credit crisis

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Fed Extends Emergency Loan Program for Wall Street

Bernanke offers several options for cash-strapped firms

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today extended its emergency borrowing program for Wall Street firms through Jan. 30. Originally the program, through which investment houses can tap the central bank for a quick source of cash, was supposed to last until mid-September. Another program, where banks can temporarily swap more risky investments...

Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record

Consumer confidence numbers offer ray of hope

(Newser) - Home prices continued to nosedive in May, a signal that the housing crisis may be worsening and a red flag for the credit markets and Wall Street, reports the New York Times. Every region covered by the S&P/Case-Schiller home-price index showed a drop compared to May 2007, with the...

Credit Crunch Squeezes Student Loans

As private funds dry up, families look to feds to pay for college tuition

(Newser) - The slump in the credit markets has shrunk capital available to brokers of student loans, complicating the already-difficult task of financing a college education. The Boston Globe relates the story of one Massachusetts family, the Ferragutos, who received word this year from the state’s education finance agency informing them...

Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street
Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street
ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2008 5:56 AM CDT

Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street

A year into crisis, analysts redefine once-shocking news as not so bad

(Newser) - Yesterday's announcements of multibillion-dollar losses at Wachovia and Washington Mutual were only the latest poundings since the credit crisis took hold a year ago. Yet Wall Street, its expectations at rock bottom, cheered the reports because they could have been worse. Shares in WaMu, which posted a $3.3 billion...

Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders
Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders
OPINION
Jul 19, 2008 3:10 PM CDT

Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders

Small savers are suffering, but giving financiers a free ride

(Newser) - America's financiers have driven the country into crisis with stunning recklessness, James Grant writes in the Wall Street Journal, but public anger seems strangely dormant. Populist politicians railed against Wall Street during past financial crises, Grant notes, but today's politicians appear largely uninterested in taking aim at the easy target.

Merrill Posts $4.65B Loss in Dismal 2nd Quarter

Third biggest American firm posts dismal second quarter

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch posted a second-quarter loss of $4.65 billion late yesterday, more than twice the second-quarter loss analysts had expected and one of the worst in the brokerage's history. The firm took a hit of $9.7 billion in credit-market writedowns, reports Bloomberg, on top of some $30 billion...

Fierce Lobbying Deflected Warnings on Fannie, Freddie

Mortgage giants deflected calls for stricter capital requirements

(Newser) - For years, critics have warned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s special status as government-sponsored enterprises allowed them to shoulder risk far beyond their minimal capitalization requirements, the Washington Post reports. The firms have used their unique position in the financial system, and high-intensity lobbying efforts, to quash any...

Fannie/Freddie Troubles Signal Sea Change in Gov't Role

Feds now effectively the only lender in town

(Newser) - The teetering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has underscored a major shift in US finance, writes Peter S. Goodman in the New York Times—once simply another guarantor, the government has effectively become the only lender in town "for millions of Americans engaged in the largest transactions of...

Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump
 Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump 
Jul 9, 2008 7:10 PM CDT

Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump

Growth slow, but still up; unemployment below average—no dot-com bust here

(Newser) - Despite malaise in most sectors of the economy, the technology industry is weathering the downturn well, USA Today reports. Sales are up only 3% this year over 2007—a mediocre result, considering the industry usually grows by more than 10%—but with tech unemployment at 3.9% compared to 5....

Baffled Execs Say Rumor Killed Stearns
 Baffled Execs Say
 Rumor Killed
 Stearns 
glossies
Jul 5, 2008 12:06 PM CDT

Baffled Execs Say Rumor Killed Stearns

They claim hedge funds, Goldman Sachs invented bad news for profit

(Newser) - Bear Stearns' collapse and shotgun marriage to JP Morgan were sparked by little more than a rumor, Vanity Fair reports. True, the investment bank had stumbled—a $1.6 billion bailout of troubled funds hurt its image—but whispers of liquidity problems were false: Bear had $18 billion in cash...

Tough Job Market May Last Through Late 2009

'Slow motion' recession will continue to pare jobs

(Newser) - US jobs are eroding and they're unlikely to rebound until late 2009, reports the New York Times. May’s 5.5% unemployment rate is a point higher than a year ago and the 9.7% underemployed rate is up from 8.3% in May 2007, reports the Labor Department—which...

A Year On, Credit Crisis Lingers
 A Year On, 
 Credit Crisis
 Lingers 
ANALYSIS
Jul 1, 2008 7:09 AM CDT

A Year On, Credit Crisis Lingers

'Vicious circle' threatens broader economy

(Newser) - Despite assurances from some experts that the credit crisis would be short-lived, the forecast remains bleak after more than a year of frustrations, the New York Times reports. In a “vicious circle,” falling home prices lead to more bad loans, which makes credit harder to get so that...

Citi's Blahs Make Little Dent
 Citi's Blahs Make Little Dent 
MARKETS
Jun 19, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

Citi's Blahs Make Little Dent

Drop in oil prices help stocks finish slightly higher

(Newser) - Stocks posted moderate gains today as oil futures dropped below $135 per barrel on news of China's move to raise prices by trimming subsidies, MarketWatch reports. With traders little moved by warnings of further writedowns ahead for Citigroup, the Dow closed up 34.03, at 12,063.09. The Nasdaq...

Banks Play Hide-and-Seek With Bum Loans

Changing definition, moving mortgages to subsidiaries among tactics

(Newser) - Banks are increasingly finding creative ways to lessen the impact of shaky loans on their bottom lines, shifting them to subsidiaries or changing their definition of non-performing, the Wall Street Journal reports—a legal, if not exactly confidence-inducing, strategy. "Spending all the time gaming the system rather than addressing...

Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy
Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy
ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy

Pessimism could lead to real recession

(Newser) - The economy, statistically speaking, is sluggish, but hardly Great Depression-like—though American consumers seem to disagree, the Washington Post reports. They're paying more for everything from gasoline to grapefruit, are watching the value of their homes decline and fear their jobs may be disappearing—which, policy-makers worry, could breed behaviors...

Barclays Seeks $7.8B From Sovereign Wealth Funds

UK bank's stock soars as investors support plan to recapitalize

(Newser) - The UK’s fourth-largest bank, Barclays, is looking to raise capital by issuing $7.8 billion in new equity, underwritten by sovereign wealth funds, the London Times reports. The announcement sent shares soaring in trading today. Barclays has been rumored for weeks to be considering a cash infusion, joining a...

Citi Pulls Plug on Hedge Fund CEO Founded

Lackluster returns and management defections seal fate of Vikram's Old Lane

(Newser) - Citigroup will close Old Lane Partners, a hedge fund co-founded by CEO Vikram Pandit, after months of lackluster returns and the loss of its top managers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The investment bank bought the fund’s management group for $800 million less than a year ago; Citi will...

Lehman Posts $2.8B Loss, Stuns Wall St.

Investors fear that banks, securities firms still in trouble

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers shocked Wall Street today by posting a $2.8 billion quarterly loss, its first in 14 years and far worse than expected, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other downmarket reports added to investor anxiety, sent stocks falling, and boosted fears that banks and securities firms remain troubled. As...

US Economy Isn't Bouncing Back
 US Economy Isn't
 Bouncing Back 
analysis
Jun 8, 2008 5:11 PM CDT

US Economy Isn't Bouncing Back

Fed cuts, stimulus package won't do the trick

(Newser) - Forget those predictions of a US economic revival in 2008, Daniel Gross writes in Newsweek. The four horsemen of the economy—credit and housing crises, food and energy prices—are getting meaner, while booming commodities and crunching credit are curbing attempts to fight back. "As a result, the consumer-driven...

Financials Key Downward Spiral
 Financials Key Downward Spiral 
MARKETS
Jun 2, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

Financials Key Downward Spiral

Executive shuffles at WaMu, Wachovia give market jitters

(Newser) - Financials keyed major market losses as high-level personnel shuffles at Wachovia and Washington Mutual, plus a report by Standard and Poor that downgraded the ratings of several prominent banks, disconcerted investors, MarketWatch notes. The Dow lost 134.50 to settle at 12,503.82, and the Nasdaq lost 31.13,...

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