While Black Friday revenues were up from last year, retailers are just getting a quick high. The crash starts tomorrow.
money meltdown
US In Recession Since Dec '07, Says Official Stat Group
By 12.1.08
We’ve been in a recession since December 2007, according to a fancypants stat group. WSJ reports, “In a statement, the National Bureau of Economic Research said its Business Cycle Dating Committee determined that the U.S. entered recession in December 2007, marking the end of the economic expansion that began in November 2001.” I don’t think Americans need a committee to tell them the economy has been on the express the train to Suck City for over a year…
WaMu Told Washington That Adjustable Rate Mortgages Were Safer Than Some Fixed Ones
By 12.1.08
The Associated Press says that a review of regulatory documents shows that years before the subprime mortgage crises developed into a full blown economic meltdown— the government ignored warnings and listened instead to lobbyists who represented some of the same banks that have now failed.
Video: How Credit Cards Become Bonds
By 11.26.08
We’ve heard lots about how mortgages get turned into tradeable securities, but they’re not the only thing. No no no, there was far too much Chinese money not able to earn anything on T-bonds for us to let them lie. Credit cards can become asset-backed bonds too. Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch is back with his whiteboard and dry-erase markers to explain how it works. Video inside.
ReFi Time: Mortgage Rates Drop On New $800 Billion Intervention
By 11.26.08
If you’re looking to refinance a home and have cash and good credit, now is a good time to pull the trigger. Yesterday the government announced the latest Federal golden bandaid: a pledge to inject $800 billion directly into the credit markets, news which pushed national average mortgage rates for a 30 year fixed to 5.81%, down from 6.07%, according to bankrate. Bankrate also suggest that if you’re trying to refi to act quickly, before rates rise or home values drop.
AIG: No Bonuses For Top Executives This Year
By 11.25.08
It’s apparently not entirely self-evident that when your company needs a taxpayer bailout you shouldn’t get a “bonus,” so money-sucking insurer AIG has written a letter to NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo promising that their top executives will not get bonuses this year.
Top 3 Foreclosure Scams To Avoid
By 11.25.08
With so many people facing foreclosure these days, it’s a good idea to educate yourself about the types of scams that take advantage of folks who are having trouble paying their bills. Even if you are doing ok, perhaps you can help someone else by recognizing a scam.
Stock Market Pleased By New Phase Of Bailout
By 11.25.08
Today the Federal Reserve announced the creation of a new special purpose entity that will buy consumer and business debt. Under the new plan, the Treasury will provide $20 billion dollars in of credit protection (from the Troubled Asset Relief Program) — and will absorb most of the losses, should they occur.
US Bails Out Citigroup
By 11.24.08
Federal regulators took extreme steps to prop up Citigroup, backing $306 billion of mainly real estate loans and securities and directly injecting money by buying $20 billion of preferred stock. The $20 billion of stock will pay an 8% dividend. Regulators will also get an additional $7 billion of preferred stock. Citigroup will basically halt dividend payments for 3 years and limit some executive pay. It will also implement the FDIC’s loan modification plan, which is close to the one it had already announced for itself.
Even Debt Collectors Are Having Trouble Paying Their Bills
By 11.24.08
You would think tough times would be boom times for debt collectors, but debt collection company First American Recovery Services is filing for bankruptcy. “The amount of debt out there is 10 times what it had been, but the ability to pay is less,” Tim Smith, FirstSource Advantage collections vice president told The Buffalo News. Don’t dance on their grave quite yet. The debts will just get sold to someone else, and usually each generation of debt owners has successively less scruples. But you have to wonder, how long before there is just too much debt that’s just too hard to collect in time before the statute of limitations expires?
Citibank Teaches Us How To Destroy A $244 Billion Banking Institution
By 11.24.08
Only two short years ago, Citibank was worth $244 billion. Now, after its stock lost half of its value in just the past week, the bank is estimated to be worth $20.5 billion. What happened? The New York Times attempted to answer that question Saturday, and it pointed the finger at the usual suspects — conflicts of interest between those who were supposed to manage risk — and those who stood to benefit from making risky bets.
How Uncle Sam Killed The Liberty Dollar
By 11.21.08
There’s a new story in Triple Canopy about The Liberty Dollar, an alternative American currency started by Bernard von NotHaus that experienced a grassroots backing among some shoppers and merchants, until the Feds shut it down. Unlike the “real” dollar, Liberty Dollars are in fact…
Welcome To The Island Of Misfit Luxury Imports…
By 11.20.08
If you’re looking for a photograph to illustrate how our economy has changed over the past few months, take a look at this. No, that’s not a parking lot in a town where everyone has the same taste. It’s the Port of Long Beach, where “thousands of cars worth tens of millions of dollars are being warehoused,” unwanted by the dealers who used to sell them. They’re imports — Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Nissan orphans.
Capital One Inspires Man's Loathing
By 11.19.08
Mr Bill says his latest dealings with Capital One have him “wanting to spit venom.” Whence this reptilian impulse? There is apparently no structure to refinance your loan with them. They consider it makes you a new customer, and they aren’t making any new loans. This takes several hours and several phone calls to figure out. There also seems to be no way to pay off a loan with a credit or debit card. This also takes several hours and phone calls to figure out. It’s really just totally frustrating for Mr. Bill. “What is this, 1987?” he writes. So he’s taking his business elsewhere. His misanthropic misadventure, inside…
Consumer Prices Are Plummeting! Steepest Drop In History!
By 11.19.08
The Consumer Price Index, which measures how much Americans spend on consumer goods like groceries, clothing, entertainment and other goods and services, fell by 1 percent in October compared with prices in the previous month, says the NYT. “It was the steepest single-month drop in the 61-year history of the pricing survey.”
Auto CEOs Flew Private Jets To Washington To Ask For Your Tax Money
By 11.19.08
ABCNews says that the big three auto CEOs “flew to the nation’s capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy.”
GM's Prez Begs Customers To Plead On GM's Behalf
By 11.18.08
Consumerist reader Darkrose writes, “I just got this in my e-mail. Thought you guys might be interested in it.” In the email, GM’s president Troy Clarke is in high PR mode, pointing out the grave consequences and emphasizing that GM wants not “a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.” We thought other readers who aren’t GM customers would find it interesting.
