financial sector

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Dow Up 3; Financials Climb
 Dow Up 3; Financials Climb 
MARKETS
Mar 10, 2010 3:17 PM CST

Dow Up 3; Financials Climb

Investors predict payroll gains for March

(Newser) - Gains in financial stocks kept the markets afloat today. Both AIG and Citigroup closed up, in part because of a successful offering of $2 billion in trust preferred securities, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow gained 2.95 points to close at 10,567.33.
  • The Nasdaq added 18.
...

Scott Brown Got Late Push From Wall Street

Financial firms poured $450,000 into his Senate campaign

(Newser) - In the 6 days before the special election for US senator from Massachusetts, employees of financial companies gave a whopping $450,000 to Scott Brown. The donations came just after President Obama proposed a fee on Wall Street’s biggest players to help pay back lost TARP funds. The influx...

Banks Get Creative to Dodge Bonus Limits

Favorable loans, options aid bonus-bereft execs

(Newser) - Banks chafing under pay and bonus restrictions are helping execs make ends meet with low-interest loans, no-collateral loans, and even loans that don't need to be paid back unless the employee leaves the firm. Favorable and forgivable loans are nothing new in the industry, but experts say in-house loans have...

Europe Applauds Bank Crackdown; Markets Swoon

Bank shares hit hard by pledge to curb risk-taking

(Newser) - European leaders today lauded President Obama's plan to limit the size and risk-taking of the nation's banks, but stock markets worldwide were rattled. Asian markets fell sharply today and European markets opened down, following a 213 point drop in the Dow yesterday, its biggest 2-day loss since March. Europeans said...

Obama to Propose Knocking Banks Down to Size

President plans new limits on bank size, risk-taking

(Newser) - President Obama, going on the offensive against Wall Street banks "too big to fail," plans to propose measures to limit the size of banks and their ability to take risks, according to administration sources. Adopting an approach championed by former Fed chief Paul Volcker, he wants to bar...

Whistleblowers: SEC Ignored Us

Flawed process allowed Ponzi schemes to go undetected

(Newser) - The SEC's haphazard method of dealing with whistleblowers means violations go unpunished and frauds left uncovered for years, insiders say. Many informants—including one whose information could have exposed Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme—say they were ignored, misunderstood, or sidelined after approaching the regulator with tip-offs, the Washington Post reports....

Dow Falls 101 in 2010's Worst Day
 Dow Falls 101 
 in 2010's Worst Day 
MARKETS
Jan 15, 2010 3:22 PM CST

Dow Falls 101 in 2010's Worst Day

Intel, JP Morgan earnings, though positive, stoke worry

(Newser) - Stocks started the day with losses and failed to recover, with financials leading the slide. JPMorgan Chase dragged down the sector thanks to its quarterly report, which showed strong earnings but hinted at continued weakness in consumer loans, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow fell 100.90 points to
...

Obama Pitches Borrowing Tax on Top 50 Banks

Would raise $90B, discourage excessive risk, boost little guys

(Newser) - Barack Obama will propose a new tax on Wall Street’s biggest banks today, in an effort to recoup losses from the bailout, give smaller banks a boost against the behemoths, and curb the excessive risk-taking that caused the financial melt-down. The firms, 50 big-time banks, insurers and traders, would...

10 Lies Wall St. Told Us in '09
 10 Lies Wall St. Told Us in '09 
OPINION
Dec 29, 2009 9:13 AM CST

10 Lies Wall St. Told Us in '09

It's been a bumper year for BS from the big banks, writes Nomi Prins

(Newser) - As Wall Street happily trots off into 2009's sunset, same old bad habits in tow, things aren't looking so hot on Main Street—no matter the crocks the bankers sold us, writes Nomi Prins at AlterNet . Here's some of Wall Street's finest whoppers of the year.
  • The economy has improved.
...

Banks Probed for Betting Against Own Securities

Firms bundled bad debt then sold it short

(Newser) - Congress and financial regulators are probing several Wall Street firms for bundling bad debt, selling it to clients, and then profiting from betting that those same securities would fail, insiders say. Clients at Goldman Sachs and other firms lost billions of dollars on the mortgage-related securities as the housing market...

Pay Czar to Cap More Executive Salaries

Banks scramble to repay feds, free themselves from pay curbs

(Newser) - Treasury Department "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg plans to start capping the salaries of second-tier execs at firms that received government assistance, according to company and government officials. The $500,000 cap, already imposed on top exec salaries, may now be applied to hundreds of other employees. The move has...

Crooked Giants Dodge SEC Penalties

Agency routinely grants waivers for harshest punishments

(Newser) - Financial giants accused of swindling investors have been successfully dodging the SEC's harshest penalties by arguing that the law shouldn't apply to them. Firms including Citigroup, Bank of America, and AIG have recently sought and received waivers from regulations requiring lawbreakers to close their mutual fund businesses. Waivers have been...

Financials Push Dow Up 35
 Financials Push Dow Up 35 
MARKETS
Nov 30, 2009 3:10 PM CST

Financials Push Dow Up 35

Dow up 6.5% for November

(Newser) - A rally in financial stocks helped the major indexes overcome a slump in retail shares, pushing stocks to solid gains today and capping a 6.5% rise by the Dow in November, the Wall Street Journal reports. For the day:
  • The Dow rose 34.92 points to close at 10,
...

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Thomas Frank
Nov 11, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Reform plans may hand regulation over to fervent deregulators

(Newser) - There's a lot riding on reform of the financial industry, but the administration's plans to overhaul financial regulation carries the seeds of its own destruction, writes Thomas Frank. Taking oversight away from the present confusing array of agencies and making the Federal Reserve One Big Regulator means that when the...

Hard Times Catch Up with Well-Heeled Jobless

Generous severance packages start to sputter

(Newser) - Time and money is finally beginning to run out for large numbers of people who lost their jobs, and have been living off hefty severance packages for up to two years. Many workers who received generous exit packages from the financial and auto industries kept on spending the way they...

Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76
 Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76 
MARKETS
Nov 2, 2009 3:09 PM CST

Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76

Markets continue 7th day of wild variations

(Newser) - Stocks seesawed today as good economic data on industry and the housing sector drove big early gains, which then fell victim to selloffs in the financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow climbed 76.71 points to close at 9,789.44.
  • Nasdaq tacked on 4.09 to
...

Get a Clue, Washington: You Can't Do Everything

Effort to restructure exec pay smacks of arrogance

(Newser) - Clamping down on arrogant, risk-taking execs with an overconfident attempt to overhaul private sector pay structures shows that the arrogance has migrated to the Obama administration, writes David Brooks. The government is trying to micro-manage compensation packages at a wide variety of firms when pay regulation should be done, humbly,...

Bank Reform Shatters Usual Party Lines
Bank Reform Shatters Usual Party Lines
NATE SILVER
Oct 22, 2009 11:37 AM CDT

Bank Reform Shatters Usual Party Lines

Next big domestic issue will be 'fascinating' to watch

(Newser) - Once health care reform is “settled,” Nate Silver writes, the White House will be searching for a new domestic issue. Card check is too hard, immigration will have to wait for 2012’s “younger, more diverse electorate,” and gay rights is a slog. The winner, in...

Goldman Exec: Pay Inequality Is Good for All

Soaring Wall Street bonuses should be tolerated for economy's sake

(Newser) - Believe it or not, lavish Goldman Sachs bonuses are good news for everybody, a company official told a discussion panel yesterday. The out-of-whack pay inequality will give the economy a kick in the pants, insisted the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. "We have to tolerate the inequality to...

JPMorgan Earns $3.6B, Despite Loan Losses

Market soars as investment profits give bank strong 3rd quarter

(Newser) - JPMorgan Chase reported strong third-quarter earnings today as its thriving investment banking business more than offset rising consumer loan losses that the bank warned would continue. The company, the first of the big banks to report, showed a $3.59 billion profit, or 82 cents per share. But it also...

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