Ben Bernanke

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Obama to Launch Radical Bank Reform
Obama to Launch Radical Bank Reform
Jun 14, 2009 9:51 AM CDT

Obama to Launch Radical Bank Reform

Changes will be the most ambitious since the Great Depression

(Newser) - President Obama will unveil next week sweeping new changes to the nation’s governance of troubled financial institutions, the AP reports. Unlike Washington’s temporary ownership stake in automakers and major financial companies, the new regulatory protocol will be permanent and will present the most ambitious revision since the 1930s....

Economists See High Unemployment Through 2010

(Newser) - Economists think the US unemployment rate will stay above 9% through 2010, the Wall Street Journal survey finds. Accordingly, those in the know believe the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates down at least through spring. “For real people, there is no recovery until the unemployment rate stabilizes,”...

Feds Put 'Gun to Head' of BofA's Lewis on Merger

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson may have leaned on Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis too heavily last year when he tried to back out of a deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, say congressional investigators. In fact, a GOP briefing document says the two Bush officals "put a gun...

Bernanke Sees Slow Recovery, Despite Positive Signs

Still hopes economy will grow by year's end

(Newser) - The US has a long way to go before the economy returns to full health, despite hopeful signs, Ben Bernanke told the House budget committee today. “Recovery will only gradually gain momentum and that economic slack will diminish slowly,” the Fed chairman said. With businesses cautious, “the...

'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed
'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed
OPINION
May 28, 2009 8:22 AM CDT

'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed

Low-key chair deserves chance to stay on, clean up: Ignatius

(Newser) - Barack Obama has a huge decision coming up this summer: whether to reappoint Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Fed or turn to obvious challenger Lawrence Summers. If he’s smart, he’ll stick with the soft-spoken incumbent, writes David Ignatius of the Washington Post. “He has been a...

From Ashes of Recession, a Reshaped Fed Will Rise

The Fed stands to gain some powers and lose others

(Newser) - Among the myriad things that will be reshaped by the current economic crisis is the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steps the Fed has taken to stave off further economic turmoil have made it more vulnerable than it has been in years: If a lasting recovery takes...

Fed Knew of AIG Bonuses 5 Months Before Storm

Geithner's New York Fed planned for controversy in Sept. '08

(Newser) - Senior officials at the New York Federal Reserve knew about AIG's plans to pay large bonuses more than 5 months before controversy erupted, according to documents seen by the Washington Post. Correspondence and phone records show that the central bank was working with AIG, lawyers, auditors, and PR firms to...

This Rally Is for Suckers, Courtesy of the Fed
This Rally Is for Suckers, Courtesy of the Fed
OPINION
May 12, 2009 9:37 AM CDT

This Rally Is for Suckers, Courtesy of the Fed

(Newser) - The Dow has soared a whopping 30% since March 9, but Andy Kessler doesn’t think the good times are here again. “This sure smells to me like a sucker’s rally,” he writes in the Wall Street Journal. Earnings aren’t up. The market is just responding...

Bernanke: Risks Remain Despite Stress Tests

But Fed chief is encouraged by bank response

(Newser) - Big banks' response to "stress tests" has been encouraging but they will need to watch out for risks not covered by the tests, Ben Bernanke warned regulators yesterday. The Fed chief—signaling that investment giants like Goldman Sachs can expect tighter scrutiny—said banks should self-test for potentially disastrous...

Stress Tests Are Done: 10 Banks Must Raise $75B

(Newser) - It's official: The stress-test results are out, and the feds say 10 of the nation's 19 biggest banks need to raise a total of $75 billion in capital to weather a future downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. The banks, five of which are regional, are:
  • Bank of America: $33.
...

Stress-Tested Banks Need Just $100B

Investors find causes for optimism in capitalization news

(Newser) - Leaked results of the stress tests on America's biggest banks separate sufficiently capitalized banks—including JPMorgan Chase, MetLife, AmEx, and Goldman Sachs—from underfunded ones such as BofA, Wells Fargo, and Citi. Bank shares rose sharply yesterday and today, and some investors said the results were better than they feared....

Bernanke Sees Economy Stabilizing

But not going to improve quickly

(Newser) - It looks like the economy is stabilizing, Ben Bernanke told the congressional Joint Economic Committee today, but recovery won’t be quick, and there are still “sizable job losses” on the horizon. “We continue to expect economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year,...

BofA CEO Says Feds Urged Silence on Merrill Losses

Shareholders kept in the dark to ensure deal

(Newser) - Bank of America's CEO felt pressured by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury chief Henry Paulson to withhold details of last year's Merrill Lynch acquisition from shareholders, including mounting losses at Merrill that triggered a $20 billion bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. BofA CEO Ken Lewis said in testimony...

Bernanke's PR Campaign Strips Fed Mystique

Fed chief considering press briefings as part of push for more open central bank

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke is breaking from his predecessors at the Federal Reserve by giving the public a less obstructed view of the Fed's role in the big picture, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bernanke, thrust into the spotlight by the financial crisis, has ditched the man-behind-the-curtain mystique earlier chiefs reveled in...

Dow Drops 138
 Dow Drops 138 
MARKETS
Apr 14, 2009 3:26 PM CDT

Dow Drops 138

Retail report also drives declines

(Newser) - Stocks sank today on a 1.1% drop in retail sales for March, and losses deepened after both President Obama and Ben Bernanke gave speeches cautioning against undue economic optimism, the Wall Street Journal reports. Both acknowledged “tentative signs” of recovery but stressed the long road ahead. The Dow...

Fed to Banks: Keep Quiet on Stress Tests

Officials worry leaked results will cause market chaos

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is adopting a loose-lips-sink-ships policy when it comes to the “stress tests” being administered to big US financial firms. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and others have been ordered to keep quiet about their financial report cards, Bloomberg reports. Officials fear that should those results leak, investors would...

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Takeover Powers

Defends actions during AIG bailout

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner today asked Congress for expanded power to take the helm of big, failing  institutions like AIG and wind them down in an orderly fashion, Reuters reports. “AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner said in unusually spirited testimony before the House Financial Services Committee....

Disgraced Credit Raters See Windfall in Fed Plan

Moody's, S&P could earn big rating Fed bond deals

(Newser) - Credit-rating companies faulted for their role in creating the financial crisis could rake in more than $1 billion in Ben Bernanke’s new plan to prop up the financial system, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed is planning $7 billion worth of bond deals, and they'll need the approval...

Fed Nearly Exhausts Options
 Fed Nearly 
 Exhausts Options  
Analysis
Mar 18, 2009 8:53 AM CDT

Fed Nearly Exhausts Options

With rates at 0%, politically unsavory buying program only tool left

(Newser) - The Fed is almost sure to leave the federal funds rate alone today, mostly because, at about 0%, it literally can’t go any lower. So with deflation still looming, what’s Ben Bernanke to do? One Goldman Sachs analyst says the Fed needs to shave the equivalent of 8...

'Massive' Asset Purchases Likely Loom for Bernanke

Fed expected to step up purchase of mortgage securities

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is expected to step up its buying of mortgage securities after policymakers meet today and tomorrow, Bloomberg reports. The outlook for the economy and job market has gotten bleaker since the Federal Open Market Committee last met 6 weeks ago and analysts believe Ben Bernanke is likely...

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