financial crisis

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New AIG CEO's Salary: $7M
 New AIG CEO's Salary: $7M 
Aug 18, 2009 10:05 AM CDT

New AIG CEO's Salary: $7M

Figure makes a mockery of government's 'populist image': blogger

(Newser) - The new CEO of AIG is bringing home $7 million a year to restore the bailed-out firm to health, Bloomberg reports. Robert Benmosche will receive $3 million in cash and $4 million in common stock, a regulatory filing notes. “The cash component had to be enough to attract a...

Southern Lender Becomes Year's Biggest Bank Failure

(Newser) - Alabama's Colonial Bank has collapsed in the sixth-biggest bank failure in American history, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lender, which had assets of $25 billion and 346 branches in five southern states, was an aggressive mortgage lender in overheated markets like Florida, and its failure will cost the FDIC ...

Change the Fed, Keep Bernanke

 Change the Fed, 
 Keep Bernanke 
OPINION
Aug 14, 2009 6:52 AM CDT

Change the Fed, Keep Bernanke

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is ripe for some major changes everywhere but at the top, Steven Pearlstein writes for the Washington Post. It's finally clear that the job "involves a lot more than adjusting interest rates," and we've seen the drain that happened when we "left the previous...

Economy Is Only Recovering on Paper
Economy Is Only
Recovering on Paper
Analysis
Aug 12, 2009 9:03 AM CDT

Economy Is Only Recovering on Paper

(Newser) - If you’re the glass-half-full type, recent economic indicators look good: Unemployment fell last month, the savings rate is up, and productivity hit a 6-year high. But that same data proves that ordinary people aren’t likely to feel the good vibrations anytime soon, the Washington Post reports. “It's...

AIG Chief Takes Holiday After 2 Days on Job

(Newser) - Robert Benmosche has been at the head of AIG for 48 hours now, so naturally it's time for a vacation. The new CEO of the four-times-bailed-out insurer is leaving for his 8,000-square foot villa on the Adriatic for the next two weeks. "It’s probably not a propitious...

Cities Prop Up Homeless Camps
 Cities Prop Up 
 Homeless Camps 
Aug 11, 2009 11:19 AM CDT

Cities Prop Up Homeless Camps

Squeezed shelters, recession prompt local government tolerance

(Newser) - With room tight in homeless shelters, municipalities across the US are allowing tent cities to stand—after years spent breaking up homeless clusters, the Wall Street Journal reports. In some areas, the encampments are even supplied with basic services like portable toilets and medical care. “There is no place...

Alaska's Legislature Overrides Palin Stimulus Veto

Legislature barely hits rare 75% consensus

(Newser) - Alaska’s legislature voted yesterday to override Sarah Palin’s veto of $28 million in stimulus cash to defray energy costs, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Such an override requires the support of 75% of votes; the measure passed by a hair. “Instead of being the last state in...

US Banks Hiring Again After Layoffs, Bailouts

But headhunting 'selective,' notes banker

(Newser) - After cutting thousands of jobs over the past two years, American banks are rushing to fill them again as business picks up, Reuters reports. “Back in March and April, no one really knew if the investment banking business was going to exist again," said a search firm exec....

Small Banks May Need More Fed Aid

(Newser) - The Treasury may have to expand its toxic asset programs and repeat stress tests, particularly for smaller banks, a US bailout watchdog panel finds. While larger banks have begun to recover, smaller financial institutions remain exposed to billions in losses from outstanding commercial property loans and are still unable to...

Big Government Prevented Great Depression II
Big Government Prevented Great Depression II
OPINION
Aug 10, 2009 8:22 AM CDT

Big Government Prevented Great Depression II

...And Republicans kept demanding that it step aside and allow it

(Newser) - The economy isn’t in great shape, but we’re going to avoid Great Depression II, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. “What saved us? The answer, basically, is big government.” Unlike the private sector, the government didn’t decrease spending as its income decreased, which...

Only 2nd Stimulus Can Save US: Stiglitz
Only 2nd Stimulus Can Save US: Stiglitz
OPINION
Aug 10, 2009 7:12 AM CDT

Only 2nd Stimulus Can Save US: Stiglitz

But Wall Street bailout has made it a dirty word, writes economist

(Newser) - Pundits can't help but ask whether the winter's fiscal stimulus has failed, and for Joseph Stiglitz it has—because the Obama administration made "political compromises that caused it to be less effective than it could have been." For the Nobel Prize-winning economist, there is no option but a...

Job Losses Slow, Unemployment Dips to 9.4%

(Newser) - Job losses slowed more than expected last month, and unemployment fell from 9.5% to 9.4% in its first dip since April 2008, the Labor Department announced today, marking another strong positive sign for the economy. Payrolls fell by 247,000, a big improvement over the 443,000 lost...

White House Weighs 'Bad Bank' Fix for Fannie, Freddie

(Newser) - The White House’s National Economic Council will meet today to discuss a drastic overhaul of beleaguered nationalized mortgage dealers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Washington Post reports. Among other proposals, officials are contemplating a “good bank, bad bank” split. Fannie and Freddie would dump their troubled loans...

Feds Probe Goldman's Pay Practices

(Newser) - Federal agencies are taking a close look at Goldman Sachs' pay practices and use of credit instruments as the firm's profits rebound to record-breaking levels, the Los Angeles Times reports. The company, which says it is complying with the dual investigations, has paid back its $10 billion TARP loan, but...

Wall Street Rakes in $1B in Fees on AIG Breakup

Morgan Stanley set to pocket $250M in 'advisory services'

(Newser) - The crumbling of AIG forced taxpayers to take on 80% of the company, but breaking the insurance giant up is turning out to be a bonanza for lawyers and banks. The Wall Street Journal calculates that firms will pull in $1 billion in fees from AIG and the Fed—one...

Clock Runs Out on Arena Football League

Owners can't reach agreement on new financial model

(Newser) - The Arena Football League, which canceled its 2009 season to work on its financial model, won’t be back, barring a big surprise. A team official says the league voted to indefinitely suspend operations, and a formal announcement should come soon, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Owners couldn’t agree on...

Dow Up 115 on Manufacturing
 Dow Up 115 on Manufacturing 
MARKETS
Aug 3, 2009 3:11 PM CDT

Dow Up 115 on Manufacturing

Oil hits $71.2 a barrel, highest price in a month

(Newser) - Stocks rallied today on signs of a turnaround for US manufacturing, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil rose $2.13, to $71.27 per barrel, its highest price in a month, and banks HSBC and Barclays reported strong quarterly earnings. The Dow closed up 114.95 to settle at 9,...

Tax Revenue Takes Biggest Dive Since Great Depression

(Newser) - US tax revenue is set to shrink 18% from last fiscal year to the current one, ending in October—the largest falloff since 1932, the AP reports. Individual income-tax receipts are off 22%, and corporate revenues have sunk an astounding 57%. “Our tax system is already inadequate to support...

Trading Rules Help Wall Street Pick Fed's Pocket

Transparency concerns let banks pick Bernanke's pocket

(Newser) - Banks across Wall Street have made hefty profits trading with the Federal Reserve—often their only customer as the financial crisis ground trading to a halt—and government officials and finance execs are now asking whether Ben Bernanke is making tough enough deals. The central bank, unlike individual or corporate...

Dow Up 17 to End Best Month Since '02
 Dow Up 17 to End 
 Best Month Since '02 
MARKETS
Jul 31, 2009 3:15 PM CDT

Dow Up 17 to End Best Month Since '02

Nasdaq falls in today's session, but enjoys big monthly gains

(Newser) - Data which showed a slowing pace of decline for US gross domestic products fueled modest advances in the markets today, with the Dow finishing its best month since October 2002, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bank of America and Alcoa paced advancers, and the Dow closed up 17.15 at...

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