Our leaders were up late hashing out a version of the new financial reform bill and yes, apparently they have come to some agreement. But what’s in there? [More]
wall street meltdown
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac No Longer Worthy Of The NYSE
By 6.16.10
Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, announced today that the government-sponsored mortgage purchasers would delist themselves from the NYSE. [More]
Your Household's Share Of The September 2008 Economic Collapse: $104,350
By 5.25.10
A recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts tallies up each US household’s share in the economic collapse. Your household’s share? $104,350. That includes lost income, government bailouts, and both reduced home values and reduced stock values. [More]
White House Says CFPA On Your Side: "Anything Is Fair Game"
By 5.21.10
The new Consumer Financial Protection agency will be a place you can go to with your complaints and they will be taken seriously, the White House said this afternoon during a conference call in which Consumerist took part. While, “It’s not totally worked out who’s going to be manning the 1-800 number,” said senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, [More]
VIDEO: Unusual Selloff 30 Min Ahead Of Crash?
By 5.10.10
Might there be more to last week’s crash than a “fat fingered” trade, or someone mistakenly entering a “billion” instead of a “million?” An online stock trader has a video showing an unusual spike in trading volume, followed by a very quick sell-off, by funds at large investment firms BlackRock and Vanguard and some other funds 30 to 15 minutes before the big crash. Prescience? Watch the video, check the logs, and decide for yourself. [More]
Stock Market Typo/Robot Apocalypse Still Being Investigated
By 5.10.10
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will meet with federal regulators and top officials from the NYSE and other exchanges to dicuss whatever the hell happened last Thursday that caused the stock market to completely freak out. [More]
Senate Agrees To Ban Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts
By 5.6.10
An amendment to the financial overhaul bill banning the use of taxpayer funds for bank bailouts has been agreed upon in the Senate, says the LA Times. [More]
SEC Soaking Up To Their Eyeballs In Porn, Can't See Fraud
By 4.23.10
ABCNews is reporting that “a new government report reveals that some high-level regulators have spent more time looking at porn than policing Wall Street.” It seems that the report, obtained by ABC News, says senior employees of the SEC spent hours on the commission’s computers looking at sites like naughty.com, skankwire, youporn, and others, thus clearly removing their only defense, the fact that “X” is right next to “C” on the keyboard. [More]
Fed Chairman Says "Too Big To Fail" Banks Should Have "Living Wills"
By 3.22.10
Ben Bernanke doesn’t like systemic risk! Shocking, we know. In a speech he gave in Orlando, Florida, the Chairman expressed outrage at the bailouts of too big to fail companies and said shareholders should not be sheltered from losses. [More]
Ex-Merrill Lynch Boss John Thain Is A CEO Again
By 2.8.10
After successfully redecorating his office, merging Merrill Lynch with Bank of America, and then getting fired — John Thain is once again a CEO. This time he’ll be heading up a recently-bankrupt commercial and consumer finance company, CIT. [More]
AIG Financial Products People Still Getting $100 Million In Bonuses
By 2.3.10
It’s time for the annual round of outrage at the fact that the people who wrecked the economy are getting huge bonuses. [More]
White House Proposes New Banking Rules, Wall Street Freaks Out
By 1.21.10
So, we used to have this thing called the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment banking from commercial banking. Then we didn’t anymore. Now the President has proposed new rules that would effectively restore some of the provisions of Glass-Steagall. Wall Street is like, so not cool with it, however. [More]
Citi: We Lost $7.6 B, But On The Bright Side, We Fired 100,000 People
By 1.19.10
Citi CEO Vikram Pandit is reassuring investors today after his firm lost $7.6 billion in 2009 by telling them to look on the bright side — at least they fired 100,000 people. [More]
Bernanke Says The Recession Is "Likely Over"
By 9.15.09
Good news? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that the recession is over, but that it won’t really stop the rise of unemployment — currently at a 26-year high of 9.7%.
Bank Of America Wants To Begin Paying Back Bailout Money, Avoid Government "Fee"
By 9.1.09
The Wall Street Journal says that Bank of America is interested in paying back a portion of the bailout money it received, with the goal of getting out from under the purview of the salary czar and reduce a “layer of federal involvement in its affairs.”
Government Has Made $4 Billion On The Bailout, So Far
By 8.31.09
The NYT says a little less than a year after the economic meltdown, the government is starting to see a profit from banks repaying bailout money.
Financial Advertising Through The Years
By 8.11.09
Slate has put together a sarcastic look at financial-type commercials through the years. We like the one with Samuel L. Jackson and the centaur.
NY AG: Banks Paid Bonuses That Were Substantially Greater Than The Banks' Net Income
By 7.31.09
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s report on the bonus structures of the banking industry is out and — oh my— it’s damning. The AG says that 3 banks, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP. Morgan Chase, paid out bonuses that ” were substantially greater than the banks’ net income.”
