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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: toxic assets

toxic assets stories: 27 news summaries

1 - 20 of 27 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Bank of America Loses
$2.2B as Loans Sour

Investment revenues up, but consumers default on nearly $10B

Oct 16, 09 8:02 AM CDT
(AP) - Bank of America Corp. lost more $2.24 billion in the third quarter, the company announced today, as loan losses kept rising. Those losses amounted to nearly $10 billion, providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its... More »

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Bank of America • earnings reports • Merrill Lynch • loans • corporate earnings • third quarter earnings • loan-loss provision • toxic assets

FDIC May Ditch Public-Private Bad-Assets Plan

Banks in better shape; buyers and sellers remain reluctant

May 28, 09 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - The government may scale back or put on hold parts of its controversial, slow-starting plan to get toxic assets off banks’ books, the Wall Street Journal reports. With both buyers and sellers expressing reluctance, and banks looking healthier, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp will likely delay next month’s scheduled... More »

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Treasury Department • FDIC • Sheila Bair • toxic assets • PPIP

BlackRock's Multiple Roles
in Bailout Draw Scrutiny

Money manager faces conflict of interest calls

May 19, 09 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Most financial firms have suffered in recent years, but money manager BlackRock is thriving. The firm manages $1.3 trillion for hedge funds, governments, and other big clients, but it's also been tapped to help the Fed with foundering companies like AIG and Freddie Mac. Now, reports the Wall Street ... More »

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BlackRock • conflict of interest • financial crisis • toxic assets

20 Crime Probes Launched Into Bailout Fraud

Inspector calls TARP
'inherently vulnerable' to insider trading, abuse

Apr 21, 09 6:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Federal authorities have begun 20 separate investigations into possible fraud, tax violations, insider trading, and other criminal activities surrounding Henry Paulson's $750 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's only the first round of probes, according to the bailout program's inspector general, who called TARP "... More »

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fraud • insider trading • Henry Paulson • bailout • Inspector General • Troubled Asset Relief Program • Wall Street bailout • TARP • toxic assets

Citing Too-Low Prices, Banks Won't Sell Toxic Assets 

Stress test an Obama weapon

Apr 16, 09 11:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Banks are proving so reluctant to part with their so-called “toxic assets” that the Obama administration may have to strong-arm them into doing so, Time reports. Banks are protesting that the prices being offered—about $70 per $100 bond by the magazine’s calculations—are too low. That’s... More »

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Goldman Sachs • Treasury Department • JPMorgan Chase • Obama administration • banking industry • financial crisis • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets • stress tests

Bailout Honchos Weigh Toxic-Asset 'War Bonds'

Treasury's new idea would allow private investors to profit from bailouts

Apr 9, 09 8:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Responding to charges the bank bailout privatizes profits while socializing losses, the Obama administration is exploring creating mutual-fund-type instruments that would allow private citizens to invest in toxic assets. The bailout funds, akin to war bonds, would allow the taxpayers who funded the bailout to profit along with Wall Street,... More »

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Treasury Department • mortgage backed securities • bailout • Obama administration • Main Street • financial crisis • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets

OPINION

Taxpayers Lose in Treasury's Toxic Asset Plan

Nobelist Stiglitz blasts Obama adminstration for 'perverse' program

Apr 1, 09 6:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration's massive public-private investment plan is good news for banks, good news for investors—and bad news for the taxpayer, writes Joseph Stiglitz. In an op-ed for the New York Times, the Nobel Prize-winning economist accuses the Treasury of "replicating the flawed system" that caused this crisis,... More »

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Barack Obama • Joseph Stiglitz • Obama administration • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets • TALF • Public-Private Investment Program

ANALYSIS

 Obama Fully Invested 
 as CEO-in-Chief 

In Detroit and on Wall St., president decides to run things his way

Mar 31, 09 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Though he entered office with relatively little business experience, the past week has seen President Obama assume the role as “the most powerful player in American business today,” Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write for Politico. “He’s realizing, ‘Hey, the economy’s mine now, and... More »

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General Motors • Rahm Emanuel • AIG • Rick Wagoner • economy • President Obama • toxic assets

OPINION

Don't Listen
to Krugman—
This Plan
Might Work

Pearlstein lays into fellow columnist

Mar 24, 09 7:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Even before the full details were released, critics were bashing the Treasury's public-private asset purchase plan; Paul Krugman predicted it would fail and lead the country into depression (not to speak of the writer into despair). Steven Pearlstein begs to differ, and the markets seem to agree. For the Washington ... More »

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nationalization • Treasury Department • Paul Krugman • Obama administration • Steven Pearlstein • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets • TALF • Public-Private Investment Program

OPINION

 Hey Paul Krugman, 
 Your Country Needs You 

Why aren't you in the administration?

Mar 24, 09 3:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The latest video to shake up YouTube is a song plea that critical columnist Paul Krugman join the Obama administration and fix the economy. "Hey Paul Krugman, where the hell are you, man? Why aren't you in the administration?" sings songwriter Jonathan Mann. "When I listen to you... More »

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Barack Obama • YouTube • New York Times • Treasury Department • Paul Krugman • economy • Treasury secretary • Timothy Geithner • fiscal crisis • toxic assets

OPINION

 Krugman in 
 'Despair' Over 
 Toxic Asset Plan 

Dressing up Paulson's failed solution is no solution at all

Mar 23, 09 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Paul Krugman has been downbeat for weeks on the Obama efforts to rescue the economy, but today he hits a new low. “This is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair,” writes Krugman in the New York Times of the White House... More »

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Barack Obama • Henry Paulson • Paul Krugman • financial crisis • financial meltdown • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets

UPDATED

 Stocks Soar 300+ 
 on Geithner Plan 


Mar 23, 09 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks sprinted out of the gates today, the Wall Street Journal reports, spurred by the Treasury’s long-awaited toxic asset plan. The Dow was up 316 just after noon, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 4.1% and 4.5%, respectively. Banking stocks were the biggest winners, with... More »

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stock market • Citigroup • Bank of America • Dow Jones • stock exchange • Nasdaq • S&P 500 • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s new plan for dealing with toxic bank assets is “creating massive moral hazard,” Paul Krugman blogs in the New York Times. The idea of providing taxpayer money to insure the purchase of possibly worthless assets is equivalent to the poor practices laid bare... More »

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recession • Treasury Department • Paul Krugman • private investors • Obama administration • Timothy Geithner • TARP • toxic assets

 Toxic Asset Plan to Offer 
 Subsidies to Investors 

Plan will offer loans, subsidies to investors willing to suck up bad assets

Mar 21, 09 6:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Treasury will unveil a plan to take up to $1 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and other troubled assets from financial institutions early next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan, the cornerstone of efforts to rescue the banking system, calls for the creation of an entity to buy... More »

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Treasury Department • credit crisis • mortgage backed securities • financial crisis • toxic assets • TALF

MARKETS

 Gains Fizzle; Dow Down 7 

Tech leads declines, Dow falls from triple-digit gain

Mar 16, 09 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks swung back to losses as optimism from last week’s rally faded today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors treated last week’s announcements that many troubled financial institutions ran operating profits in the first two months of 2009—ignoring “toxic securities” on their balance sheets—with skepticism.... More »

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Microsoft • Citigroup • Intel • Dow Jones • Nasdaq • S&P 500 • financial crisis • toxic assets

TARP Manager: Let's Not Micromanage

Banks can't make bad loans for lending's sake, says Kashkari

Mar 11, 09 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Neel Kashkari, the man who manages the Troubled Asset Relief Program, doesn’t think the government ought to try to make decisions for the banks it helps, he told lawmakers today. “However well-intended, government officials are not positioned to make better commercial decisions than lenders,” he insisted. He... More »

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Congress • testimony • Treasury Department • House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Troubled Asset Relief Program • Neel Kashkari • Timothy Geithner • TARP • toxic assets

OPINION

Obama 'Dithering' on Bank Rescue: Krugman

Toxic asset plans just aren't going to work

Mar 6, 09 9:23 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama has repeatedly said that bold action is needed to save the financial system, and he’s probably right, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. So it’s a shame he isn’t taking any. “The reality is that when it comes to dealing with... More »

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Barack Obama • Ben Bernanke • Paul Krugman • Obama administration • Troubled Asset Relief Program • Timothy Geithner • toxic assets

 Investment Funds 
 May Replace 'Bad Bank' 

Administration eyes creation of private funds to suck up toxic debt

Mar 3, 09 4:50 AM CST
(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering creating multiple investment funds to buy up the toxic debts at the heart of the financial crisis, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. No fixed structure has been agreed upon, but under one leading plan the funds would be administered by private investment managers who... More »

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Treasury Department • credit crisis • investment fund • bailout • Obama administration • financial crisis • Wall Street bailout • bad bank • toxic assets • TALF

Fed Bailout Spawns More 'Zombie' Banks

Fed lifelines preserve banks that, frankly, are better off dead

Feb 26, 09 9:40 AM CST
(Newser) - The Federal Reserve’s aggressive lending to banks has helped avert financial collapse, but it may have created some monsters as well, the Wall Street Journal reports. A research paper from the University of Chicago suggests that while federal aid has succeeded some in thawing frozen credit markets, it has... More »

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Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • credit market • mortgage backed securities • credit market chaos • toxic assets • Term Securities Lending Facility

Finance Geeks Behind Crisis Hard at Work on a Fix

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

Feb 23, 09 11:04 AM CST
(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. “... More »

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finance • mortgage backed securities • collateralized debt obligations • securitized loan pools • valuation • financial crisis • toxic assets

1 - 20 of 27 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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