November 25, 2008
• Talking about the economy over the weekend, Barack Obama said, “There are no quick, easy fixes.” To which Amy Winehouse said, “There are in my neighborhood.” --Jay Leno • Down in Washington, the big Capitol Hill Christmas tree arrived. The contract to decorate the tree went to Halliburton for $10 billion. --David Letterman • Another good day for the stock market. Up almost 400 points today. If this keeps up every day for the next three years, we’ll Read Full Article
September 23, 2008
Explaining the latest measures to restore Order New entity would buy up bad debts; money market funds get protection After a series of ad hoc, multibillion-dollar rescues — from mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to global insurance giant AIG — the panic in the credit markets has not subsided. On Friday the Bush administration, which is now working with Congress on a more long-term solution, unveiled four new measures aimed at restoring order to financial markets: A new Read Full Article
September 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration insisted Sunday that Congress must move quickly to approve what one lawmaker called the “mother of all bailouts” — a $700 billion proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt in an effort to unfreeze the nation’s credit markets. Congressional leaders endorsed the plan’s main thrust, saying passage might occur in a matter of days. But they said it must be expanded to include help for people on Main Street as well as the big Wall Street Read Full Article
September 17, 2008
Under the loan plan, the Federal Reserve will become insurance giant's AIG's biggest shareholder. The move comes after the central bank leaves interest rates alone. Stocks fall, then rebound quickly after the rate decision. Crude oil briefly falls below $91. Stocks will likely open slightly lower this morning, despite an emergency move last night by the Federal Reserve to an $85 billion rescue of insurance giant American International Group. Futures trading suggests that the Dow Read Full Article
September 17, 2008
In the end, interest rates are almost beside the point. The real story in the Federal Reserve's no-rate-cut announcement is its only passing mention of the current financial calamity. Ben Bernanke and the Fed left the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 2 percent. The policymakers acknowledged financial market strains have "increased significantly" and warned of slower growth caused by credit and housing problems, but they veered away from specific mention of the turmoil caused by this Read Full Article
September 16, 2008
$85 Billion Loan for Giant Insurer Aimed at Averting Collapse; Historic Move Would Cap 10 Days That Reshaped U.S. Finance; Fed Says AIG Will Sell Businesses in Orderly Manner The U.S. government announced an emergency rescue of American International Group Inc. -- one of the world's biggest insurers -- signaling the intensity of its concerns about the danger a collapse could pose to the financial system. It's a dramatic turnabout for the federal government, which has strongly Read Full Article
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