UPDATED
Wall Street Journal Jan 22, 08 10:05 CST
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Stocks are rallying back after a terrifying open that saw the Dow fall over 460 points within minutes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Since then, buyers have returned, spurred on by the Fed’s unprecedented 0.75% emergency rate cut. The rally has so far recouped all but 145 points of the Dow’s drop, and pulled the Nasdaq out of the bear-market territory it had slipped into.
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Experts recommend buying a house immediately
Bloomberg Jan 8, 08 12:25 PM CST
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Pending home sales fell 2.6% in November from a revised 3.7% October gain, Bloomberg reports, far outstripping the 0.7% fall analysts predicted after an originally reported 0.6% October gain. The figures support Henry Paulson’s gloomy outlook on the housing market. “There is no evidence it is bottoming,” the treasury secretary said today, reiterating his call for government help for all mortgage holders, not just subprime borrowers.
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Treasury secretary suggests aid for prime-rate borrowers
Wall Street Journal Jan 7, 08 9:17 PM CST
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Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson advised the mortgage industry today to give help to millions of financially stressed homeowners whose mortgages are set to rise. His comments signal that the Bush administration is starting to push lenders to expand relief beyond subprime borrowers to homeowners with other adjustable-rate loans, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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Beijing renews objections to 'hyped' product safety concerns
Washington Post Dec 11, 07 10:08 CST
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China will allow US health inspectors to monitor the country’s food and drug exports, the Washington Post reports, a big concession in heated high-level trade talks. China accuses the US media of tarnishing its reputation by overblowing safety concerns, and has in turn questioned US exports. China is the first of many countries the US hopes to station inspectors in.
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Seeks investments to adjust yuan growth;
US official set for talks
Bloomberg Dec 10, 07 7:27 PM CST
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China, increasingly being called upon to more rapidly adjust the growth of the yuan against the dollar, is looking to expand its investment in US assets as a way to funnel its powerhouse currency out of the country, Bloomberg reports today. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson visits Beijing Wednesday for a third round of strategic trade talks, and will push yuan appreciation as a consumer price control measure.
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1.2M homes at risk in crisis could be saved, he says; critics charge it's not enough
CNN Dec 6, 07 3:01 PM CST
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The White House today released its plan to help homeowners threatened by the subprime crisis, asserting 1.2 million could be helped—but only 240,000 of 2.2 million rate resets due next year are covered, CNN reports. The five-year interest rate freeze doesn’t apply to borrowers 30 days late at the time of reset or those 60 days late at any point in the past year.
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Plan would help homeowners facing rate increases
Reuters Dec 5, 07 1:07 PM CST
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President Bush will detail tomorrow the Treasury Department's plan to hold interest rates steady for subprime borrowers at risk of defaulting on their mortgages when rates rise, Reuters reports. The plan, negotiated with mortgages lenders and investors, would freeze for five years adjustable loans due to jump to higher rates between Jan. 1, 2008, and summer 2010.
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Paulson says he'll
stick it out with Bush
Financial Times (UK) Dec 5, 07 4:38 CST
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Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson will stick it out until the end of the Bush presidency and won't jump to Citigroup, the Financial Times reports. His name had been mentioned in connection with the vacant top spot at Citigroup and investors are likely to be disappointed that he has ruled himself out. Citigroup is hoping to find a new boss within the week.
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MARKETS
Good vibes on mortgage deals steady markets
Bloomberg Dec 3, 07 3:38 PM CST
(Newser)
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Bad news in the financial sector today meant the first bearish day for the market in five sessions, as Deutsche Bank’s negative prediction for fourth-quarter earnings pushed Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers downward. The Dow fell 57.15 to 13,314.57, the Nasdaq slid 23.83 to 2,637.13, and the S&P 500 lost 8.72 to close at 1,472.42.
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OPINION
Ben Stein accuses Goldman Sachs, and its former CEO Henry Paulson, of peddling mortgage securities while betting on, and abetting, their collapse
New York Times Dec 3, 07 7:53 CST
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In an extraordinary New York Times column Republican/libertarian economist, writer, actor, and lawyer Ben Stein accuses Goldman Sachs of being a willing participant in, and even plotting, the collapse of value in the collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) market. In the last several years Goldman sold $100 billion of the instruments to investors for substantial fees while at the same time shorting CMOs for profit.
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Plan to give borrowers
a break called 'morally repugnant'
Wall Street Journal Dec 1, 07 11:51 CST
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Not everyone is applauding Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to freeze adjustable mortgage rates on distressed home loans to help contain the spreading subprime crisis. Some analysts think the plan will only postpone foreclosures, rather than preventing them. And now that loans are bundled and sold to investors, some of those investors resent what they see as government interference with their property, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Treasury and lenders close to deal
Wall Street Journal Nov 30, 07 3:12 CST
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The Treasury Department and a coalition of lenders are close to a deal to freeze interest rates on some subprime loans in a bid to bring the mushrooming mortgage crisis under control, reports the Wall Street Journal . A freeze would ease the burden on beleaguered borrowers and banks. Rates on some 2 million adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to jump in the next two years.
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Housing decline 'more significant' than thought
Associated Press Nov 29, 07 12:30 PM CST
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The White House cut back its expectations for 2008 economic growth today and said unemployment rates are likely to worsen, citing the housing slump. GDP will grow only by 2.7% next year, down from an earlier 3.1%, said officials from Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers; and the jobless rate is expected to hit 4.9%, worse than the previous forecast of 4.7%.
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Al Hubbard departure said to strengthen Paulson's hand
Bloomberg Nov 28, 07 8:13 CST
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Top White House economics adviser Al Hubbard will step down by year