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NEWS ABOUT: Ben Bernanke

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More About: Federal Reserve • financial crisis • S&P 500 • interest rate cut • NASDAQ • Dow Jones • Henry Paulson • oil price • interest rate • Bear Stearns • Freddie Mac • Fannie Mae • inflation • economy • George W. Bush • federal funds rate • Senate Banking Committee • subprime crisis • economic indicators • mortgage • House Financial Services Committee • financial markets • recession • oversight • unemployment

'No Immediate Plans' to Prop Up Freddie/Fannie: Paulson

Bernanke gives gloomy outlook for rest of 2008, but raises growth forecast

(Newser) - The US government won't be lending capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the near future, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Senate committee today. "There are no immediate plans to access either the proposed liquidity or the proposed capital backstop,'' Paulson said, and any lending to... More »

Paulson's Imprimateur on Freddie/Fannie Rescue

Madcap weekend recasts Treasury Secretary in Clintonian mold

(Newser) - Henry Paulson had a very busy weekend. The treasury secretary had been formulating contingency plans for bailing out beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for weeks, but Friday’s crisis came before those plans were in place, the Wall Street Journal reports in a reconstruction of events leading to the... More »

Stocks Surge on Oil, Fed News

Bernanke's comments encourage the battered financial sector

(Newser) - The markets made strong gains today as crude futures fell more than $5 and the Fed took steps to shore up the housing market, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 152.25 points, its biggest jump in a month, to close at 11,384.21. The Nasdaq rose 51.10 points... More »

Fed to Crack Down on Subprime Loans

Also plans to extend low-cost overnight loan program for banks

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week restricting subprime lending and other exotic loans aimed at borrowers with weak credit, Ben Bernanke said today. He said the Fed is also considering extending the overnight low-cost loan program, which helps big banks in need of quick cash, a sign... More »

Fed Feared 'Contagion' If Bear Failed

Bernanke and crew felt they had to act, minutes show

(Newser) - If the Fed hadn't taken the unprecedented step of helping bail out Bear Stearns, a sweeping "contagion" would have doomed the markets, its members say. In newly released minutes from its March 16 meeting, the Fed reasons that the “prominent position of Bear Stearns” left it no choice... More »

Big Rally Ends in Modest Gains

Oil drop, Fed's confidence in growth not enough to preserve rise

(Newser) - The markets rallied for much of the day on news of ebbing oil prices and the Fed's decision to hold rates steady, but it fell mostly flat by the finish on nagging worries about long-term growth, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow—at one point up more than 100... More »

As Expected, Fed Holds Steady

Federal funds rate stays at 2% as bank ends 10-month run of cuts

(AP) - The Federal Reserve decided today leave a key interest rate unchanged, bringing an end to a string of consecutive rate cuts aimed at keeping the country out of a deep recession. The federal funds rate will remain at 2%—the first time in 10 months the Fed has failed to... More »

Fed Likely to Hold Rates— for Now

Bernanke hopes the 2% interbank rate will help economy rebound

(Newser) - Despite fears that inflationary forces are revving, the Federal Reserve will probably hold the interbank federal funds rate at 2% today, hoping the bargain basement rate can help kick-start a stalled economy that’s been hamstrung by a tenacious housing slump and a credit crunch hangover, Reuters reports. More »

Paulson Seeks Expanded Fed Powers

Treasury secretary says Fed role needs to be revised, upgraded to respond to risk

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today will urge Congress to broaden the Federal Reserve’s oversight role on Wall Street, giving it the authority to demand data from financial institutions to help prevent incidents like the Bear Stearns collapse. Any major change in regulatory authority would have to be approved by... More »

Oil Drives Uneven Finish

Bernanke comments spark inflation worries, perk up dollar

(Newser) - The markets ended mixed after moving between gains and losses, as traders tracked gyrations in the price of oil—which finished down 2% from earlier highs of $137 a barrel, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 9.44 to end at 12,289.76. The Nasdaq lost 10.52 to settle... More »

Jobless Rate Posts Biggest Jump in 22 Years

Signs are very bad for consumers

(Newser) - Unemployment saw its biggest leap in two decades in May, spiking from 5.0% to 5.5%, as companies scale back their workforces in the face of recession, Bloomberg reports. Analysts had expected a more modest climb, to 5.1%; unemployment hasn’t been this high since October 2004. Payrolls... More »

In Turmoil, Bernanke Forged New Persona

Fed chief sheds academic image with crisis management; some worry he went too far

(Newser) - Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s aggressive actions in March to douse the fire consuming financial markets won him fans on Wall Street and elsewhere, but created a cadre of critics who say the “Bernanke Doctrine” fuels inflation and hurts the dollar, the New York Times reports. “It... More »

Bush, Stop Begging the Saudis

Don't publicly ask for oil favors you won't get, WSJ writes

(Newser) - Whichever adviser sent President Bush to plead with the Saudi king to help bring down oil prices should be canned, the Wall Street Journal opines. Bush had the same request turned down during a visit in January, and the rebuff is even more humiliating the second time around. If Bush... More »

US Must Stop Foreclosures, Bernanke Warns

He warns of cascading crisis

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday called for government intervention to halt home foreclosures, warning that to do nothing could "destabilize communities, reduce property values of nearby homes, and lower tax revenues." Bernanke said in a speech in New York that a million Americans were already three months... More »

Stocks Rally; Dow Up Almost 200

Fed's latest actions draw late but rave reviews

(Newser) - Stocks rallied today on strong performances by several big tech firms, MarketWatch reports. Investors also poured money into financials in anticipation of the dollar boost the Fed will cause by holding interest rates steady after yesterday’s cut. The Dow climbed 189.87 to at 13,010.00, the Nasdaq... More »

Fed Ponders Pause in Rate Cuts—After 1 More

Experts expect a last cut to 2% before the central bank stops and waits

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve may be ready to cool its torrid rate-cutting after a likely .25% percentage point cut at its meeting next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Futures markets are betting Chairman Ben Bernanke is unlikely to rest just yet, with little change in the month-to-month economic picture, but... More »

On Pope's Heels, Brown Arrives in America

Overshadowed PM will talk global economy, seek closer US-UK ties

(Newser) - The pope might be commanding the headlines, but another world leader is in America this week—Gordon Brown arrived in New York yesterday for a three-day visit. In an op-ed for today's Wall Street Journal, the British PM announces a raft of initiatives designed to fortify the "special relationship,... More »

Frank is Dems' Unlikely Lead Economy Dog

Mass. rep huddles with Paulson, Bernanke on housing measure

(Newser) - Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has become an unlikely power player in Washington’s “new economic trio” with Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson, writes David Rogers in Politico. His pet plan—a “humongous housing deal” to steady an ailing market—might be a tough sell to the White House,... More »

Fed, Execs Defend Bear Bailout

Collapse would have spread throughout economy, they argue

(Newser) - Bear Stearns was just hours from collapse, and letting it go down would have been disastrous, executives and regulators argued on Capital Hill today while defending the controversial bailout, the New York Times reports. Without the takeover, “we would all be facing a far more dire set of challenges,... More »

Slow Day Sees Modest Losses

Stocks end mostly lower after Bernanke testimony

(Newser) - The markets slid into negative territory after Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony on the state of the economy today, but trading was generally low-key. "Flat is good," an economist told the Wall Street Journal. "People are getting their nerve back." The Dow ended down 45.44 at... More »

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