Treasury Department

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At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
investigation
Apr 3, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act

Legacy of missing red flags trails onetime regulator to Treasury

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner spent a lot of time thinking about the derivatives trade as president of the New York Federal Reserve—in 2005 he convinced banks to digitize the market, making it far more efficient. But he never convinced them to scale back risk and never exercised his powers to force...

Dow Up 87; Gains for March
 Dow Up 87; Gains for March 
MARKETS
Mar 31, 2009 3:20 PM CDT

Dow Up 87; Gains for March

Markets may be leveling out, though gains are fragile

(Newser) - Stocks posted gains today as the first quarter came to a close, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the April earnings season and the results of the Treasury’s stress tests threaten to shatter equities’ recent gains, signs of economic stabilization made March a relatively good month. The Dow rose...

In Bankruptcy Maneuver, GM May Split in 2

If GM faces Chapter 11, a splitting of the company could avert disaster

(Newser) - General Motors executives and Treasury officials alike seem adamant that the company should avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy at all costs, but bankruptcy scenarios are already crystallizing behind the scenes, BusinessWeek reports. One option calls for splitting the company into a “good GM,” which would emerge from bankruptcy with...

This Rally May Be the Real Deal
 This Rally May Be the Real Deal 
OPINION
Mar 26, 2009 9:07 AM CDT

This Rally May Be the Real Deal

Positive indicators, better policy, historical benchmarks; the time is right for a bottom

(Newser) - The tentative rally on Wall Street is reason enough for one economist to feel hopeful: "I’m ready to take another shot at calling the bottom," writes Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. Since (apparently) bottoming out March 9, stocks have risen 20%, and the reasons behind the climb are...

Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which...

Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90
 Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90 
MARKETS
Mar 25, 2009 3:07 PM CDT

Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90

Poor Treasury auction saps some investor confidence

(Newser) - Stocks wavered today, with the indices posting gains but off session highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. A rise in durable-goods orders stoked an early rally, but enthusiasm was tempered by weak demand for US Treasuries in an auction. The Dow dipped into losses in the afternoon, but closed up...

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Takeover Powers

Defends actions during AIG bailout

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner today asked Congress for expanded power to take the helm of big, failing  institutions like AIG and wind them down in an orderly fashion, Reuters reports. “AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner said in unusually spirited testimony before the House Financial Services Committee....

Obama Needs Help Selling Economic Plans

His team lacks common touch

(Newser) - The White House economic team is great on policy, but when it comes to reassuring the public, President Obama is on his own, Peter Nicholas and Peter Wallsten write in the LA Times. "The ability to communicate with average people was not what these people were chosen for,"...

Don't Listen to Krugman— This Plan Might Work

Pearlstein lays into fellow columnist

(Newser) - Even before the full details were released, critics were bashing the Treasury's public-private asset purchase plan; Paul Krugman predicted it would fail and lead the country into depression (not to speak of the writer into despair). Steven Pearlstein begs to differ, and the markets seem to agree. For the Washington ...

Feds Seek Expanded Power to Seize Shaky Companies

Treasury sec should be able to seize non-bank firms, says administration

(Newser) - The Obama administration is expected to ask Congress for expanded powers that would let the Treasury secretary seize insurers, hedge funds, and other non-bank financial companies whose failure would imperil the economy, reports the Washington Post. While negotiations are ongoing, the plans to expand Treasury authority would represent a major...

Geithner Wins Over Wall Street
 Geithner Wins Over Wall Street 
ANALYSIS
Mar 24, 2009 4:45 AM CDT

Geithner Wins Over Wall Street

Careful roll out of asset plan helps Treasury secretary get his credibility back

(Newser) - The carefully orchestrated roll out of the federal plan to buy toxic assets has won Tim Geithner Wall Street's support in the nick of time, Jackie Calmes writes in the New York Times. The Treasury secretary—whose plan was slammed when the "framework" was unveiled last month—could scarcely...

Hey Paul Krugman, Your Country Needs You

Why aren't you in the administration?

(Newser) - The latest video to shake up YouTube is a song plea that critical columnist Paul Krugman join the Obama administration and fix the economy. "Hey Paul Krugman, where the hell are you, man? Why aren't you in the administration?" sings songwriter Jonathan Mann. "When I listen to you...

Dow Rockets Nearly 500 Points
 Dow Rockets Nearly 500 Points 
MARKETS
Mar 23, 2009 3:18 PM CDT

Dow Rockets Nearly 500 Points

Geithner's plan wins positive reviews from Street

(Newser) - Stocks locked in big gains today with the rally sparked by the rollout of the Treasury’s financial rescue plan, the Wall Street Journal reports. Financials led advances, with Citigroup and Bank of America up 24% and 19%, respectively. The Dow jumped 497.48 to 7,775.86. The Nasdaq...

Geithner: 'These Policies Will Work'

Treasury sec lays out $1T plan in op-ed

(Newser) - Tim Geithner caps a weekend of lobbying for the administration's $1 trillion Public-Private Investment Program in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, arguing that "the financial system as a whole is still working against a recovery." For the Treasury secretary, all the previous measures will fail...

Krugman on Toxic Assets Plan: 'What an Awful Mess'

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s new plan for dealing with toxic bank assets is “creating massive moral hazard,” Paul Krugman blogs in the New York Times. The idea of providing taxpayer money to insure the purchase of possibly worthless assets is equivalent to the poor practices laid bare in...

Toxic Asset Plan to Offer Subsidies to Investors

Plan will offer loans, subsidies to investors willing to suck up bad assets

(Newser) - The Treasury will unveil a plan to take up to $1 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and other troubled assets from financial institutions early next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan, the cornerstone of efforts to rescue the banking system, calls for the creation of an entity to buy...

Geithner Aide Lobbied for CEO Bonuses

(Newser) - The Treasury's new chief of staff once fought for the very executive bonuses Washington is trying to curb. When working for Goldman Sachs, Mark Patterson lobbied against a 2007 bill supported by Barack Obama to help limit Wall Street payouts. The initiative died in Senate committee. "Whatever Patterson had...

If I Knew, I Would Have 'Rejected' Legislation: Dodd

(Newser) - Sen. Chris Dodd says that if he had known the purpose of changes to legislation he drafted for the stimulus package, he “would have flatly rejected it,” CNN reports. Dodd’s rewrite, at the behest of unnamed Treasury officials, allowed AIG and others receiving federal assistance to dole...

Noonan to Obama: Get Focused
 Noonan to Obama: Get Focused 
OPINION
Mar 20, 2009 9:19 AM CDT

Noonan to Obama: Get Focused

President has to stop bouncing around

(Newser) - There are two crises facing the new president, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal: the economy and the threat of terrorism. Either one would warrant near-obsessive focus, but President Obama can’t seem to zero in. “What strikes one is the weightlessness of the Obama administration, the...

How Obama Can Reboot Geithner
 How Obama Can 
 Reboot Geithner 
ANALYSIS
Mar 19, 2009 7:55 AM CDT

How Obama Can Reboot Geithner

Treasury sec needs a freer hand and more staff to survive

(Newser) - Three times in 3 days the president has had to offer a defense of Tim Geithner, who will almost certainly remain Treasury secretary despite calls to resign. As Eamonn Javers reports in Politico, the White House now has to perform some crisis management: Keep Geithner out of the spotlight, allow...

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