credit crisis

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Feds Seize Wholesale Credit Unions

Regulators move to stabilize credit union industry as condition reaches critical

(Newser) - Federal regulators have taken control of two major wholesale credit unions, which provide services to thousands of credit unions nationwide, to stabilize the industry, Bloomberg reports. The institutions, which have combined assets of $57 billion, failed the so-called stress test, showing an unacceptably high level of risk from mortgage-backed securities....

Toxic Asset Plan to Offer Subsidies to Investors

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

(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...

Auto-Parts Suppliers Get Own $5B Bailout

(Newser) - The US will provide $5 billion in aid to the nation’s auto-parts manufacturers, a sector struggling because of the tenuous financial situation of Detroit’s Big Three car companies, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Many parts makers face bankruptcy, as they have not been paid for product delivered....

AIG Mess Shows Why the Feds Should Quit Banking

(Newser) - All the hubbub around AIG and its bonuses is “a complete farce,” Larry Kudlow writes in the National Review. No one should be surprised that those in charge have “completely bungled” the situation. “The government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything,” Kudlow...

Stewart's Hit Job Won't Keep 'Clueless Pundits' Off TV

(Newser) - Jon Stewart’s takedown of Jim Cramer and CNBC is indicative of a real, if fleeting, sea change in our attitudes about the economy, Thomas Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal. “The applause Mr. Stewart has received for his j’accuse is the sound of the old order...

In Credit Crisis, Italians Turn to Mafia

Uncle Tony will be happy to lend you this money you need for a very reasonable APR

(Newser) - In Italy, there’s one industry profiting from the credit freeze: Organized crime. Thanks to its unparalleled liquidity, the mafia has become the lender of choice for many small Italian businesses, NPR reports. An estimated 180,000 have turned to so-called “stranglers,” or loan sharks, who charge annual...

Boom-Time Loans Cripple Churches
Boom-Time Loans
Cripple Churches
Mar 14, 2009 6:23 PM CDT

Boom-Time Loans Cripple Churches

(Newser) - Even houses of worship are facing foreclosures and unpaid bills these days, the AP reports. With credit markets dried up, churches and synagogues—normally rock-solid in recessions—are abandoning half-built properties and scrambling to find a home. "We now have children who don't have classrooms to get into, adults...

G-20 Vows to Spur Lending
 G-20 Vows to Spur Lending 
Mar 14, 2009 1:53 PM CDT

G-20 Vows to Spur Lending

(Newser) - The world's top financial officials promised a three-tiered approach to battling the global economic slowdown today, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the G-20 summit in England, finance ministers vowed to inject money into the IMF and other institutions to lend to struggling countries, while tackling banks' toxic assets and...

Summers: Stimulus Is Starting to Work

(Newser) - Larry Summers sounded a note of cautious optimism today about President Obama's stimulus plan, the Washington Post reports. While it's way too early to assess its "broader economic impact," Obama's chief economic adviser called it "moderately encouraging" that consumer spending appears to be back on track.

Freddie Seeks $31B in Aid After Posting Big Loss

(Newser) - Freddie Mac said today it will ask the government for nearly $31 billion in additional aid after posting a gargantuan loss of more than $50 billion last year as the US housing market worsened. The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $23.9 billion, or $7.37 per share,...

Russia Touts 'Crisis Diet' for Cash-Strapped Citizens

Government urges return to traditional foods, for thrift and nutrition

(Newser) - Russia enjoyed the recent boom as much as any other country, as high gas prices funded quick economic expansion and citizens took a liking to Western foods such as burgers, pizza, and potato chips, Time reports. But with commodities cheap, credit crunched, and unemployment rising, Moscow is recommending a new...

Some Banks Want to Bail on Bailout
Some Banks Want to Bail
on Bailout
Mar 11, 2009 2:20 AM CDT

Some Banks Want to Bail on Bailout

Critics charge growing list of conditions will damage industry

(Newser) - A growing number of banks are seeking to return or avoid government bailout funds because of the lengthening list of conditions attached to the money, the New York Times reports. Critics say the terms—including modification of mortgages and caps on executive pay—smack of economic engineering. Bankers are especially...

Bernanke: Time to Prevent Next Crisis

(Newser) - Even as the financial crisis rages, Ben Bernanke says it’s time for broad regulatory reforms to stem future crises. Bernanke said today “too big to fail” institutions should be more tightly watched, perhaps by his Federal Reserve. He also admitted that the US hadn’t been prudent with...

Honda Hops on Bailout Bandwagon

Japanese automaker to seek government loans to pay for customer loans

(Newser) - With American credit markets dried up, Honda is seeking money from the Japanese government to help finance auto loans in the US, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Japanese government is planning to offer $5 billion through a semi-governmental organization, and Toyota is planning to seek funds as well.

Bankers Blamed for Mess Get Rich Cleaning It Up

(Newser) - The irony is, well, rich. Former executives of Countrywide Financial—the bank whose risky loans to homeowners have become synonymous with the subprime mess—are now making a mint helping the government fix things, the New York Times reports. A dozen former Countrywide executives, including President Stanford L. Kurland, have...

Investment Funds May Replace 'Bad Bank'

Administration eyes creation of private funds to suck up toxic debt

(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...

US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks
US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks
OPINION
Mar 2, 2009 2:52 PM CST

US Risks 'Lost Decade' With Zombie Banks

Japan's mistake of liquidity vs. solvency being repeated: Baker

(Newser) - Japan’s economic troubles in the 1990s—the so-called “lost decade”—provides a cautionary tale for America’s current problems, writes James Baker, a Reagan Treasury Secretary, in the Financial Times. Japan used piecemeal bailouts and implicit guarantees to insolvent banks rather than swift action. So the “...

Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending
 Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending 
Feb 18, 2009 3:15 AM CST

Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending

Report finds that bailout funds have failed to jolt banks into boosting lending

(Newser) - The 20 largest banks that received billions in  US government rescue funds slightly reduced their lending to consumers and businesses in the last quarter of 2008, the government said yesterday. Banks cut their mortgage and business loans by a median of 1% each, while credit card lending rose by a...

Crisis Pounds Ireland— and Its Beer

Deteriorating economy drives away foreign investors

(Newser) - If there's a sure sign that Ireland's vaunted Celtic Tiger economy has been reduced to a mewling kitten, it's Guinness' sudden cold feet on its planned $1 billion "superbrewery," reports the Wall Street Journal. Once the black-gold proof of Ireland's boom, the premium beer brand has been hit...

Want a Car in Russia? Try Bartering Undies

(Newser) - Bartering is coming back in Russia as the credit crunch and tight monetary policy leave buyers short of cash, the New York Times reports. At 3%-4% of total sales, such swaps are rare compared to the 1990s—when 50%-75% of Russian sales were bartered—but economists are noting an upswing....

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