Jittery Investors Seek Direction From Feng Shui Gurus

New book says Obama's team routinely undermined him

(NEWSER) - In March 2009, in the throes of the financial crisis, Barack Obama told Tim Geithner to focus on a proposal to dissolve Citigroup—but the Treasury Secretary ignored him and never developed a plan, according to former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind’s new book Confidence Men. In the book, which was obtained early by the AP and the New York Times , Suskind writes that Obama’s “authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisers.” More»

Regulation will be good for Wall Street and Main Street

(NEWSER) - President Obama will today ask the banks to call off their "furious efforts" to block his proposed financial regulatory overhaul. "I believe that these reforms are, in the end, not only in the best interest of our country, but in the best interest of our financial sector," he says in prepared remarks. The goal, a White House rep tells the Washington Post is to remind people "what's at stake" in the politically-charged debate. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama visited Wall Street’s historic Federal Hall today, on the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, to make the case for the financial regulatory reforms wending their way through Congress. He spoke of the need for “strong rules of the road” for the financial system. “History cannot be allowed to repeat itself,” he said, calling the effort “the most ambitious overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.” More»

Responds to Europe's stimulus reluctance with global op-ed blitz

(NEWSER) - President Obama published an op-ed piece in more than 30 newspapers worldwide today, urging the G-20 nations to take immediate, bold action to fix the economy. “The United States is ready to lead,” he wrote in the Los Angeles Times, among others, “and we call on our partners to join us with a sense of urgency.” Included was a call for broad stimulus action—something the European Central Bank opposes. More»

President has raised taxes when business needs a break

(NEWSER) - Everyone loves a scapegoat. The American people have Wall Street fat cats, and President Obama has George W. Bush, writes David Harsanyi for the Denver Post. While Obama, "in a superbly eloquent and inspirational pitch, always reminds us that nothing is his fault," Harsanyi gripes, "nearly every initiative enacted in the first 50 days of the Obama administration has exacerbated what Bush started." More»