financial crisis

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Hirst Is Art World's Lehman
 Hirst Is Art World's Lehman 
OPINION
Dec 22, 2008 12:21 PM CST

Hirst Is Art World's Lehman

September mega-sale coincided with investment bank's collapse

(Newser) - With the collapse of Lehman Brothers having opened an “anxious new era” in financial circles and among consumers at large, the auction that brought artist Damien Hirst $166 million on Sept. 15—the very day Lehman went bust—clearly marks the division, Martin Gayford writes for Bloomberg. By year’...

Russia Tycoons Seek $78B Kremlin Bailout

Looming foreign debt forces oligarchs to return power to state

(Newser) - A dozen years after bailing out the Soviet government, Russia’s oligarchs are seeking $78 billion in Kremlin handouts to weather the credit crunch, Bloomberg reports. Russian businesses have racked up some $110 billion in foreign debt due in 2009. The one-year loans, sought by more than 100 companies, would...

As Bills Loom, Developers Cry Bailout

Some $530B in commercial mortgages will need refinancing—and credit is tight

(Newser) - Developers worried about the health of the commercial real estate market want a piece of the bailout action, the Wall Street Journal reports. They say $530 billion in commercial mortgages will be up for refinancing in the next 3 years, but credit “simply is not available.” Without government...

Ford Scores PR Cred by Declining Bailout Cash

By not begging to feds, but supporting Detroit mates, company well positioned

(Newser) - Ford’s decision not to take any of the $17.4 billion in bailout cash granted General Motors and Chrysler is paying the company public-relations dividends that could translate into cash in its showrooms when the economy recovers, Advertising Age reports. It was also a good move, analysts say, to...

Firms Shave Costs Without Layoffs

Some workers willingly take wage cuts to save their jobs

(Newser) - Some companies are finding creative ways to cut labor, and keep it, too. Brandeis University, for example, convinced 30% of its instructors to forgo 1% of their pay. "It can save a few jobs," reasons an English prof who's hardly alone. Many workers have accepted reduced hours, unpaid...

Wall Street Execs Still Fly Private Jets

Costly travel rationalized as time saver

(Newser) - Six ailing Wall Street firms that eagerly took bailout funds still spend thousands to operate fleets of private jets that whisk their executives to company—and personal—events, AP reports. AIG, which scooped up $150 billion from the government, beats its peers with a seven-jet fleet. Fuel alone for a...

Bailed-Out Bank Execs Made $1.6B Last Year

Execs made average of $2.6 million; Merrill Lynch CEO made $83 million

(Newser) - Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an AP analysis reveals. Benefits at bailed-out institutions like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs,...

Squeezed Parents Dump Daycare
Squeezed Parents Dump Daycare 
Dec 21, 2008 2:43 PM CST

Squeezed Parents Dump Daycare

Kids often home alone, but cost 'ludicrous' if 'you can't afford rent'

(Newser) - As the tanking economy squeezes parents with skyrocketing unemployment and foreclosures, experts are noticing that it's the little children who suffer—in the form of fast-emptying daycare centers. As the Washington Post reports, strapped families desperate to cut costs are pulling their kids out of programs that can cost hundreds...

Exec Pay Likely to Stay in Stratosphere
Exec Pay Likely to Stay
in Stratosphere
ANALYSIS
Dec 21, 2008 7:13 AM CST

Exec Pay Likely to Stay in Stratosphere

Gov't measures to curb cash have backfired with strategies to win execs even more

(Newser) - Will the financial crisis slash the pay of executives who helped get us into the mess? Probably not, if past trends continue, writes David S. Hilzenrath in the Washington Post. When government in the past has fought to curb bosses’ cash flow, corporate boards have generally found a way to...

Stocks End Mixed; Dow Up 25
 Stocks End Mixed; Dow Up 25 
MARKETS
Dec 19, 2008 3:45 PM CST

Stocks End Mixed; Dow Up 25

Good news from RIM, Oracle help lift tech sector

(Newser) - Stocks ended mixed today as a rally on the news of a White House bailout for the auto industry fizzled over concerns for the larger economy, MarketWatch reports. General Motors led advancing stocks with a 22.7% gain, and the Dow closed up 25.88 at 8,579.11. The...

Invest in Gardens, Where Yields Make Wall St. Blush

25-to-1 return includes benefits 'that, literally, money can’t buy,' seed-seller says

(Newser) - With the economic outlook darkening, there’s still one good investment that will help you weather the downturn, George Ball writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: a garden. The “astonishing garden-grown return on investment is not modern-day speculative sleight-of-hand, but real, tangible and fungible,” the chairman of the Burpee...

More Companies Should Cut Wages, Not Jobs
More Companies Should
Cut Wages, Not Jobs
OPINION
Dec 19, 2008 11:37 AM CST

More Companies Should Cut Wages, Not Jobs

In a move that may be mimicked, FedEx moves to help workers, shareholders

(Newser) - It was FedEx's turn yesterday to play Scrooge, announcing cutbacks in the face of recession, but the company's strategy—cutting wages for senior execs and other salaried employees, rather than cutting jobs—maybe prove to be the smart alternative, and a harbinger of things to come, Peter Eavis writes in...

Clinton's Gains-Tax Break Pumped Up Housing Bubble
Clinton's Gains-Tax Break Pumped Up Housing Bubble
ANALYSIS
Dec 19, 2008 11:18 AM CST

Clinton's Gains-Tax Break Pumped Up Housing Bubble

Eliminating levy on profit from home sales encouraged Americans to play the market

(Newser) - A tax break introduced by President Clinton and made law in 1997 helped fuel the housing bubble that eventually led to the current economic crisis, the New York Times reports. The cut, which allowed owners to sell their homes without paying capital-gains taxes on profits up to $500,000, created...

White House Gives Automakers $17.4B Bailout

(Newser) - President Bush rolled out a $17.4 billion emergency loan package for US automakers today, promising $13.4 billion in immediate short-term loans from the remaining TARP funds and an additional $4 billion available in February, MSNBC reports. But the clock is ticking, as the companies must show they are...

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme
  All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme 
OPINION
Dec 19, 2008 8:12 AM CST

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme

Wall Street's just a Ponzi scheme too

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion fraud wasn’t all that different from what his Wall Street peers were up to, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Oh sure, “Madoff allegedly skipped a few steps,” stealing the money without bothering to load up on debt, buy dubious...

GM, Chrysler May Win Loan Deal as Soon as Today

Talks on Thursday brought automakers nearer to bailout, sources say

(Newser) - In a round of talks running into the night, GM and Chrysler made headway in securing emergency loans from the federal government yesterday, Reuters reports; the package, expected as soon as this morning, would demand wholesale restructuring of the automakers, including more concessions from unions and creditors. The talks continued...

Economy Spells Weary Christmas for Toy Charities

Donations off as much as 30%, some say

(Newser) - Across the country, charities that dole out gifts to underprivileged kids have seen donations fall off steeply compared to last holiday season, USA Today reports. Some are reporting as much as a 30% decline in giving as the economy flags. “Families that would normally have been helping us by...

South Ensuring Detroit Won't Rise Again

States woo Northern economy with lower wages, 'inhumane standards'

(Newser) - It's no coincidence that Dixie senators derailed the Big Three bailout, since the South—with anti-union laws, low wages, and modest taxes—has built a counter-Detroit that will ensure that neither the Motor City or the South will rise again, Michael Lind writes in Salon. The same tactics were used...

Obama Taps Schapiro as SEC Chair

Schapiro brings a wealth of experience to her new position

(Newser) - Barack Obama named Mary Schapiro as chair of the beleaguered SEC today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Schapiro's hefty resume includes stints as an SEC commissioner under former presidents Reagan and Bush, and another as acting commissioner in 1993 by Bill Clinton. Since then, Schapiro served on and eventually headed...

Profits Were Fake, Bonuses All Too Real

How risky schemes left bankers flush, banks broke

(Newser) - Dow Kim was one of the leading bond traders at Merrill Lynch, and in 2006 he bundled together $500 million in loans into a huge CDO with the charming name Costa Bella. Since the subprime collapse, Costa Bella has cost Merrill millions—but Kim had already cashed out, awarded a...

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