Federal Reserve

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Good News: We've Hit Bottom!
Good News: We've Hit Bottom!
Analysis
Jul 24, 2009 9:13 AM CDT

Good News: We've Hit Bottom!

Of course, the bad news is: We've hit bottom!

(Newser) - Former Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder has some good news and some bad news about the economy, and it’s the same news: We’ve hit bottom. Third-quarter GDP should turn positive, and the fourth quarter could even hold an upside surprise. Growth of 3% or even 4% is utterly...

Paulson: BofA-Merrill Deal Saved US From 'Great Peril'

Actions saved nation from 'great peril,' he says

(Newser) - Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says his role in Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch was appropriate and necessary, MarketWatch reports. “I am confident that our responses were substantially correct and that they saved this nation from great peril,” Paulson told a House oversight committee today...

Recession Will Cost More Jobs, End 'Before Long': Fed

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is confident the general economy is turning around but still pessimistic on the jobs part, the Wall Street Journal reports. In June meeting minutes issued today, those gathered agreed that data since April “indicated that the economic contraction was slowing and that the decline in activity...

Krugman to Obama: I Told You So
Krugman
to Obama:
I Told You So
OPINION
Jul 10, 2009 10:23 AM CDT

Krugman to Obama: I Told You So

Bush-style hedging on possible 2nd stimulus isn't helping anyone

(Newser) - A second economic stimulus package looks increasingly necessary, and President Obama may get "caught in a political-economic trap" if he doesn't act soon, warns Paul Krugman in the New York Times. The Fed is out of the picture, and the White House has to deal with legislators convinced that...

Troubled Banks Have a New Benefactor: You

Industry hikes fees on checking accounts, overdraft transactions

(Newser) - Your children aren’t the only ones who think you’re an ATM: Your bank does, too. Facing declining revenues and smacked with tough, new credit card legislation from Congress, banks are hiking overdraft, ATM, and checking account fees, the Washington Post reports. The average bounced check fee rose 2....

Bernanke Denies Threatening BofA Boss Over Merrill

He battles accusations that he strongarmed he company

(Newser) - On Capitol Hill today, Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke denied he threatened the job of Bank of America’s CEO when Ken Lewis hesitated on the Merrill Lynch merger last fall, CNNMoney reports. “I did not tell Bank of America’s management that the Federal Reserve would take action...

Dow Off 23 on Fed Rate News
 Dow Off 23 on Fed Rate News 
MARKETS
Jun 24, 2009 3:09 PM CDT

Dow Off 23 on Fed Rate News

(Newser) - Markets were mixed today as positive economic indicators and surging tech stocks battled with a Fed announcement that interest rates would be held near zero, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow lost early momentum, but the Nasdaq flourished. “We’ve basically come through a panic phase,” an...

Fed Keeps Interest Rates at Record Low

Economy picking up, but not enough that inflation is a worry

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve says the recession is easing, but that the economy likely will remain weak and keep a lid on inflation. Against this backdrop, the Fed held a key bank lending rate at a record low of between 0% and 0.25%, and pledged again to keep it there...

Fed Mulls Overhaul of Overnight Lending

May create new entity to replace loan clearing banks

(Newser) - The Fed is planning an overhaul of the repurchase markets involved in banks’ overnight trading—including the creation of a new unit to oversee transactions, the Financial Times reports. Such a facility would take the place of clearing banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, that currently act as middlemen for loans,...

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
ANALYSIS
Jun 19, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power

After decades of deference, legislators turn on central bank

(Newser) - Tim Geithner testified before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, but as the Washington Post reports, it's not the Treasury but the Fed whose growing powers most worry legislators. Republicans and Democrats are both venting that Ben Bernanke's office did little to stop the excesses of the boom years, only to...

Obama Proposes More Powerful Fed

(Newser) - President Obama today proposed broad new powers for the Federal Reserve and the creation of new national regulator to ensure against another financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the new plan, the Fed would oversee all components of any banking concern, even its foreign affiliates, and Treasury would...

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation
Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation
INTERVIEW
Jun 17, 2009 6:07 AM CDT

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation

Oversight measures aim for 'minimum' to avoid meltdown

(Newser) - Today Barack Obama will announce a major financial reform package that will give the Fed, Treasury, and FDIC new powers of regulation and oversight. It's the most substantial shift in financial regulations since the 1930s—but stops short of some of the most radical proposals, including tough limits on derivatives...

Dow Off 107 on Weak Data
 Dow Off 107 on Weak Data 
MARKETS
Jun 16, 2009 3:27 PM CDT

Dow Off 107 on Weak Data

More poor manufacturing news saps stocks

(Newser) - Stocks fell further today as markets absorbed more poor economic data, the Wall Street Journal reports. National industrial production fell 1.1% in May, the Federal Reserve announced. The Dow Jones producer-price index rose only 0.2% in May, short of the expected 0.6% increase. The Dow lost 107....

It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy
It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy
OPINION
Jun 15, 2009 9:42 AM CDT

It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy

If Washington cuts off the cash, recession will worsen: Krugman

(Newser) - With critics prematurely calling on Washington to scale back financial rescue efforts, economic history fans see “déjà vu all over again,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. This is the third time a major economy has been stuck in a liquidity trap, and both previous...

Geithner, Summers Outline New Regulatory System
Geithner, Summers Outline New Regulatory System
OPINION
Jun 15, 2009 8:33 AM CDT

Geithner, Summers Outline New Regulatory System

(Newser) - The current financial regulatory system “is riddled with gaps, weaknesses, and jurisdictional overlaps,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Obama economic guru Larry Summers write in today’s Washington Post. They outline, in broad strokes, their plan to fix it:
  • Capital and liquidity requirements will be raised across the
...

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,”...

Net Worth of US Households Sinks Another $1.33T

(Newser) - The net worth of US households—assets minus debt—fell $1.33 trillion in the first quarter to $51.71 trillion, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 2.6% drop is smaller than the 8.6% of 2008’s fourth, a Fed report says. The first-quarter data don’t include...

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...

New SEC Chair Stakes Out Her Territory

Schapiro moving decisively to overhaul troubled agency

(Newser) - As soon as she took over the SEC, Mary Schapiro started making changes. She scrapped rules that had hindered investigators, hired a new enforcement director, and refocused regulators on high-profile financial crisis-related cases. “I wanted to be clear from my first day—not just with words, which are pretty...

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