News

2008

October

05

• The shrinking nest egg. Stash your 401(k) statements in the drawer. The third quarter was one of bailouts, near-collapses and takeovers on Wall Street that left many mutual funds down in the dumps. Investors had few places to turn…

• $10.1-trillion national debt? Let's cut taxes!. Even before the current financial crisis, a federal budget deficit of nearly $500 billion was projected for next year. Now an additional $700 billion has been committed to bailing out Wall Street, not to mention…

04

• Rescue sweetened with tax incentives. The House of Representatives yesterday approved $107 billion in tax breaks for businesses and consumers as part of a sweeping financial rescue package designed to stave the credit crisis. Saddled onto the 450-page bill is…

• New law seeks to limit executive compensation. In the first significant attempt by Congress to legislate executive pay, the $700 billion financial rescue plan signed into law yesterday includes efforts to rein in the use of "golden parachutes," banning the giant windfalls…

• What the FHA needs to get the job done. In the current credit squeeze, if you have less than a 20 percent down payment, there's pretty much only one major source of mortgage financing available: the Federal Housing Administration, the Depression-era home loan insurance…

• Capital One must repay $340,000 to bankrupt debtors. An auditor will review 650,000 Capital One credit card accounts to ensure that money improperly collected from people whose debts were already discharged in bankruptcy proceedings are returned. In a settlement announced Oct. 2 by…

03

• If the bailout doesn't pass.... What if, after the House vote today, Americans learn that 3,000 banks will fail? That's what happened during the last U.S. financial crisis -- and today's credit crisis is much greater than the thrift and…

• California may need emergency $7 billion loan. California may need an emergency loan of up to $7 billion from the federal government within weeks, the Los Angeles Times on Friday quoted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as saying in a letter to Treasury Secretary…

• Rescue package may not thaw credit markets. As hopes rise for congressional passage today of a massive rescue plan for the U.S. financial system, many financial experts are already wondering: What is being left out and what will have to be done…

• Wells Fargo to acquire Wachovia. In an abrupt change of course, Wachovia Corp. said today it agreed to be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. in a $15.1 billion all-stock deal, wiping out Wachovia's previous plan to sell its banking…

• Jobs report underlines economic decline. The government is out with more bad economic news this morning: The job market began to deteriorate even before the financial crisis reached a more serious stage two weeks ago. Employers cut 159,000 jobs in…

02

• Show us the hope. Falling house prices are driving the collapse of the financial system. But the bailout bill, even the “sweetened” version that was approved by the Senate Wednesday night, does little to avert the defaults and foreclosures…

• The credit crunch spreads. The credit crunch hit 2640 Merchant Drive in Baltimore in September when Drew Greenblatt asked his bank for a $175,000 increase in the line of credit for his thriving company, Marlin Steel Wire Products. The…

• FHA program for struggling homeowners. The Bush administration rolled out a program yesterday that aims to help thousands of struggling borrowers refinance into more affordable, government-backed mortgages and thus provide some relief for the foreclosure crisis that's contributed to crippling…

• Road map to weather rocky times. In the 1950 movie "All About Eve," actress Bette Davis slyly uttered a memorable line: "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." She might as well have been talking to today's…

• No silver bullets here. To hear it from critics on the left and right, the Bush administration and legislative leaders were in such a rush to pass a "$700 billion bailout for Wall Street" that they failed to consider…

01

• Mistakes that trigger default APRs. Compared to credit card companies, the criminal justice system is downright lax. A court may throw away the key after you've committed three felonies - the famous "three strikes and you're out" laws. Not so…

• Financial crisis might mean higher fees for consumers. The sale of Wachovia's deposits and other assets to Citigroup leaves the nation with three superbanks, reshaping the landscape in the midst of unprecedented financial upheaval. For customers of those institutions - Bank of America,…

• La economía familiar y la crisis. Muchos norteamericanos están observando nerviosamente los grandes altibajos de la Bolsa de Nueva York tratando de detectar indicios del colapso de Wall Street, pero ahora son los opacos mercados crediticios los que más interesan tanto…

• La otra cara del desastre. Algunos expertos en el mercado de la vivienda se atreven a afirmar que la actual crisis, junto a todas sus serias inconveniencias, puede traer ciertos beneficios. “No hay mal que por bien no venga”, dice…