National City Close to $6B Cash Infusion

The bank will amend mortgages to assist 130,000 borrowers

(NEWSER) - Citigroup will modify up to $20 billion in mortgages for borrowers current on their payments but at risk of falling behind, the bank announced this morning, mirroring similar moves by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Citi will reach out to half a million borrowers, ultimately reducing monthly payments for 130,000 whose payments exceed an average of 40% of income, Wall Street Journal reports. More»

(NEWSER) - JPMorgan Chase surprised analysts and brought some partly sunny news to a mostly gloomy Wall Street, reporting net income of $527 million, or 11 cents a share, despite mortgage-related writedowns of $3.6 billion and $640 million in losses from its takeover of Washington Mutual, reports the Wall Street Journal. Analysts had expected losses of 29 cents a share. More»

Senate panel says lender knowingly built 'mortgage time bomb'

(NEWSER) - Washington Mutual made subprime loans it knew would go bad, then packaged them into risky securities, creating a “mortgage time bomb,” according to a Senate report. The permanent investigations subcommittee is grilling former WaMu execs this morning. The report also says the bank packaged and sold loans it knew were tainted by fraud, without disclosing the fraud to buyers, the Los Angeles Times reports. WaMu even pushed some buyers who qualified for prime loans into subprime ones. More»

WaMu customers included in measure to avoid foreclosures

(NEWSER) - JPMorgan Chase will help distressed homeowners by reducing interest rates or principal balances for $110 billion in mortgages, Bloomberg reports. The restructuring applies to clients of Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan agreed to buy last month. Foreclosures will be suspended on all loans for the next 90 days while the relief efforts are implemented. More»

Insured accounts best bet as Wall Street tumbles

(NEWSER) - After the biggest single-day's loss in Wall Street's history, even Americans whose sole investment is a bank account are nervously scratching their heads. Here are some guidelines to the failed-bailout crisis from the New York Times:

• What happens next? The market's deep dive may scare Congress into passing the bailout or a new bill, at which point stocks may rebound.