Wall Street

Stories 501 - 520 | << Prev   Next >>

House Votes on Bailout Package Today

Compromise deal still faces rough fight

(Newser) - The House votes today on the nation's largest government bailout, followed by the Senate as soon as Wednesday, the Washington Post reports. The bipartisan compromise would grant Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson broad latitude to purchase assets at any price from any firm. Free-market Republicans have dropped their opposition, but the...

Debt Insurance Is What Crippled Wall St.
Debt Insurance Is What Crippled Wall St.
analysis

Debt Insurance Is What Crippled Wall St.

How credit-market swaps helped trigger the financial crisis

(Newser) - "Financial weapons of mass destruction,” Warren Buffet called them: credit default swaps. Pioneered by JP Morgan in the 1990s, these financial instruments were bought by banks as insurance that debts would be repaid. The innovation thrived until firms like AIG started defaulting on credit swaps that insured home...

Wolfe: Stars Went to Hedge Funds Long Ago

Tom Wolfe watches as the Masters of the Universe flee New York for Greenwich hedges

(Newser) - Tom Wolfe has been fielding a lot of questions about where the Wall Street crisis leaves the Masters of the Universe now, writes the author of the seminal book about the excesses of 1980s traders in the New York Times. But, he notes, the real investment banking superstars left for...

Dems, GOP Close In on Bailout Plan
Dems, GOP Close In on Bailout Plan

Dems, GOP Close In on Bailout Plan

Lawmakers haggle into wee hours, vow to unveil accord tomorrow

(Newser) - Lawmakers nearly pulled an all-nighter yesterday negotiating Henry Paulson's bailout plan and vowed to unveil it tomorrow, the New York Times reports. “Staff worked until 3am this morning on the bailout,” Senate majority leader Harry Reid said, and “they made significant progress.” But there are still...

House Republicans Return to Bailout Negotiations

Key concessions, and a desire to approve legislation, put talks back on track

(Newser) - After a dramatic exit yesterday, House Republicans returned to talks today on the Wall Street bailout plan, the Washington Post reports. The White House expressed confidence and hoped aloud for a resolution by Monday. Yesterday’s White House meeting, with both candidates, was seen as a misstep. “The insertion...

'What We Need Are a Few Public Hangings'
'What We Need Are a Few Public Hangings'
OPINION

'What We Need Are a Few Public Hangings'

String up some CEOs to satisfy the mob, and get on with a bailout

(Newser) - The masses are agitated, and so is Congress. How dare Henry Paulson ask for so much money to bail out those greedy Wall Street evil-doers? The truth, writes Charles Krauthammer, is that Paulson is a lame duck doing his best to save the economy, and that the crisis was mostly...

'Melodramatic' McCain Misfires
 'Melodramatic' McCain Misfires 
OPINION

'Melodramatic' McCain Misfires

Decisions to pull out shows McCain is "uncertain" campaigner: Klein

(Newser) - John McCain’s actions yesterday only add to the already-lengthy list of the candidate’s rash overreactions, Joe Klein writes in Time. But this one was particularly poorly thought out, because "the legislative crisis was already receding when he made his melodramatic—and somewhat wild-eyed—suspension of campaign activities...

Lawmakers: We Have a Deal
 Lawmakers: We Have a Deal 
UPDATED

Lawmakers: We Have a Deal

Dodd touts 'fundamental agreement' ahead of meeting with Bush

(Newser) - The bipartisan group of legislators working on either a Wall Street bailout or a rescue package has reached "a fundamental agreement on a set of principles," Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd said today. Racing to make a deal before a scheduled 4pm meeting at the White House, the...

'Gordon Gekko': Wall Street Isn't Wall Street

Actor Douglas deflects questions about financial markets

(Newser) - Questions from reporters apparently confused by the fantasy-reality divide forced Michael Douglas to explain yesterday that he isn't actually the investment banker he played in 1987's Wall Street. Although he won an Oscar for portraying "greed is good" proponent Gordon Gekko, he's not an expert on the current financial...

White House Caves on Golden Parachutes

Paulson bows to pressure from lawmakers opposed to bailout paydays for CEOs

(Newser) - The White House bowed on a crucial change in the $700 billion bailout today ahead of a speech tonight in which President Bush hopes to pull loudly resistant lawmakers on board. Republican officials said Henry Paulson agreed to demands from critics in both parties to limit the “golden parachute”...

Bush Will Address Public Tonight on Bailout
Bush Will Address Public Tonight on Bailout
UPDATED

Bush Will Address Public Tonight on Bailout

President aims to give lawmakers push on $700B plan, garner support

(Newser) - President Bush will address the nation tonight on the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout, CNN reports, in hopes a televised speech could sway reticent lawmakers into quick action. The 9pm EDT speech will come after a second day of Treasury chief Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke...

The Perils of Positive Thinking
 The Perils of Positive Thinking 
OPINION

The Perils of Positive Thinking

Not just greed, but optimism and can-do led to Wall Street's downfall

(Newser) - “Positive thinking,” the philosophy of self-help books and corporate retreats, has had some negative effects on Wall Street, Barbara Ehrenreich writes in the New York Times. It's popular to blame greed of executives and traders for the current meltdown in the financial markets, but the unbridled optimism and...

Bailout Ushers In New Era of Regulation

Increased oversight a natural byproduct or turbulent economic times

(Newser) - When the dust settles on the $700-billion federal bailout, one thing will be clear, the Wall Street Journal writes: that it signals a swing toward government intervention in the business world not seen since the 1980s. Treasury becoming a shareholder in firms it lends to, regulation of credit-default swaps, limits...

Americans Resent Wall St. Bailout

Poll shows 79% seek change of course

(Newser) - Most Americans, struggling unaided with their own financial problems, resent the Wall Street bailout, reports the Los Angeles Times. Taxpayers don't believe it should be government's responsibility to foot the bill for the collapse of America's financial goliaths, according to a Times/Bloomberg poll. But 57% in a separate poll believe...

McCain Dodges Keating Bullet, For Now
 McCain Dodges 
 Keating Bullet, For Now 
ANALYSIS

McCain Dodges Keating Bullet, For Now

Newsweek 's Alter sees 'free ride' for candidate involved in 'last great financial scandal'

(Newser) - John McCain is getting a free ride amid the current US financial storm, Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann last night, citing the Republican’s involvement in the Keating Five savings-and-loan debacle of the late 1980s. “McCain thinks he's getting a hard time, he's really getting...

New Wall Street: Less Risk, Less Innovation, Lower Pay

Era of investment banks ends

(Newser) - When Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley ditched the investment banking model, it didn’t just mark the end of an era, it marked the end of Wall Street as we know it, the Wall Street Journal declares in an editorial today. And with investment banks gone, the US financial system...

Bailout Needs Bigger Taxpayer Upside
 Bailout Needs Bigger 
 Taxpayer Upside 
OPINION

Bailout Needs Bigger Taxpayer Upside

Public should expect some reward for taking on Wall Street's bad debt

(Newser) - The impending bailout of beleaguered Wall Street behemoths should give the taxpaying public some protection and accountability, writes EJ Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post. The deal should allow the government to claim a stake in financial firms that make money from the bailout, giving taxpayers the chance to reap...

Cheney Hits Hill to Rally GOP Support for Bailout

VP 'walking into a firing squad' says one House aide

(Newser) - Dick Cheney met with House Republicans today to try to shore up support for the administration’s financial bailout plan, Fox News reports. The plan faces considerable opposition from conservatives who are wary of what they see as a “socialist” solution and its huge price tag. "Cheney is...

Americans Blame GOP for Economy by 2-to-1

(Newser) - Voters blame the GOP over Democrats for the Wall Street crisis by a 2-to-1 margin that may be boosting Barack Obama's overall numbers, a new poll says. Nearly half of Americans pinned blame on Republicans while only about a quarter held Democrats responsible. And Obama held a 10-point lead among...

Wall St. Disarray Leaves Mess for Nonprofits

Charitable giving suffers as firms fold, merge, cut back

(Newser) - The victims of the Wall Street tsunami aren't all investment bankers and McMansion brokers. Kids with diabetes, residents of low-income housing, and fans of classical music are among those who could take a hit as nonprofits that depend on philanthropy from financial services firms absorb the fallout, the Boston Globe...

Stories 501 - 520 | << Prev   Next >>