financial crisis

Stories 1721 - 1740 | << Prev   Next >>

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...

Tab for Fannie, Freddie Bailout Pegged at $25B

But chance better than 50% feds won't need to step in: budget office

(Newser) - A federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost $25 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said today, but there’s a better than 50% chance no rescue will be needed. The plan sought by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would extend an unlimited line of credit to the government-sponsored...

Wachovia Posts $8.9B Loss Under New CEO
Wachovia Posts $8.9B Loss Under New CEO
Earnings
Jul 22, 2008 9:58 AM CDT

Wachovia Posts $8.9B Loss Under New CEO

'Dismal' housecleaning quarter much worse than expected

(Newser) - New Wachovia CEO Robert Steel moved aggressively to staunch the bank's losses by taking a massive $8.9-billion hit in the second quarter and slashing its dividend to almost nothing, the New York Times reports. Steel had every reason to clean house, but analysts had predicted only a 78 cents-per-share...

Failed FDIC-Run Bank Added Fuel to Subprime Fire

Feds seized Ill.-based Superior in 2001, but it continued to write, sell off bad loans

(Newser) - An Illinois bank seized by regulators in 2001 continued to write risky subprime mortgages for months after it was put under the day-to-day supervision of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many of the loans—some with interest rates above 12%—have been foreclosed; a Texas...

Economic Recovery to Take Months: Paulson

But banking remains 'safe and sound'

(Newser) - Henry Paulson sought to reassure Americans today that US banking is "sound" despite a growing list of troubled banks, Reuters reports. He also said the economy will stay slow for months, but expressed confidence that Congress will shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before summer recess. "Congress...

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.

Demonizing Shorters Won't Save the Likes of Lehman

Darwinian market bloodletting may eliminate raider targets

(Newser) - Short-sellers have the power to utterly crush Lehman Brothers, as they did Bear Stearns, writes James Cramer in New York, but it's largely Lehman's own fault. Lehman shares much of the "mismanagement, arrogance and recklessness" that brought down Bear, Cramer opines in a piece that says excoriating short-selling hedge...

Freddie Eyes Selling $10B in Shares to Stave Off Bailout

Measure might prevent need for bailout - for now

(Newser) - Freddie Mac is considering issuing $10 billion worth of new common and preferred shares, the Wall Street Journal reports, a move that might stave off a full-blown government rescue—and the increased scrutiny that would come with it. Freddie has been emboldened by two days of big gains, with shares...

Fed's Broader Portfolio Raises Some Worries

Central bank appears deft so far, but crisis could stretch it thinner

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke has been busy recently—too busy, in the minds of some. The chairman has expanded the Federal Reserve's role beyond traditional monetary policymaker to being an all-purpose protector of the financial system. Many of his dramatic moves—the Bear Stearns buyout, backstopping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—averted...

SEC Will Limit Short Sales of Finance Stocks

Agency worried negative bets by traders are hurting the market

(Newser) - The SEC will step in to police naked short-selling of 17 financial firms, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agency said it plans to impose short-term, emergency rules on Monday that curtail traders betting on the stocks to drop, worried the short...

Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out
Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't
Bail 'Em Out
OPINION
Jul 16, 2008 8:53 AM CDT

Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out

Fannie and Freddie have resources; what they need is clarity

(Newser) - Coherent policy from Washington—not a financial bailout—is what mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are most in need of, writes former Fannie chief Franklin Raines in the Washington Post. “They have more than enough capital to meet their cash obligations,” he writes, as well as...

Dow Sinks Below 11K
 Dow Sinks Below 11K  
MARKETS
Jul 15, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Dow Sinks Below 11K

Fannie, Freddie continue to sink; regional banks hit hard

(Newser) - The markets ended mixed today after a seesaw session. An $8 decline in crude encouraged investors, but concerns about the fate of the mortgage GSEs and regional banks persisted, MarketWatch reports. The Dow ended down 93.39 at 10,961.80, the first time in over 2 years the average...

'No Immediate Plans' to Prop Up Freddie/Fannie: Paulson

Bernanke gives gloomy outlook for rest of 2008, but raises growth forecast

(Newser) - The US government won't be lending capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the near future, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Senate committee today. "There are no immediate plans to access either the proposed liquidity or the proposed capital backstop,'' Paulson said, and any lending to...

Paulson's Imprimateur on Freddie/Fannie Rescue

Madcap weekend recasts Treasury Secretary in Clintonian mold

(Newser) - Henry Paulson had a very busy weekend. The treasury secretary had been formulating contingency plans for bailing out beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for weeks, but Friday’s crisis came before those plans were in place, the Wall Street Journal reports in a reconstruction of events leading to the...

World Markets Tumble, Dollar Hits New Low

Euro hits $1.60 as banks lead declines

(Newser) - World stocks hit their lowest level since 2006 today as credit-market losses and weakening consumer confidence sent shares falling, reports Bloomberg. The big banks, from UBS in Europe to Cathay in Asia, led declines. The MSCI World Index, Morgan Stanley's indicator of global finance, has now slid into bear market...

Financials Nudge Markets Down
 Financials Nudge Markets Down 
MARKETS
Jul 14, 2008 3:31 PM CDT

Financials Nudge Markets Down

Anxiety over Fannie, Freddie, fate of regional banks kill early rally

(Newser) - The markets saw modest losses today, erasing an early-session rally spurred by the announcement of a government bailout plan for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as investors mulled the ramifications of a government rescue, MarketWatch reports. The Dow fell 45.35 points, closing at 11,055.19. The Nasdaq shed...

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: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse
Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse
OPINION
Jul 14, 2008 8:32 AM CDT

Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse

Regulation helped stave off real disaster, writes Krugman

(Newser) - The government's move to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has led to new fears about the state of the American economy—but don't worry too much, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Fannie and Freddie are problematic institutions, but compared to the actions of big banks...

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...

Washington Seeks Rescue of Freddie and Fannie

White House asks Congress to approve package

(Newser) - After a frenzied week that saw Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teeter near collapse, the US Treasury and Federal Reserve are seeking to save the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies. Officials say that the plan, if approved by Congress, will let the government buy billions of dollars in Freddie...

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