5/04/10 | Geithner
makes case on Hill for bank tax
Timothy
F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, urged Congress on Tuesday
to impose a 10-year, $90 billion tax on the largest financial
institutions to recoup the costs of the 2008 bailouts. But he
faced skeptical questions from lawmakers on the design and purpose
of the fee.
NYTimes
news>
5/03/10 | Fed
says most banks didn't tighten lending standards during Q1 2010
Most banks
in the U.S. didn’t tighten lending standards during the first
quarter, according to a Federal Reserve survey that signals a
possible thaw in bank credit.
B/BW
news>
4/30/10 | Economists
see bumpy road ahead
Economists
and others weigh in on the 3.2% jump in gross domestic product
at an annual rate.
WSJ
news>
4/29/10 | Fed's
Lacker: low interest rates appropriate for the US now
U.S. interest
rates are appropriately low now while economic slack is being
taken up after a downturn but that will change in coming years,
the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Board cautioned.
Reuters
news>
4/29/10 | WSJ
analysis: why Americans get ripped off on mortgage loans
You might
think that Americans would have learned over the past few years
that home mortgages can be dangerous products, to be approached
warily, only after careful study and consideration. You would
be wrong.
WSJ
news>
4/29/10 | No
settlement in Goldman case predicted - yet
Will Goldman
Sachs settle the now-famous civil fraud case over its disclosures
(or lack thereof) to a German bank that bought from the firm a
batch of toxic investments?
Fox
news>
4/28/10 | Federal
funds rate to remain low for "extended period"
General
Motors Co. has repaid the $8.1 billion in loans it got from the
U.S. and Canadian governments, a move its CEO says is a sign automaker
is on the road to recovery.
WaPo
news>
4/21/10 | GM
repays loans from US, Canada
General
Motors Co. has repaid the $8.1 billion in loans it got from the
U.S. and Canadian governments, a move its CEO says is a sign automaker
is on the road to recovery.
NYTimes
news>
4/20/10 | Expiring
tax credit, regional market trends influencing buy-versus-rent
decision
In some
once bubbly markets, prices have fallen so far that buying a home
appears to be a bargain, based on a New York Times analysis of
prices and rents in 54 metropolitan areas. In South Florida, Phoenix
and Las Vegas, house prices — relative to rents — are as low as
in places that never experienced a bubble, like Indianapolis and
St. Louis.
NYTimes
news>
4/19/10 | Difficult
legal path for SEC in Goldman case
In accusing
Goldman Sachs of defrauding investors, regulators are not only
taking aim at a company with deep pockets and a will to fight
— they are also pursuing an unusual claim that could be difficult
to prove in court, legal experts said.
NYTimes
news>
4/18/10 | Democrats
seizing on financial reform after Goldman suit
With the
Senate scheduled to begin debate on a financial overhaul bill
this week, the fraud suit against the Wall Street titan Goldman
Sachs has emboldened Democrats to ratchet up pressure on Republicans
who oppose the Obama administration’s proposal.
NYTimes
news>
4/14/10 | Defaults
rise in federal modification program
The number
of homeowners who defaulted on their mortgages even after securing
cheaper terms through the government’s modification program nearly
doubled in March, continuing a trend that could undermine the
entire program.
NYTimes
news>
4/13/10 | Banks
resist plan to reduce mortgage balances
In a rebuff
to the Obama administration, two big banks on Tuesday drew a line
in the sand on cutting the mortgage balances of beleaguered homeowners,
saying that the tool would be applied sparingly.
NYTimes
news>
4/11/10 | Interest
rates have nowhere to go but up, economists say
Economists
say rising interest rates are the inevitable outcome of the nation’s
ballooning debt and the renewed prospect of inflation as the economy
recovers from the depths of the recent recession.
NYTimes
news>
4/10/10 | 30-year
mortgage rates surge
Interest
rates for 30-year home loans surged this week to the highest level
in eight months because of the improving economy and the end of
a government push to keep rates low.
WaPost
news>
4/08/10 | SEC
proposes tighter regulations on securities that fueled the financial
crisis
Federal
regulators unveiled stricter rules Wednesday for a key source
of funding for home, auto and credit-card loans that has been
blamed for worsening the financial crisis by allowing trillions
of dollars in risky investments to be sold around the world.
WaPost
news>
4/08/10 | Without
the Fed, mortgage rates bounce around
Mortgage
rates have climbed only modestly in the first week without the
Federal Reserve buying mortgage-backed securities. The $1.25 trillion
in debt purchases by the Fed have kept mortgage rates at or below
5% for much of the past year.
WSJ
news>
4/07/10 | Real
estate sites now targeting renters
During
the housing boom, more Web sites popped up offering new ways for
prospective buyers to scout for dream properties and deals. But
with the homeownership rate falling, now more attention is going
into catering to renters.
WSJ
news>
4/07/10 | Greenspan
again defends tenure as Fed chair
Alan Greenspan
on Wednesday defended his record as chairman of the Federal Reserve,
testifying that any “notion of inadequacy” within the regulator’s
actions in the run-up to the subprime mortgage crisis was “unverifiable.”
NYTimes
news>
4/07/10 | Fed
reviews errors in oversight of Citigroup
Excerpts
of two Fed reviews were released on Wednesday as the committee
examining the causes of the financial crisis began three days
of hearings on the problems at Citigroup, Fannie Mae and the subprime
mortgage market.
NYTimes
news>
4/04/10 | How
Texas escaped the foreclosure crisis
It's one
of the great mysteries of the mortgage crisis: Why did Texas --
Texas, of all places! -- escape the real estate bust?
WaPost
news>
4/02/10 | Real
estate in "sand states" shows signs of recovery
There are
signs of life in real estate markets in two of the sand states,
California and Arizona. Florida and Nevada, though, continue to
suffer.
NYTimes
news>
4/02/10 | Treasury:
Build America bonds will save state and local governments over
$12B
State
and local governments will eventually save $12.3 billion from
bonds issued in the first year of the Build America Bonds program,
a Treasury Department analysis has found, compared with what they
would have spent by issuing traditional tax-exempt bonds to finance
projects.
NYTimes
news>
3/30/10 | Geithner:
Commercial loans still problematic
Mounting
losses from commercial real estate loans will continue to be a
problem for the U.S. and especially smaller banks, but it can
be managed, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Monday.
AP
news>
3/30/10 | Pace
of house flipping picks up
A Chronicle
analysis of sales data from MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate
research firm, shows that house flipping activity - where a home
is bought and quickly resold - increased from 2008 to 2009 in
several Bay Area ZIP codes.
SFGate
news>
3/29/10 | Treasury
ready to sell Citi stock
The Treasury
Department announced Monday it plans to sell roughly 7.7 billion
Citigroup Inc. common shares this year. The Treasury received
the shares as part of an agreement in 2009 that allowed the U.S.
government to receive common shares in exchange for preferred
stock.
WSJ
news>
3/29/10 | US
consumer spending up modestly
A weak
jobs market crimped the paychecks of Americans in February, a
government report indicated on Monday, with household incomes
remaining flat. But even as wages held steady, consumers were
more willing to part with the little cash they had on hand.
NYTimes
news>
3/28/10 | Stocks
soar, but many analysts ask why
Judging
from stock prices alone, one would think the economy was poised
for a roaring comeback. But the federal government plans to unplug
the economic life-support programs that stimulated production,
kept interest rates low and placed a thick cushion under the real
estate market.
NYTimes
news>
3/25/10 | Economic
conditions reshaping morality
Legal-marijuana
advocates are promoting the fiscal virtues of their cause. Not
coincidentally, another banned substance was legalized in the
wake of major economic upheaval: alcohol, during the Great Depression.
NYTimes
news>
3/19/10 | Congressman
Frank: Fed's power should not be stripped
Rep. Barney
Frank told CNBC Friday that he does not support removing the Federal
Reserve's authority, in part because it wasn't the only government
agency to make the mistakes that led to the financial crisis.
CNBC
news>
3/19/10 | Lehman
whistleblower's letter released
Former
Lehman Senior Vice President Matthew Lee wrote a 2008 letter to
senior management warning that the firm may have been masking
the true risks on its balance sheet. A month later, he was fired.
His warning is now revealed in a report by a U.S. bankruptcy-court
examiner.
WSJ
news>
3/18/10 | Greenspan
concedes that some financial regulation strengthening is needed
While not
accepting blame for the financial crisis, legendary Libertarian
former Fed chief acknowledges that the central bank underestimated
the bubble under his watch.
NY
Times news>
3/18/10 | Forget
health care: financial reform stirs voters
And unlike,
heath care, where polls show people divided, ambivalent and even
confused about the subject, a majority of voters on both sides
of the political aisle support financial reform—and in particular,
the creation of a watchdog, dubbed the Consumer Financial Protection
Agency.
CNBC
news>
3/18/10 | Private
loan modifications outnumbering government mods
Hope Now
Alliance report: January 2010 data estimating 99,499 proprietary
home loan modifications for the month. US Treasury’s recently
released Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) data showed
50,364 HAMP modifications for January, for total loan modifications
of 150,000 for the month.
CNBC
news>
3/17/10 | Dow
hits 7,000
U.S. stocks
finished ahead on Wednesday, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial
Average to its longest winning streak since August 2009, as Wall
Street rejoiced over the Federal Reserve's prior-session decision
to hold rates steady, which should keep banks' borrowing costs
at record lows for much of the year.
Marketwatch
news>
3/17/10 | Wholesale
prices decline, with gasoline leading the way
Wholesale
prices fell 0.6 percent in February, the government said Wednesday,
signaling that inflation remained tame even in a time of extraordinarily
low interest rates.
NY
Times news>
3/16/10 | Fed
affirms plan to end mortgage buying program
The Federal
Reserve on Tuesday affirmed its plan to stop buying mortgage-backed
securities, expressing a degree of confidence that it could eliminate
that pillar of support without undermining the nation’s economic
recovery.
NY
Times news>
3/15/10 | Pending
corporate debt may squeeze credit again
With huge
bills about to hit corporations and the federal government around
the same time, the worry is that some companies will have trouble
getting new loans, spurring defaults and a wave of bankruptcies.
NY
Times news>
3/12/10 | New
Treasury rules may simplify short sales for underwater mortgages
Incentive
payments written into the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives
Program are designed to help offset some of the financial pain
that banks experience when they agree to settle for less than
they are owed on a home loan.
Washington
Post news>
3/10/10 | Former
Goldman dealmaker now a leading reform advocate
For 18
years, Gary G. Gensler worked on Wall Street, striking merger
deals at the venerable Goldman Sachs. Then in the late 1990s,
he moved to the Treasury Department, joining a Washington establishment
that celebrated the power of markets and fought off regulation
at almost every turn.
NY
Times news>
3/08/10 | Pension
plans said to be experimenting with riskier alternatives in aim
to diversify
Companies
are quietly and gradually moving their pension funds out of stocks.
NY
Times news>
3/05/10 | Jobless
rate holds steady, raising hope of recovery
The American
economy lost fewer jobs than expected last month and the unemployment
rate remained steady at 9.7 percent, the Labor Department reported
Friday, bolstering hopes that a still-tenuous recovery may be
starting to gain momentum.
NY
Times news>
3/02/10 | Dodd
proposes consumer financial protections overseen by the Fed
In an effort
to secure Republican support for an overhaul of financial regulations,
the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee on Monday proposed
giving the Federal Reserve responsibility for protecting consumers
from abusive and deceptive financial products.
NY
Times news>
3/02/10 | Deal
near on banking rules
Key senators
were close to a deal today on legislation to overhaul financial
regulations, people familiar with the matter said, bringing the
U.S. a step closer to sweeping changes to the way banks interact
with consumers and the markets alike.
WSJ
News >
3/01/10 | Vice
chair of Fed to retire
The vice
chairman of the Federal Reserve announced on Monday that he would
retire in June, giving President Obama an expanded opportunity
to put his stamp on the central bank as it faces a difficult balance
between heading off inflation and addressing high levels of unemployment.
NY
Times news>
2/26/10 | TARP
stigma is curtailing bank lending, says Treasury
Assistant
Treasury Secretary Herbert Allison plans to tell lawmakers that
facilitating financial stability between banks and small businesses
will have to be done outside of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
WSJ
news>
2/24/10 | Bernanke:
interest rates to remain low for an extended period
In presenting
the Fed’s semiannual monetary report to Congress, Mr. Bernanke
did not waver from the Jan. 27 statement of the central bank’s
key policy making board, or from a Feb. 10 statement in which
he explained to Congress the strategies for gradually reducing
the vast sums that banks hold in reserves at the Fed.
NY
Times news>
2/23/10 | California
home sales down versus prior January; prices up 15%
Home sales
decreased 10.6 percent in January in California compared with
the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing
home rose 15 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
(C.A.R.) reported today.
CAR
press release>
2/22/10 | Already
challenged, FDIC braces for new wave of bank failures
The Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation is bracing for a new wave of bank
failures that could cost the agency many billions of dollars and
further strain its finances.
NYTimes
news>
2/19/10 | Foreclosures
slowing, says Mortgage Bankers Association
A smaller
percentage of mortgages were delinquent and the rate of those
entering the foreclosure process slowed in the fourth quarter,
possible signs that the foreclosure crisis that has gripped many
of the nation's housing markets is finally starting to ease, a
trade group reported on Friday.
Marketwatch
news>
2/19/10 | Landlords
catch a break
Because
real-estate prices have fallen much faster than rents, the math
of buying a rental has actually improved substantially in most
parts of the country.
WSJ
news>
2/18/10 | Fed
raises discount rate from .5% to .75%
The Federal
Reserve surprised financial markets Thursday by lifting the lending
rate it charges banks, one of the most potent signs yet that the
central bank is focused on dismantling the emergency policies
crafted to battle the financial crisis.
Marketwatch
news>
2/13/10 | Stock
market volatility persists due to Euro uncertainty
U.S. stocks
are likely to continue their choppy ride in the days ahead, as
investors maintain fixation on events overseas and fluctuations
in the currency markets amid the usual U.S. earnings reports and
economic data.
Marketwatch
news>
2/11/10 | Oversight
panel: commercial mortgage failures threaten system
Over the
next few years, a wave of commercial real-estate loan failures
could threaten America's financial system, and in the worst case
scenario, hundreds of additional community and midsize banks could
face insolvency, a congressional watchdog group said Thursday.
Marketwatch
news>
2/09/10 | New
definition of 'good faith' in mortgage lending
U.S. stocks
are likely to continue their choppy ride in the days ahead, as
investors maintain fixation on events overseas and fluctuations
in the currency markets amid the usual U.S. earnings reports and
economic data.
NYTimes
news>
2/06/10 | Odds
of being disabled? 80%, 31% or 10%, depending on who's calculating
Welcome
to the disability insurance funhouse, where the odds of an injury
or illness that would keep you out of work for more than three
months range wildly, depending on where you look for guidance.
NYTimes
news>
2/05/10 | Senator
Dodd says financial system overhaul talks have met an impasse
Senate
Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) said he
had reached an "impasse" with Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) over
new financial regulations, and has told aides to begin drafting
their own version of legislation.
WSJ
news>
2/05/10 | Labor
market shows signs of reawakening in new data
The American
unemployment rate dipped from 10 percent to 9.7 percent in January,
the Labor Department reported Friday, buoying hopes that the worst
job market in at least a quarter-century is finally improving.
NYTimes
news>
2/03/10 | January
home-supply rise unexpectedly modest
The number
of homes for sale rose less than expected in January; analysts
had expected foreclosure activity to cause a greater increase
in the inventory of homes on the market.
WSJ
news>
2/02/10 | Contracts
to buy homes rose slightly in December
The number
of people preparing to buy a home rose slightly in December, a
sign that home sales could be stabilizing heading into the spring
buying season, according to the National Association of Realtors.
NYTimes
news>
2/02/10 | Asset-based
lending grows in popularity
'Last-Resort'
Finance Option Gains Ground as Traditional Sources of Capital
Dry Up; Cashing in on 'Crimson Tide'
WSJ
news>
2/01/10 | Curveball
alters talks on Wall Street reform
President
Obama’s proposals to tax and curb the activities of Wall Street
have thrown an unpredictable element into the debate over financial
regulatory reform. They also have touched off an intensive new
round of lobbying and raised questions in Congress over whether
his plan will add urgency or merely bog things down.
NYTimes
news>
1/29/10 | Some
see hints of a bottom in real estate
Home sales
activity improves in Western cities, with big government boost.
MSNBC
news>
1/29/10 | Economic
growth in last quarter fastest in six years
The United
States economy grew at its fastest pace in over six years at the
end of 2009, but a sluggish job market is still souring economists
on the sustainability of the recovery.
NY
Times news>
1/28/10 | FHA
tightens lending standards
SINCE lenders
started tightening underwriting standards in 2008, many people
have flocked to mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration,
which serves borrowers who have poor credit and little money for
down payments.
NYTimes
news>
1/28/10 | Bernanke
confirmed for second term
70-30 vote
is narrowest margin ever for a Fed chair.
Business
Week news>
1/28/10 | Papework
eased for loan modification program
The Obama
administration is trying to simplify the paperwork for people
seeking lower home-mortgage payments in an effort to avert more
foreclosures.
WSJ
news>
1/28/10 | Obama
calls for limits on banks' activities
Embracing
Depression-era policy and populist politics, a combative President
Barack Obama chastised big Wall Street banks Thursday and urgently
called for limits on their size and investments to stave off a
new economic meltdown.
CBS
news>
1/21/10 | Opposition
grows to Bernanke second term
The confirmation
of Ben S. Bernanke to a second four-year term as chairman of the
Federal Reserve ran into further trouble on Friday as senators
Dodd and Reid joined senators Boxer and Feingold in saying they
would vote against it.
NY
Times news>
1/21/10 | Obama's
move to limit banks draws skepticism
President
Obama wants to cut down to size those too-big-to-fail banks. But
his vow on Thursday to rewrite the rules of Wall Street left many
questions unanswered, including the big one: Would this really
prevent another financial crisis?
NY
Times news>
1/20/10 | Banks
see levelling off of bad consumer loans
Since the
financial crisis hit, banks have chipped away at the mountain
of mortgages and credit card debt looming over struggling Americans.
At last, those efforts appear to be paying off, at least for the
banks.
NY
Times news>
1/19/10 | Souring
mortgages, weak market force FHA to walk tightrope
David Stevens
bought his first home almost 25 years ago, paying just 3% down
with a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration. "If
it weren't for the FHA, I wouldn't have gotten that home." Now,
as FHA commissioner, Mr. Stevens has to decide how many others
to let through that door.
Wall
St. Journal news>
1/19/10 | Bernanke,
hoping to quiet critics, seeks review of Fed's AIG bailout
Mr. Bernanke,
in a letter to the acting comptroller general Gene Dodaro, said
the Fed would make available to the auditor, the Government Accountability
Office, all documents and personnel necessary to conduct the review.
NY
Times news>
1/15/10 | Call
for more regulation at financial crisis inquiry
FBI said
to be investigating 2,800 cases of suspected mortgage fraud.
NY
Times news>
1/15/10 | Inflation
in check, but spending power waning nonetheless
Even as
interest rates in the United States remain near zero and the government
pumps billions into the economy, inflation appears to be largely
in check, the Labor Department said on Friday.
NY
Times news>
1/15/10 | US
mortgage program helped 7% of borrowers who applied for relief
The administration’s
mortgage relief plan helped only 7 percent of borrowers who signed
up last year, the Treasury Department said Friday, results that
underscored the government’s struggle to stem the foreclosure
crisis.
NY
Times news>
1/14/10 | Federal
Reserve defends its turf
"The Federal
Reserve's ability to effectively address actual and potential
financial crises depends critically on the information, expertise
and powers that it gains by virtue of being both a bank supervisor
and a central bank," according to a letter sent by the Fed to
the Senate Banking Committee. "These benefits of the Federal Reserve's
supervisory role proved particularly important during the financial
crisis that emerged in 2007."
Marketwatch
news>
1/14/10 | Bankers
face tough questions about the financial crisis
The heads
of Wall Street’s largest banks faced skeptical questions on Wednesday
about executive pay and the failures of regulation from the bipartisan
commission established to examine the causes of the biggest downturn
since the Depression.
New
York Times news>
1/13/10 | Nation's
economists believe interest rates fueled housing bubble
Fed chief
Ben Bernanke has maintained that Fed policy did not contribute
to the housing bubble and subsequent crash, but a new Wall Street
Journal survey says that the nation's economists disagree..
CBS
news>
1/12/10 | Bankers
say sorry - sort of
As America
recovers from the worst financial crisis since the Depression,
some of the nation’s chief executives are offering that rarest
of statements — an apology. But often, their words are so carefully
parsed, scrubbed by lawyers or picked over by public relations
professionals that it is unclear just how much mea is in their
culpa.
New
York Times news>
1/4/10 | TARP:
No good deed goes unpunished
Only months
after it was started, the U.S. program designed to purge debts
of no immediate discernable value from the balance sheets of troubled
banks has helped transform the frozen debt into a money-maker
as the bonds have rallied.
BusinessWeek
news>
1/4/10 | Bank
credit may flow later 2010, Fed's Elizabeth Duke says
In a speech
to a business group in Raleigh, N.C., Duke said that nearly all
of the bankers she has talked to in recent weeks have said that
their business plans for 2010 are "based on achieving increases
in loan volumes."
Marketwatch
news>
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