loans

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Microfinance Bubble Traps Poor in Debt

Predatory lenders offer easy cash with gouging interest rates

(Newser) - Microfinance, loaning tiny sums to the world's poor to help start small businesses, began as an anti-poverty strategy but quickly became highly profitable for private equity firms and foreign investors. In India, writes the Wall Street Journal, poor neighborhoods are being bombarded with high-interest loan opportunities, resulting in a bizarre...

BofA, Wells Fargo Rank Worst for Loan Modifications

Treasury report rates banks' performance

(Newser) - Bank of America began modifying just 4% of its loans eligible under the Making Home Affordable Act, according to a Treasury report on big banks' performance, while Wells Fargo started just 6%. JPMorgan Chase led the pack with 20%, Bloomberg reports, while Citigroup had 15%. “Some of the servicers...

Risk Aversion Keeps Loans Shrinking

Trend suggests economy has a long way to go

(Newser) - Lending is still on the downswing, the Wall Street Journal finds, as an analysis of 15 banks' total loans on offer in the second quarter shows another 2.8% decline. What's worse, more than half of April and May’s loan volume was tied to refinanced mortgages and renewed credit...

Fed Mulls Overhaul of Overnight Lending

May create new entity to replace loan clearing banks

(Newser) - The Fed is planning an overhaul of the repurchase markets involved in banks’ overnight trading—including the creation of a new unit to oversee transactions, the Financial Times reports. Such a facility would take the place of clearing banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, that currently act as middlemen for loans,...

Bankrupt Sports Museum Holds Mementos Hostage

(Newser) - New York’s Sports Museum of America has filed for bankruptcy, and is holding some priceless memorabilia hostage, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though more established halls of fame saw the move coming and pulled out loaners, the trustee wants legal fees from owners of items still in storage, or...

Bank Lending Still Down 23% 4 Months After Bailout

Journal says Treasury's tally hides damage

(Newser) - Banks that received taxpayer aid to restart lending are loaning less than they did before the bailout, a Wall Street Journal analysis finds. The most recent figures available, from February, show a 23% drop in new loans from the lending level in October, when the Treasury Department kicked off TARP,...

Fee Hikes at Bailed-Out Banks Spur Investigation

Interest rates as high as 30% raise questions about program's effectiveness

(Newser) - Congressional overseers of the TARP program are investigating the lending practices of several of the banks they bailed out in response to complaints that the banks are raising interest rates and fees, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite receiving billions in taxpayer dollars, Bank of America last week nearly doubled...

To Dodge Recession, Move to Huntsville

Mid-size cities do better in crunch, have seen lending increase

(Newser) - While big cities and rural areas have taken a beating as the financial crisis unfolds, many mid-size cities have seen consumer lending increase, indicating an economic resilience that other areas lack, the Wall Street Journal reports. In cities with populations around 400,000—like Huntsville, Ala.; McAllen, Texas; and Provo,...

Big Banks' Lending Drops Despite Bailout Cash
Big Banks' Lending Drops
Despite Bailout Cash
ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2009 10:23 AM CST

Big Banks' Lending Drops Despite Bailout Cash

Banks say funds can't go straight to loans, and recession cuts down on would-be borrowers

(Newser) - Lending is down at some of the biggest beneficiaries of the $148 billion the Treasury hoped would get US banks lending again, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of 13 banks to receive major government backing, 10 saw a decline in their outstanding loan balances between the third and fourth quarters...

Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public
Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public
ANALYSIS
Jan 18, 2009 7:35 AM CST

Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public

(Newser) - Banks are enjoying a public bailout of billions of dollars, but they're not using the funds the way the way they were intended—to loan money to kickstart the economy, reports the New York Times. Banks are using the bucks to pay off debts and, in some cases, acquire companies....

Pawn Shops Attract Upscale Clientele

(Newser) - Pawn shops are turning from the shady realm of the lower class to a place for rich people to get loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The typical household income of a pawn shop customer is $29,000, but new middle- and upper-class clients are surging. One such client pawned...

Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout
 Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout 
Mar 29, 2008 6:48 AM CDT

Bush Readies Mortgage Bailout

Aid plan would back new loans for homeowners in 'upside-down' mortgages

(Newser) - Homeowners facing foreclosure could soon be getting a helping hand from the Bush administration, the Washington Post reports. Details are being finalized on a plan that would see portions of loans forgiven for people who now owe the bank more money than their house is worth. The remainder would be...

Fed Pumps Money Into Reeling Banks
Fed Pumps Money Into Reeling Banks
Mar 7, 2008 12:02 PM CST

Fed Pumps Money Into Reeling Banks

It will loan billions more this month to ease credit crisis

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will lend more money to banks in March in a bid to ease the worsening credit crisis, Bloomberg reports. By dramatically increasing the funds available in two upcoming auctions—from $30 billion to $50 billion—the Fed hopes to convince banks to loosen up and lend more.

Risky Loan Helped McCain Hold On
Risky Loan Helped McCain Hold On
Feb 1, 2008 7:45 AM CST

Risky Loan Helped McCain Hold On

Senator took $3M gamble, complete with death clause

(Newser) - John McCain's Lazarus-like return to the top of the race for the Republican presidential nomination required a huge gamble, writes the Washington Post—a $3 million loan last November to fund his struggling campaign, which was not only broke but $500,000 in the red. McCain had put up his...

Tightening Credit Markets Squeeze Banks

$140B in commercial paper is coming due, and forecast is fuzzy

(Newser) - Almost $140 billion in commercial paper has matured and is up for renewal by next week, and banks need to attract buyers to pay it off. The yield on the short-term loans, which are entangled in the subprime mortgage crisis, is skyrocketing. "This could be a pivotal seven to...

Congress Delivers Loan Relief for Needy Students

Broad overhaul of student loan industry earns broad bipartisan support

(Newser) - Congress yesterday passed a student loan reform bill that slashes billions of dollars from lender subsidies and redirects the funds into grants for low-income students, the New York Times reports. The sweeping measure will cut $20B from federal lender subsidies, halve the interest rate on need-based loans, and pump $12B...

Countrywide Will Slash up to 12,000 Jobs

(Newser) - Troubled mortgage lender Countrywide announced today that it would cut up to 12,000 jobs–or some 20% of its total workforce–over the next three months. The Wall Street Journal reports that, as the subprime debacle rocks the housing market and the lending industry, Countrywide expects to issue 25%...

Plastic May Pose Next Big Threat to Economy

Experts expect credit card trouble to track mortgage woes

(Newser) - The subprime mortgage crisis may spark another financial disaster: bad credit card debt. When rates hit 50-year lows, many owners borrowed against their homes to pay off high-interest credit cards. Now, with rates increasing, many may not be able to pay down both their mortgages and their credit cards, the...

One Unrivaled Market Force: Vacation

Stocks calm down as bankers, investors bail for the beach

(Newser) - The FT leads with a prediction that market volatility will decrease over the next week for a simple reason: everyone's going on vacation. Major decisions by banks, hedge funds and mortgage lenders will be on hold as the financial world bails New York, London and Frankfurt for the end of...

Credit Crunch Continues, and So Do Ads

Lenders are still advertising cheap mortgages, but the loans aren't there

(Newser) - As the credit crunch transforms the financial landscape, one thing hasn't changed: lenders continue to offer loans that are too good to be true. The Washington Post writes that mortgage companies are still offering risky products to risky customers—even Countrywide, which barely avoided bankruptcy, is flogging cheap money with...

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