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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: credit

credit stories: 29 news summaries

1 - 20 of 29 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Congress Extends Credit for First-Time Home Buyers

Also adds 20 weeks
of jobless benefits

Nov 5, 09 3:03 PM CST
(Newser) - The House voted to extend and expand an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers as part of a stimulus expansion expected to inject $45 billion into the economy. The legislation, which passed the Senate yesterday, also extends unemployment benefits for 20 weeks and creates tax breaks for businesses... More »

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Congress • House of Representatives • credit • expansion • economic stimulus package • tax credit

 Borrowers Ditch Banks, 
 Turn to Peer Loans 

Once modest industry will soon lend more than $5 billion annually

Sep 20, 09 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - As the banking pendulum swings from reckless lending to impossible-to-get credit, people are increasingly turning away from institutions and toward each other for loans, reports the Washington Post. The shaky stock market has made the peer-to-peer market ideal for investors, while borrowers happily trade credit card debt for interest rates... More »

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credit • credit card loans • credit market chaos • peer-to-peer • Securities and Exchange Commission

(Newser) - American banks will pull in $38.5 billion in overdraft fees this year, a record sum that's largely coming from pockets of the poorest and most indebted consumers. According to the Financial Times, banks hiked fees on overdrafts and credit cards as the financial crisis took hold; this year's take... More »

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Citigroup • Bank of America • debt • bank • credit • banking • consumer debt • JPMorgan Chase • overdraft fee

(Newser) - For many unemployed Americans, a new trend is keeping the prospect of a new job out of reach: detailed credit checks of prospective employees. Once used mostly for government positions, cheap credit checks are now routine at private employers seeking to cull huge applicant pools. Businesses say they're just... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • unemployment • credit • job market • credit score • jobless

Obama Pledges
Credit Card Reform

Obama backs House bill limiting 'deceptive' practices

Apr 23, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama told senior executives of credit-card firms today that he supports congressional efforts to rein in some of their business practices, the Washington Post reports. Both the House and Senate are working on bills to codify new regulations by the Fed that restrict lenders’ ability to arbitrarily raise interest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • credit card • credit • credit crisis • lending practices • Obama administration • President Obama

AmEx to Clients: Here's
$300, Now Get Lost

Credit card firm looks to limit exposure

Feb 23, 09 5:12 PM CST
(Newser) - American Express is offering some of its customers $300 to pay their balance and close their accounts, Reuters reports. The firm has been hit with staggering losses, exacerbated by their expansion in recent years to less well-heeled customers. American Express declined to say how many customers had received the buyout... More »

MORE ABOUT:
American Express • credit card • credit • default • financial crisis • client

Experian Cuts Access to
Credit Scores

Consumers are about to know 33% less about their credit rating

Feb 13, 09 7:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Knowing their credit rating will become one-third harder for consumers as of tomorrow, USA Today reports. Experian, one of the three major companies that calculates credit scores, has canceled its deal with the company that provides the info to consumers, meaning millions will lose access to Experian's version of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
credit • credit score • credit rating • FICO • Experian

analysis

Watch Out for These Economic Recovery Signs

Keep an eye out for slowing pasta sales

Feb 9, 09 4:52 PM CST
(Newser) - We knew the economy was toast when the GDP dropped 3.8% in the last quarter. But such data lags behind the real economy, writes Dan Kadlec in Time, so watch out for these indicators of a turnaround:
  • Home sales. They started the downturn, so any upswing is a
... More »

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list • home sales • investment • credit • temporary employment • pasta • interest rates

 Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B 

Merger would be largest pharma deal since GlaxoWellcome-SmithKline 2000 merger

Jan 26, 09 6:11 AM CST
(Newser) - The world’s largest drugmaker, Pfizer, is poised to become even more gargantuan after it agreed early this morning to buy rival Wyeth for $68 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal. In the first major merger to hit Wall Street in months, Pfizer will borrow $22.5 billion from... More »

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Citigroup • Bank of America • Goldman Sachs • pharmaceutical companies • mergers and acquisitions • merger • Pfizer • credit • Wyeth • pharmaceutical industry • JPMorgan Chase • financial crisis

Feds' Cash in Hand, GMAC Kicks Credit Into High Gear

Automaker offering new, low financing options for consumers

Dec 31, 08 9:22 AM CST
(Newser) - Now that the Treasury Department has pumped $6 billion into GMAC, its lending arm, GM, along with its dealers, is rushing out new financing deals for credit-strapped consumers, the Wall Street Journal reports. “The minute the news hit, we began contacting customers,” said one Michigan dealer, whose employees... More »

MORE ABOUT:
General Motors • Treasury Department • credit • auto sales • GMAC • financing

ANALYSIS

 Crisis Looms for Credit Cards 

Soaring defaults could fell normally resilient industry

Nov 14, 08 3:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Credit cards may be the next industry to be pummeled by the financial crisis, Time reports. The charge-off rate—money that lenders don't think they'll collect—is set to hit 10% in 2009. That's double the rate of the last decade and amounts to $96 billion in unpaid debt. Typically... More »

MORE ABOUT:
credit card • interest rate • credit • credit crisis • revenue • default • savings • financial crisis

Cash-Strapped Shoppers Remember Layaway

No-interest credit appeals to consumers

Nov 10, 08 1:59 PM CST
(Newser) - With consumers strapped and credit short, retailers are reviving an older kind of financing: layaway. Although the arrangement was considered obsolete when Wal-Mart closed its layaway department in 2006, retailers such as TJ Maxx, Goody’s, Marshalls and the Burlington Coat Factory have moved to offer the service, especially as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • credit • credit crisis • retail sales • holiday shopping • Kmart • Wal-Mart • T.J. Maxx • financial crisis • layaway

 China Embraces Credit Cards 

Untapped market prompts banks to aggressively market plastic

Oct 22, 08 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Banks are moving to tap China’s lucrative market for credit cards, issuing millions in new plastic in recent years, the Los Angeles Times reports. There are about 100 million credit cards today in China, up from 3 million in 2003. And the market is still tiny, by American standards:... More »

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China • credit card • credit • loan • default • shoppers • banks

(Newser) - The credit crisis may force Americans to do something truly drastic: live frugally. Benjamin Franklin-style penny-pinching once defined America, but thrift has gone decidedly out of style in recent times, BusinessWeek reports. "I can't help the economy," says one recent convert to the new frugality. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
debt • credit • consumer debt • Thrifty • financial crisis

Ford CFO
Says He'll
Step Down

Longtime exec retires after grabbing timely loan ahead of crisis

Oct 10, 08 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ford CFO Don Leclair will retire at the end of the month after 32 years with the company, the struggling automaker said today. Leclair has drawn praise for snagging $25 billion in loans for the company before the credit markets dried up, a move that may ensure Ford’s survival... More »

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retirement • Ford • CFO • credit • auto industry • Don Leclair • Lewis Booth

 Credit Chill Spreads to Russia 

Georgian war spooked foreign investment, destabilized economy

Oct 8, 08 4:31 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Vladimir Putin • Georgia • finance • bank • investment • credit • credit crisis • economy • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

Can Their $700B Rescue
Plan Do the Trick?

Experts say action is needed, but doubt if it will be enough

Sep 21, 08 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget white and blue: Uncle Sam is all red these days after swallowing hundreds of billions in bad mortgages and coughing up billions more to save strapped businesses. As the Feds strategize a solution to the mess, experts are unsure if the plan will work and how much it’ll... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Henry Paulson • Washington • Treasury Department • credit • financial institutions • subprime crisis • bailout

Fed Extends Emergency Loan Program for Wall Street

Bernanke offers several options for cash-strapped firms

Jul 30, 08 11:09 AM CDT
(AP) - The Federal Reserve today extended its emergency borrowing program for Wall Street firms through Jan. 30. Originally the program, through which investment houses can tap the central bank for a quick source of cash, was supposed to last until mid-September. Another program, where banks can temporarily swap more risky investments... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Federal Reserve • Treasury Department • liquidity • credit • credit crisis

Squeezed
Banks Slash
Biz Loans

Real-estate
fallout dries up
credit stream

Jul 28, 08 5:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Reeling from real-estate losses, banks are turning off the credit spigot to loan-seeking businesses, the New York Times reports. The loan reduction means more bad news down the line as money-starved companies begin to cut workers. Banks cut credit nearly 3% over the past year, the most since 2001, according... More »

MORE ABOUT:
bank • credit • loan • economy • banking industry

Merrill Posts $4.65B Loss
in Dismal 2nd Quarter

Third biggest American firm posts dismal second quarter

Jul 18, 08 5:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Merrill Lynch posted a second-quarter loss of $4.65 billion late yesterday, more than twice the second-quarter loss analysts had expected and one of the worst in the brokerage's history. The firm took a hit of $9.7 billion in credit-market writedowns, reports Bloomberg, on top of some $30 billion... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Merrill Lynch • credit • credit crisis • writedowns

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