want a federal bailout for slumping DVD sales, down 22% in the past year. Placing themselves alongside Detroit’s automakers in national importance, the duo says Congress should...

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