Bernanke: How's He Doing?

But Fed chief is encouraged by bank response

(NEWSER) - Big banks' response to "stress tests" has been encouraging but they will need to watch out for risks not covered by the tests, Ben Bernanke warned regulators yesterday. The Fed chief—signaling that investment giants like Goldman Sachs can expect tighter scrutiny—said banks should self-test for potentially disastrous "operational, liquidity and reputational risks," Bloomberg reports. Bernanke warned that the financial situation remained fragile, and that the government was prepared to inject more capital to shore up the system. More»

(NEWSER) - Even as the financial crisis rages, Ben Bernanke says it’s time for broad regulatory reforms to stem future crises. Bernanke said today “too big to fail” institutions should be more tightly watched, perhaps by his Federal Reserve. He also admitted that the US hadn’t been prudent with the glut of capital that poured into the market in recent years, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Target is record low as Reserve battles recession

(AP) - The Federal Reserve today cut its target for a key interest rate to the lowest level on record and pledged to use "all available tools" to combat a severe financial crisis and prolonged recession. The central bank says it reduced the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to a range of 0% to 0.25%. More»

Money is in addition to $700B Wall St. bailout; collateral unclear, too

(NEWSER) - The Federal Reserve has lent more than $2 trillion to financial institutions under programs without congressional oversight—and will not disclose to whom or under what terms, Bloomberg reports. The loans are separate from the $700 billion congressionally approved bailout package. Investors and citizens are concerned that the collateral given in these unregulated programs could be improperly valued. More»

With Inflation fears fading, 'the issue now is how bad the recession will be'

(NEWSER) - Worries about inflation are taking a backseat to recession fears as the Federal Reserve today is likely to lower its benchmark rate another half-point to 1%, with the possibility it could go to zero by June if the economy doesn’t rebound, reports Bloomberg. “The issue now is how bad the recession will be,'' said one expert. More»