financial markets – News Stories About financial markets - Page 3

Sep 18, 2008 10:35 AM CDT

Bush: I'm Working on Economy

President, in rare words on financial crisis, says he shares America's fears

(Newser) - President Bush said today that he shares Americans' concerns about the turmoil in the financial markets, and promised that the government will act aggressively. "The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets," he said. Bush canceled his fundraisers...

Forget Arugula: Dems Should Hit GOP on Fiscal Crisis

OPINION

Sep 17, 2008 2:58 PM CDT

Forget Arugula: Dems Should Hit GOP on Fiscal Crisis

But they should ignore the arugula and hammer on GOP moves that created this mess

(Newser) - Put aside the arugula and forget "priggish" counter-attacks on Sarah Palin, Thomas Frank advises Democrats. The way to win the culture war being waged by Republicans is to point out what GOP dominance over the last quarter century has done: removed fiscal safeguards and brought us "to the...

AIG Rescue Boosts Euro
Stocks; Asia Rally Fades

Sep 17, 2008 4:49 AM CDT

AIG Rescue Boosts Euro Stocks; Asia Rally Fades

Still 'edgy,' notes analyst

(Newser) - European stocks edged up today for the first time in three days on news of the US government's $85 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG—but an early rally in Asian markets faded, reports Bloomberg and the New York Times. Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed as much as 1.9% after...

Morgan Stanley Profit Dips, But Easily Beats Forecasts

EARNINGS REPORT

Sep 16, 2008 5:40 PM CDT

Morgan Stanley Profit Dips, But Easily Beats Forecasts

(Newser) - Morgan Stanley reported a 3% percent drop in third-quarter earnings but easily beat Wall Street expectations, Bloomberg reports. The investment bank's profit fell to $1.43 billion, or $1.32 per share from $1.47 billion, or $1.38, a year ago. Analysts expected 78 cents a share. The relatively...

Asian Markets Plunge

Sep 16, 2008 3:25 AM CDT

Asian Markets Plunge

US financial turmoil sparks regional selling frenzy

(Newser) - Asia's markets took a huge hit today amid fears of a US financial meltdown, the Wall Street Journal reports. Markets in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea were spared from the global plunge yesterday due to a public holiday—but the respite proved to be short-lived. Japan and Hong Kong's...

Wall Street Rumbling Means Little on Main Street

OPINION

Sep 15, 2008 9:29 AM CDT

Wall Street Rumbling Means Little on Main Street

Financial meltdown has small effect on 'real economy': Kaletsky

(Newser) - Fannie and Freddie have been nationalized, Lehman has collapsed, Merrill Lynch has been bought out—an economic disaster, right? Not really, Anatole Kaletsky writes in the Times of London: The US economy is actually showing signs of improvement. More than ever, "there is no contradiction between expecting a recovery,...

Computer Crash Paralyzes London Trading

Sep 9, 2008 1:55 AM CDT

Computer Crash Paralyzes London Trading

Dealers miss out on millions in stock market surge

(Newser) - A catastrophic computer crash shut out dismayed London traders from the market yesterday as stocks soared around the world in the wake of the US bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the Times of London reports. The seven-hour systems failure at the London Stock Exchange is estimated to have...

Pound Plunges to Record Low Against Euro

Sep 2, 2008 2:26 AM CDT

Pound Plunges to Record Low Against Euro

Gloomy economic outlook sends British currency tumbling

(Newser) - The British pound has sunk to its lowest level ever against the euro since the European currency was introduced in 1999, the Financial Times reports. The fall follows Chancellor Alistair Darling's dire warning that the outlook for the British economy is the worst in 60 years. The pound dropped to...

Financial Faith Is
Crisis' Top Casualty

ANALYSIS

Aug 4, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Financial Faith Is Crisis' Top Casualty

One year in, credit crunch has upset all expectations about modern markets

(Newser) - Last summer, central banks injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system, desperate to restore liquidity to battered markets. But by then the credit crunch was on—and after 12 months, it shows no signs of abating. The Financial Times looks at how risky US mortgages set off...

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

ANALYSIS

Jul 19, 2008 9:34 AM CDT

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...

Here Comes
Era of Activist Government

OPINION

Jul 18, 2008 10:17 AM CDT

Here Comes Era of Activist Government

It's necessary, and McCain is better suited for the job: Brooks

(Newser) - With daunting issues demanding immediate action—energy, the markets, and crumbling infrastructure to name but a few—the US is about to enter a phase of "government activism," writes David Brooks in the New York Times. Bad news for John McCain, right? Maybe not. As past periods of...

World Markets
Tumble, Dollar
Hits New Low

Jul 15, 2008 7:32 AM CDT

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...

Fed Feared 'Contagion'
If Bear Failed

Jun 27, 2008 1:30 PM CDT

Fed Feared 'Contagion' If Bear Failed

Bernanke and crew felt they had to act, minutes show

(Newser) - If the Fed hadn't taken the unprecedented step of helping bail out Bear Stearns, a sweeping "contagion" would have doomed the markets, its members say. In newly released minutes from its March 16 meeting, the Fed reasons that the “prominent position of Bear Stearns” left it no choice...

Citi's Blahs Make Little Dent

MARKETS

Jun 19, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

Citi's Blahs Make Little Dent

Drop in oil prices help stocks finish slightly higher

(Newser) - Stocks posted moderate gains today as oil futures dropped below $135 per barrel on news of China's move to raise prices by trimming subsidies, MarketWatch reports. With traders little moved by warnings of further writedowns ahead for Citigroup, the Dow closed up 34.03, at 12,063.09. The Nasdaq...

Industry Shakeout
Clips Hedge Funds

Jun 17, 2008 3:22 AM CDT

Industry Shakeout Clips Hedge Funds

It's a fund-eat-fund world as companies mature, face crunch

(Newser) - A massive shakeout is transforming the world of hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tougher market conditions mean smaller funds are merging or closing their doors, and new ones are facing difficulty getting started. The business, which mushroomed from a few hundred firms to 8,000 over a decade,...

'Monster' Markets Brought World to Edge: German Prez

May 15, 2008 8:15 PM CDT

'Monster' Markets Brought World to Edge: German Prez

Köhler, former head of IMF, rips lust for profit, calls for tightened regulaion

(Newser) - Germany's president, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, blasted the system of financial markets responsible for the global credit crisis as a “monster," Der Speigel reports today. Horst Köhler said the world “came close to a collapse of the global financial markets" as the...

Treasury Wants
Mega-Fed to
Monitor Markets

Mar 28, 2008 10:14 PM CDT

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...

Why Close the Markets Today?

Mar 21, 2008 3:10 PM CDT

Why Close the Markets Today?

Observing Good Friday one reason; superstition about 1907 panic another

(Newser) - The Big Board is closed today—but the reason is open to some debate, Bloomberg reports. The last time the markets opened on Good Friday was 101 years ago, when they saw one of two huge crashes that made up the Panic of 1907. Fear of repeating that catastrophe may...

Goldman Sachs Switches Forecasters

Mar 18, 2008 6:39 AM CDT

Goldman Sachs Switches Forecasters

'Belle of the bull market' Cohen has more pessimistic successor

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs has replaced its famously bullish chief forecaster, Abby Joseph Cohen, with a less upbeat analyst, Bloomberg reports. Cohen will remain as senior investment strategist, handing over the daily predictions to David Kostin. Kostin sees a decline for the S&P 500 to 1160 in the short run,...