finance

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US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks
US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks
OPINION
Mar 2, 2009 2:52 PM CST

US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks

Japan's mistake of liquidity vs. solvency being repeated: Baker

(Newser) - Japan’s economic troubles in the 1990s—the so-called “lost decade”—provides a cautionary tale for America’s current problems, writes James Baker, a Reagan Treasury Secretary, in the Financial Times. Japan used piecemeal bailouts and implicit guarantees to insolvent banks rather than swift action. So the “...

Finance Geeks Behind Crisis Hard at Work on a Fix

The inventors of the CDO turn their math minds to better valuations of assets

(Newser) - The finance-desk math wizards who created the securities behind the market meltdown are now betting they can think their way out of the mess, the Wall Street Journal reports, working to design new systems for pricing bad assets fairly so governments can buy them off of banks’ balance sheets. “...

Stimulus in the Bag, Obama Rethinks Strategy
Stimulus in the Bag, Obama Rethinks Strategy
analysis
Feb 13, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Stimulus in the Bag, Obama Rethinks Strategy

President will push hard for the agenda he wants

(Newser) - President Obama got his way, more or less, on the stimulus, but the process demonstrated Congress' abiding disinterest in bipartisanship. For future big-ticket items—and there are a lot of them—the president will take a tougher approach, Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin write for Politico. Chief of staff Rahm...

Stocks Drop on Alcoa Downer, Bernanke Calls for More Bailout

Bernanke sounds all pessimistic

(Newser) - Stocks took a modest drop at the open, in the wake of a grim report from Alcoa and even grimmer words from Ben Bernanke, who said the strength and timing of the global recovery are “highly uncertain,” and that Obama’s stimulus won’t produce sustainable results without...

Obama Names Budget Director, Vows Reform

Names new budget director

(Newser) - Even as he pushes a massive stimulus package, Barack Obama will trim back other parts of the federal budget, the president-elect promised today. “We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness,” he said. “We simply cannot afford...

Credit Chill Spreads to Russia
 Credit Chill Spreads to Russia 
Oct 8, 2008 4:31 PM CDT

Credit Chill Spreads to Russia

Georgian war spooked foreign investment, destabilized economy

(Newser) - The credit crisis has officially reached Russia, revealing just how fragile the Russian economy is, BusinessWeek reports. Stocks fell so much this week that the government today suspended both exchanges to stem further loss. But the country's reliance on foreign cash—disappearing as investors flee—is bound to affect more...

Credit Crunch Shuts Down State, City Projects

Projects shelved as municipal bond market dries up

(Newser) - The credit crisis is squeezing the life out of local governments, reports the New York Times. Cities and states have found themselves shut out of bond markets for the last 2 weeks, and big projects, from new hospitals to highway repairs, are being shelved or delayed. Analysts believe the days...

10 Films About Nasty Business
 10 Films About Nasty Business 
Sep 29, 2008 4:10 PM CDT

10 Films About Nasty Business

Hollywood takes a cynical approach to bankers

(Newser) - Wall Street executives have it tough these days, but Hollywood has rarely gone easy on guys in suits. USA Today lists 10 definitive films about them:
  • Stagecoach (1939): Like all John Ford movies, this one makes a banker look bad.
  • Splendor in the Grass (1961): A 1930s investor doesn't just
...

Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession
Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession
OPINION
Sep 18, 2008 10:06 AM CDT

Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession

The end of easy credit marks a new era, writes Pearlstein

(Newser) - On paper, the losses from the credit crisis are probably "the greatest destruction of financial wealth that the world has ever seen," writes Steven Pearlstein. But the trillions that have disappeared aren't the biggest casualty of the last year. Rather, says the Washington Post columnist, we are undergoing...

Paulson, Wall Street Execs Let Lehman Die

11th-hour meeting exhausted all possible rescue options for investment firm

(Newser) - As the dust settles on Wall Street, details of the final frantic negotiations on Lehman Brothers reveal that Henry Paulson’s opposition to a government bailout ultimately sealed the investment bank’s fate, the Journal reports. Paulson summoned an emergency meeting of 30 Wall Street executives Friday to definitively state...

Tough Times Ground Hedge Fund High-Fliers

Specialized investment industry dragged back to earth by shaky market

(Newser) - The recent market turmoil has taken a good deal of the shine off of hedge funds, as managers are unable to reproduce their heretofore exemplary results in poor market conditions, the New York Times reports. The average hedge fund lost 4% this year, the worst overall results in the industry’...

Lehman Bros. to Report 3Q Stats Today in Bid to Calm Market

Battered firm to unveil 'strategic initiatives'

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers plans to release its third-quarter results and "key strategic initiatives" this morning—a week earlier than expected—in a bid to calm investors, Marketwatch reports. The securities firm took its biggest Wall Street walloping in history yesterday, with share prices plunging 45% to finish 85% down from...

Lehman Considers 'Good Bank/Bad Bank' Split

Sheltering troubled mortgage debt expected to bolster confidence

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers is considering splitting itself into two banks, a “bad bank” to house its $30 billion in troubled mortgage and real estate holdings, and a “good bank” to carry on with the help of a new investor or two, the New York Times reports. The move, which...

Hollywood Movie Glut Wallops Indies
Hollywood
Movie Glut Wallops Indies
Sep 3, 2008 10:46 AM CDT

Hollywood Movie Glut Wallops Indies

Many go straight to DVD as too many films vie for screens

(Newser) - A surplus of Hollywood movies is forcing many independent films off the big screen, and driving down box office takes for those that do make it, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mainstream films with bankable stars are being sent straight-to-DVD, as too many movies fight for too few theater slots...

Analyst Rules Could Use Some Analysis
 Analyst Rules
 Could Use
 Some Analysis

OPINION
Aug 12, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

Analyst Rules Could Use Some Analysis

It might be time to ease some of the restrictions

(Newser) - Frank Quattrone is back in the investment business and is taking on research rules, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times. Quattrone thinks Wall Street should try to remove the settlement that forced the separation of investment banking and research. The rules are “denying small companies the...

Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders
Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders
OPINION
Jul 19, 2008 3:10 PM CDT

Public Silence Greets Wall St. Blunders

Small savers are suffering, but giving financiers a free ride

(Newser) - America's financiers have driven the country into crisis with stunning recklessness, James Grant writes in the Wall Street Journal, but public anger seems strangely dormant. Populist politicians railed against Wall Street during past financial crises, Grant notes, but today's politicians appear largely uninterested in taking aim at the easy target.

Feds Plan to Allow Foreign Accounting Rules

Critics slam 'outsourcing' of financial protections

(Newser) - Federal officials are proposing to loosen accounting regulations, allowing American companies to shift to international standards that offer more latitude in reporting earnings, the New York Times reports. The move would make businesses more competitive, the administration argues, but it would also effectively exempt them from the investor-protection measures instigated...

Most Lucrative College Majors
 Most Lucrative College Majors 
Jun 21, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

Most Lucrative College Majors

Computer engineering tops list for grads seeking quick cash

(Newser) - College students looking for fast cash after graduation should study computer engineering, Forbes reports. Here are the most lucrative college majors, with salaries for beginners and veterans alike:
  • Computer engineering ($60,500-$104,000)
  • Economics ($48,000-$96,200)
  • Electrical engineering ($59,900-$96,100)
  • Computer science ($54,200-$94,000)
  • Mechanical engineering ($56,
...

Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises
Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises
GLOSSIES
Jun 17, 2008 7:50 PM CDT

Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises

Greenberg's clout evident in AIG ouster, bailout of Lehman

(Newser) - At age 83, Hank Greenberg is on anything but a quiet path to retirement. The legendary exec is smack in the middle of two of the biggest financial stories of the day—the upheaval at insurance giant AIG and the struggle to salvage Lehman Brothers. Portfolio looks at Greenberg's reversal...

Cramer: Never Seen Wall Street This Bad
 Cramer:
 Never Seen
 Wall Street
 This Bad 
ANALYSIS
Jun 16, 2008 12:02 PM CDT

Cramer: Never Seen Wall Street This Bad

Analyst sees no end in sight for layoffs and write-downs

(Newser) - While he steers clear of the Great Depression, everything else is fair game as reference in James J. Cramer’s apocalyptic appraisal of Wall Street for New York. In Cramer's 25 years, he's seen lots of implosions, but this one is different: With thousands of layoffs at major shops, and...

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