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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: bonds

bonds stories: 19 news summaries

$134B Bond Fraud May Be Mob Handiwork

US, Italian authorities blame organized crime for huge counterfeiting

Jun 19, 09 8:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The counterfeit bonds with a face value of $134 billion seized near the Swiss border are probably the work of the Mafia, say Italian and American secret services. The mystery surrounding the suitcase stuffed with fake US Treasury bonds deepened yesterday, after a blog revealed that police had released the... More »

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Italy • Switzerland • counterfeit • debt • Mafia • bonds • Sicilian mafia • counterfeiters • Treasury bills

$134B in Bonds Seized in Italy 'Clearly Fake'

US debt office tells conspiracy theorists
to calm down

Jun 18, 09 8:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Conspiracy theorists, take note: The US bonds seized near the Swiss border with a face value of $134 billion "are clearly fakes," a Washington spokesman tells Bloomberg. Most securities are now issued electronically, only about $105 billion in bonds have yet to be surrendered, and the "Kennedy... More »

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Italy • Switzerland • debt • bonds • counterfeiters • smuggling • Treasury note

OPINION

$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam

Italy arrests men with enough US bonds to buy a few countries

Jun 17, 09 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Last week, Italian authorities detained two Japanese men attempting to cross the border into Switzerland carrying a suitcase stuffed with $134 billion in US bonds. The men are either massive counterfeiters or—even scarier—the fourth-largest creditors of the US Treasury, with enough cash to buy three or four countries.... More »

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Ben Bernanke • Italy • Switzerland • debt • bonds • US dollar • counterfeiters • Treasury bills • Timothy Geithner • smuggling • Treasury note

(Newser) - Two Japanese citizens were detained last week after allegedly trying to take $134 billion in undeclared US bonds from Italy to Switzerland, Bloomberg reports. Both countries are investigating the incident. “Italian authorities are in the midst of the investigation, and haven’t yet confirmed the details, including whether they... More »

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crime • Italy • Switzerland • bonds • securities • Japanese

Madoff Yanked $165M from London Branch Just Before Bust

Cash transferred to scammer vanished

Jun 7, 09 7:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A month before he came clean on his Ponzi scheme, Bernie Madoff sold $165 million in UK bonds from his London office and the money disappeared, the Independent reports. Madoff ordered a director of the London arm to transfer the money to his New York office so Madoff could use... More »

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London • bonds • Britain • Ponzi scheme • Bernard Madoff • Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities

 Shopping Mall Giant 
 Goes Bankrupt 

Second-largest U.S. mall owner can't refinance billions in debt

Apr 16, 09 7:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chicago-based General Growth Properties, the second-largest US shopping mall owner, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today after attempts to refinance more than $27 billion in debt failed, Bloomberg reports. The owner of more than 200 shopping malls owes a unit of Germany’s Commerzbank $2.6 billion, while bondholders are... More »

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bankruptcy • debt • bonds • mall • Standard and Poor • Chapter 11 • Commerzbank

Feds Put the Squeeze on Auto Creditors

Billions of dollars in concessions sought from banks, bondholders

Apr 10, 09 6:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - The government is pushing hard to wring billions of dollars in concessions from the creditors of General Motors and Chrysler, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insiders say Treasury has pushed GM to offer bondholders only stock in return for debt after it judged as too generous a deal involving stock,... More »

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Chrysler • bankruptcy • General Motors • bonds • auto industry • Obama administration • auto bailout

In Bankruptcy Maneuver,
GM May Split in 2

If GM faces Chapter 11, a splitting of the company could avert disaster

Mar 26, 09 10:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - General Motors executives and Treasury officials alike seem adamant that the company should avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy at all costs, but bankruptcy scenarios are already crystallizing behind the scenes, BusinessWeek reports. One option calls for splitting the company into a “good GM,” which would emerge from bankruptcy with... More »

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United Auto Workers • bankruptcy • General Motors • Detroit • bonds • Treasury Department • Chapter 11

UK Fails to Sell Its Top Bonds

Auction of government debt falls short,
casts doubt on Brown's call for 2nd stimulus

Mar 26, 09 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Britain's central bank yesterday failed to complete its auction of government bonds for the first time in over a decade, reports the Telegraph. The auction of 40-year gilts fell short a day after the Bank of England governor warned that the country could not afford a second fiscal stimulus, as... More »

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Gordon Brown • bonds • Bank of England • financial crisis

Disgraced Credit Raters
See Windfall in Fed Plan

Moody's, S&P could earn big rating Fed bond deals

Mar 20, 09 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Credit-rating companies faulted for their role in creating the financial crisis could rake in more than $1 billion in Ben Bernanke’s new plan to prop up the financial system, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed is planning $7 billion worth of bond deals, and they'll need the approval... More »

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Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • bonds • Standard and Poor • Moody's • credit rating

As Life Insurers Face Losses, Next Bailout Decision Looms

Life insurers, a key cog in capital markets, seek TARP funds

Mar 12, 09 9:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Life insurance companies, an oft-overlooked yet important cog in the financial infrastructure, haven’t been immune to tumbling markets, the Wall Street Journal reports, which are eroding both their portfolios and consumer confidence. A Dow Jones life insurance index is off 59% this year and 82% from its 2007 high,... More »

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bonds • bond market • life insurance • capital markets • financial crisis • Prudential Financial • Hartford Financial • MetLife

ANALYSIS

Next Bubble May Be
in Treasuries

But the rest of the bond market is attractively priced

Jan 6, 09 8:15 PM CST
(Newser) - As the credit and stock markets collapsed, investors rushed to Treasuries as the safest possible bet. But the rush to safety could be fueling a bubble, writes Andrew Bary for Barrons. Yields have been plummeting, with 10-year notes at 2.4% and three-month bills selling last week for 0.05%.... More »

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Federal Reserve • bond trading • bonds • Treasury Department • bond market • junk bonds • bond • Treasury bills

Vindicated in 2008, Some Experts Foresee Gloomy '09

A few who called last year's calamities correctly see grim days ahead

Jan 2, 09 10:52 AM CST
(Newser) - Labeled overly pessimistic for years, a few Wall Street prognosticators became the oracles of 2008 by correctly predicting the unwinding of the global economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The doomsayers correctly anticipated bank failures, stock market declines, and the housing market collapse of the second half of 2008. As... More »

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stock market • global economy • bonds • credit crisis • housing crisis • housing bubble • financial crisis • financial meltdown

Jittery About Loss, Investors Stuff Cash In 0% T-Bills

Willing to take nothing for their money

Dec 10, 08 12:26 PM CST
(Newser) - The results of yesterday’s short-term bond auction were staggering. Investors snapped up $30 billion worth of Treasuries at a 0% yield—essentially lending the government money for free, the New York Times reports. Earlier, some investors even accepted a negative yield to park their cash in three-month Treasury bills.... More »

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investors • debt • national debt • bonds • bailout • Troubled Asset Relief Program • financial crisis • short term bonds • Treasury bills • recession depression

ANALYSIS

 Key Indicator Points 
 to a Long Slump 

Yield curve predicts slow recovery in developed economies as credit remains tight

Nov 5, 08 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) - A little known—but closely followed—indicator that contrasts the differences in yield between 2- and a 10-year government securities suggests the economic downturn in the developed world is likely to hang around a lot longer, reports the Wall Street Journal. Yield curves generally are narrow when the economy is... More »

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investing • bonds • economy • financial crisis • Treasury bills • yield curve

(Newser) - UBS, pressured by state and federal authorities, has agreed to buy back $19.4 billion in risky auction-rate securities that were widely sold as cash-like and safe, the Boston Globe reports. The market for the securities, which are a type of bond sold by non-profits, art institutions and local governments,... More »

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Citigroup • UBS • Merrill Lynch • bonds • auction-rate securities • investment banks

Municipalities Feel Credit Market Pain

Unaffordable bonds mean projects stall—
or taxes rise

Nov 29, 07 12:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Cities, towns, and schools are learning what would-be homeowners already know: the credit market stinks. Municipalities have grown addicted to financing projects with extremely low-interest bonds, but such cheap credit is hard to come by as bond insurers swing in the subprime wind, the Washington Post reports. Local governments... More »

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subprime mortgages • bonds • credit market • credit crisis • municipal bonds

Battered Bear Tries to Act Bullish

Wall Street's anxieties force Bear Stearns to make major changes

Aug 4, 07 2:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - The securities firm Bear Stearns will oust its stocks and bonds trading chief, the WSJ reports, and soften its emphasis on short-term trades. The extraordinary moves come in the wake of Friday's market sell-off, partly triggered by investor concern about Bear Stearns after the collapse of two of its mortgage-bond... More »

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Wall Street • housing market • subprime mortgages • Bear Stearns • loans • hedge fund • Lehman Brothers • bonds • corporate credit • Warren Spector

Dow Falls as Bond Yields Soar

Record high yields threaten higher mortgage rates

Jun 13, 07 7:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - US bond yields have hit a five year high—bringing the threat of higher interest rates, costlier home mortgages and a slowing economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 5.25 per cent yesterday. Rising bond yields echo throughout the economy, making stocks less... More »

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Dow Jones • stocks • money • trade • finance • bonds • US economy

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