Rubin Quits Citi; Smith Barney for Sale

Prince, Rubin take no responsibility at inquiry hearing in DC

(NEWSER) - Citigroup's former CEO Chuck Prince and former chairman Robert Rubin sure are sorry that their bank’s toxic assets struck a near-fatal blow to the economy and necessitated a $45 billion federal bailout, but they really didn’t see it coming. That’s the gist of their testimony today in front of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington. “I’m sorry,” said Prince. He “did not see the unprecedented market collapse that lay before us.” More»

He pulled a bait-and-switch on America

(NEWSER) - President Obama's change from man of the people to friend of Wall Street is one of the biggest political turnarounds in history, writes Matt Taibbi. As soon as he was elected, Obama ditched his moderate economic advisers and built an economic team of Wall Street insiders with ties to "arch-capitalist" Citigroup honcho Bob Rubin, Taibbi writes in Rolling Stone . More»

(NEWSER) - The Wall Street bailout has not failed, but it hasn’t worked yet, either, as evidenced by the renewed call from Barack Obama and the Fed to release more TARP funds, the New York Times reports. Banks that received bailout funds are clamoring for more to stabilize their finances, but the current administration and the incoming one are at odds over how to spend taxpayer money. More»

Index gets back over 8,000, but lose for the week

(NEWSER) - News that Barack Obama’s will nominate Timothy Geithner, head of the New York Fed, as Treasury Secretary buoyed stocks today, although the major indices all lost value for the week, MarketWatch reports. The Dow closed up 494.13 at 8,046.42. The Nasdaq gained 68.23 to settle at 1,384.35, and the S&P 500 rose 47.59, closing at 800.03. More»

Bush administration 'creatively working' on financial crisis

(NEWSER) - On the eve of his testimony before Congress, beleaguered Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson used last night's speech to defend the administration's response to the nation's "unprecedented" financial crisis. Paulson said without the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, things would be even worse, ABC News reports. "It's hard to get credit for what didn't happen," he said. More»