Wall Street

Stories 581 - 600 | << Prev   Next >>

As Speculation Swirls, Panic Stalks Freddie, Fannie

As mortgage giants face increased losses, investors uncertain of their futures

(Newser) - What started as a whisper Monday is a roar at week’s end as investors wrestle with the fate of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reports. While neither firm, which together own or back roughly half  the nation’s mortgages, faces imminent collapse, awareness...

A Year On, Credit Crisis Lingers
 A Year On, 
 Credit Crisis
 Lingers 
ANALYSIS

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...

For Venture Capitalists, Wells Run Dry

None of investors' gambles go public in second quarter

(Newser) - Wall Street has not been kind to venture capitalists in the second quarter. For the first time since 1978, not one company they backed went public, taking away their source of big paydays, the New York Times  reports. Observers cite a number of reasons, including lousy market conditions, a shift...

Battered Citigroup Plans Major Layoffs

Firm will cut 10% of its investment-banking group

(Newser) - After being in the red for two quarters, Citigroup will this week hand out pink slips in its investment-banking division, looking to sack 10% of the group’s 65,000 employees. The move, which would eliminate entire trading desks worldwide, is unusually severe, the Wall Street Journal says. CEO Vikram...

Cramer: Never Seen Wall Street This Bad
 Cramer:
 Never Seen
 Wall Street
 This Bad 
ANALYSIS

Cramer: Never Seen Wall Street This Bad

Analyst sees no end in sight for layoffs and write-downs

(Newser) - While he steers clear of the Great Depression, everything else is fair game as reference in James J. Cramer’s apocalyptic appraisal of Wall Street for New York. In Cramer's 25 years, he's seen lots of implosions, but this one is different: With thousands of layoffs at major shops, and...

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

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...

JPMorgan Leads Hunt to Place Bear Workers

Firm pitches in to help 5K employees laid off after takeover

(Newser) - JP Morgan hopes to find jobs for 5,000 Bear Stearns employees cut when it acquired the brokerage in March, the Financial Times reports. CEO Jamie Dimon is sending letters to rivals and clients, and the company has contacted 1,800 firms urging them to consider former Bear workers. The...

Mood Lightens on Wall St. as Rally Takes Hold

As stocks rise, analysts' outlooks improve

(Newser) - Despite economic gloom spreading along Main Street, things on Wall Street are perking up, the New York Times reports—enough that analysts see a glimmer of hope for a turnaround beginning this year. The stock market rebounded almost 11% in recent weeks, junk bonds and other risky securities are rallying.

J'Accuse, Part Deux
 J'Accuse, Part Deux 
OPINION

J'Accuse, Part Deux

Ben Stein's second examination of the financial meltdown

(Newser) - Economist, writer, actor, and lawyer Ben Stein follows up his December excoriation of Goldman Sachs' contribution to the subprime crisis with a look in today's New York Times into how Wall Street executives can get away with reckless behavior at the expense of the public. This time he targets the...

New Hires at Bear Stearns Axed Before They Start

Bank's collapse sends college grads job-hunting in a tough market

(Newser) - Hundreds of college grads who thought they had landed dream positions with Bear Stearns were canned before their first day on the job, the Wall Street Journal reports. As the giant bank began to implode, the students were at first assured their new jobs were safe—but then were sent...

Rosy Q1 for Google
Rosy Q1 for Google 
EARNINGS REPORT

Rosy Q1 for Google

Search giant profits up 30% as international ad business takes off

(Newser) - Google reported a 30% increase in first-quarter profits today, bettering analysts’ predictions and sending share prices up 17%, Bloomberg reports. Forecasters had assumed that growth in domestic advertising clicks would slow, but Google said it “remains healthy;” a 55% increase in international ad sales gave the search giant...

Paydays That Make Even Wall Streeters Blush

Top hedge-fund guru earned $3.7B in 2007 as income gap widens

(Newser) - Some Wall Street hedge-fund managers earned billions betting against the market last year, with the top of the class, John Paulson, shaking loose $3.7 billion, the New York Times reports. With the US median family income at $60,500, the booty embarrassed even some of his Wall Street peers....

Volatile Market Hooked on Testosterone

Study pinpoints role of bullish hormone in boorish traders

(Newser) - The buying and selling of the world's wealth is at the mercy of aggressive men and their hormonal fluctuations, neuroscientists have discovered. While that doesn't come as a big surprise, the study isolates the major role that testosterone plays in making boorish traders exceptionally bullish—and the part the hormone...

$6B From Outside Investors Will Shore Up Wachovia

Bank selling discounted shares to combat credit crunch

(Newser) - Ailing bank Wachovia will get a $6 billion-$7 billion shot in the arm from outside investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. Specifics of the capital infusion, designed to help the company recover from the credit crisis, haven’t been finalized. Details may be revealed when the company reports first-quarter earnings...

Vulture Investors Circle Wall Street

Many hope to cash in on the chaos of the credit crunch

(Newser) - Like shoppers stalking deals at Filene’s Basement, savvy Wall Street vulture investors are swooping in to find deals among the carcasses of companies and investments felled by the subprime contagion, reports the New York Times. They're betting big—Blackstone Group just raised $10.9 billion from investors to buy...

Troubled US off the Rails: Poll

81% say nation is chugging to grim future

(Newser) - The vast majority of Americans are pessimistic about the nation's future and believe the problem-plagued US is heading in the wrong direction. More than 80% believe that “things have seriously gotten off on the wrong track.” That's the highest dissatisfaction rate since the New York Times/CBS News poll...

Real Estate Slump Strikes Manhattan

Average apartment price soars to record; big picture grim

(Newser) - Manhattan real estate prices hit record highs in the first quarter of 2008, but sales declined, showing that the housing crunch is starting to affect the island, Bloomberg reports. The average price of a Manhattan apartment was $1.7 million, up 33.5% from last year, the New York Times ...

Lehman Is Selling $3B in Shares
 Lehman Is Selling $3B in Shares 

Lehman Is Selling $3B in Shares

Firm seeks to calm fears of another Bear Stearns disaster

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers is selling $3 billion in new shares to allay fears after its stock dropped 42% this year, Bloomberg reports. "We still maintain that we don't need capital, but we've realized that perception is the dominant issue in today's markets,'' said CFO Erin Callan. Lehman fell up...

Treasury Wants Mega-Fed to Monitor Markets

Plan would merge agencies, allow Fed to swoop in on threats

(Newser) - The Treasury wants a newly empowered Federal Reserve to monitor market stability and swoop in on institutions that threaten it, the New York Times reports. If approved by lawmakers, the Treasury plan would merge a jumble of regulatory agencies and combine the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But...

Stories 581 - 600 | << Prev   Next >>