subprime crisis

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JPMorgan Leads Hunt to Place Bear Workers

Firm pitches in to help 5K employees laid off after takeover

(Newser) - JP Morgan hopes to find jobs for 5,000 Bear Stearns employees cut when it acquired the brokerage in March, the Financial Times reports. CEO Jamie Dimon is sending letters to rivals and clients, and the company has contacted 1,800 firms urging them to consider former Bear workers. The...

Site's Grass Roots Planted in Right-Wing 'AstroTurf'

Backed by big names, money, AngryRenter.com poses as underdog foe of mortgage fix

(Newser) - AngryRenter.com might look “underdoggy and grass-rootsy, with a heavy dose of aw-shucks innocence,” the Wall Street Journal reports, but the anti-mortgage bailout website is actually the work of publisher Steve Forbes, former House majority leader Dick Armey and other Republican bigwigs. It’s a paragon of “...

Credit Agricole Hoping to Raise $9B

Battered by subprime losses

(Newser) - Subprime losses at Crédit Agricole’s Calyon investment bank are likely to prompt the French company to raise $9.17 billion in capital, reports the Wall Street Journal. A hit of $1.87 billion reduced its first quarter net profit to $1.38 billion from $1.82 billion the...

Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess
 Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess 
May 9, 2008 3:59 PM CDT

Fish Clean Up Mortgage Mess

Mosquito-eaters help keep abandoned pools from breeding disease

(Newser) - Stagnant pools bursting with mosquitoes have become a byproduct of the housing crisis, turning into breeding grounds for diseases like West Nile virus. But, the Wall Street Journal reports, there is a solution: Gambusia affinis, a natural predator, also known as the mosquito fish, that's hardy enough to police abandoned...

Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over
 Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over 
May 7, 2008 2:45 AM CDT

Treasury Boss: Worst Is Over

Paulson says US emerging from storm

(Newser) - The US is emerging from the credit woes triggered by the turmoil over subprime mortgages—despite the continuing wave of foreclosures across the nation, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Paulson, in the most positive comments yet from the White House on the nation's economic troubles, in part credited the...

Big Fannie Mae Losses Prompt Fears of Failure

Crash would be big blow to US economy, housing market

(Newser) - Fannie Mae lost a worse-than-expected $2.2 billion this quarter, forcing it to cut its dividend and seek $6 billion in capital. The news is especially troubling as Fannie and Freddie Mac, the companies Washington relies on to keep the housing market functioning, are under unprecedented pressure, the New York ...

UBS Cuts 5,500 Jobs, Sells Off $15B in Assets

Swiss bank prepares to lay off over 2,000 investment bankers

(Newser) - UBS will cut 5,500 jobs, slightly fewer than expected, by the middle of 2009 as part of a major restructuring effort, the troubled Swiss bank said today in announcing an $11-billion first-quarter loss. Some 2,600 of the layoffs will be among investment bankers, mostly in London and New...

UBS to Lay Off 8,000, Add $11.4B to Writedowns

Swiss bank likely to announce cutbacks with earnings

(Newser) - Swiss banking giant UBS will lay off some 10% of its 83,000 workforce and scale back its investment banking arm in an attempt to reassure shareholders that it's taking actions to curtail losses associated with the subprime debacle, reports Bloomberg. Switzerland's largest bank says it will detail a further...

Celebrity Foreclosure: Canseco's Out at Home

Former baseball star forced to move into smaller home

(Newser) - It can happen to the rich and famous, too: Jose Canseco's mansion is in foreclosure, and he's had to move into more modest digs, Inside Edition reports. Canseco owed more than $2.5 million on the California property his neighbors called the "hotel." He made $30 million in...

Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Only 2K in danger of foreclosure have been able to take advantage, stats show

(Newser) - A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “...

Bush Blames Congress for Economic Sloth

Urges housing, energy action, chides Dems' 'political statements'

(Newser) - President Bush conceded that “it’s a very slow economy” one day ahead of possibly ugly GDP numbers, the New York Times reports, and said Congress is dragging its feet on gas prices, the mortgage crisis, farm subsidies and student loans. The Democratic-controlled legislature should be “sending me...

Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms
Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms
Apr 28, 2008 7:05 AM CDT

Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms

Rules would limit credit for worthy borrowers, bankers say

(Newser) - As the Federal Reserve moves toward stricter lending rules, mortgage providers are firing back, calling the rules too broad and arguing that they could limit loans to borrowers who don't have credit problems, the New York Times reports. Regulation, bankers say, could raise the price of mortgages by increasing paperwork...

J'Accuse, Part Deux
 J'Accuse, Part Deux 
OPINION
Apr 27, 2008 1:08 PM CDT

J'Accuse, Part Deux

Ben Stein's second examination of the financial meltdown

(Newser) - Economist, writer, actor, and lawyer Ben Stein follows up his December excoriation of Goldman Sachs' contribution to the subprime crisis with a look in today's New York Times into how Wall Street executives can get away with reckless behavior at the expense of the public. This time he targets the...

Economic Blues Take Toll on State Budgets

Declining tax revenue may leave them $26B short next fiscal year

(Newser) - The slumping economy will pummel state budgets in the next fiscal year, leaving them at least $26 billion short, according to a survey from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Payrolls fell drastically in March and consumer confidence is low, a double whammy for state tax revenue. "With a...

Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low
Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low
Economy
Apr 25, 2008 10:59 AM CDT

Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low

Inflation, housing put people in a funk; most call it a recession

(Newser) - Consumer confidence fell to a 26-year low in April, as the public fretted over inflation and housing, Reuters reports. The index fell to 62.6, surpassing the 63.2 analysts had predicted. Nearly 90% said the economy is in recession. Respondents also said they were unlikely to spend their stimulus...

Sarkozy: 'I Made Some Mistakes'
 Sarkozy: 'I Made Some Mistakes' 
Apr 25, 2008 7:22 AM CDT

Sarkozy: 'I Made Some Mistakes'

Vows to 'stay the course' on French TV

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy defended his first year in office in a TV interview but admitted he made mistakes, reports the BBC. It's been a rough debut. His controversial policies—met by fierce opposition in certain sectors— have failed to reverse an economic downturn, and his flashy courtship of model...

Fed Ponders Pause in Rate Cuts—After 1 More

Experts expect a last cut to 2% before the central bank stops and waits

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve may be ready to cool its torrid rate-cutting after a likely .25% percentage point cut at its meeting next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Futures markets are betting Chairman Ben Bernanke is unlikely to rest just yet, with little change in the month-to-month economic picture, but...

House Panel OKs $15B Plan to Buy Foreclosed Homes

States, cities would get money to purchase and fix up houses

(Newser) - Lawmakers have backed a $15 billion aid package for municipalities so they can buy and fix up foreclosed homes, the Wall Street Journal reports. A House panel voted 38-26 for the measure, which would be split evenly between loans and grants. States could use the money to get vacated homes...

No More Expense-Account Hookers for Deutsche Bank

Hotel porn, first-class travel take hit as credit crunch hits home in Germany

(Newser) - In a sign of just how bad the credit crisis has become, Deutsche Bank has forbidden its employees from using expense accounts to pay for brothel visits and hotel porn, the Independent reports. It's unclear if execs have been seeking relief from subprime woes—the German giant has written down...

As Mortgages Melt Down, Owners Burn Up

Debt-motivated arson another facet of US subprime crisis

(Newser) - US homeowners are literally burning down their homes instead of paying their subprime mortgages. Last year saw a dramatic nationwide jump in apparently debt-motivated arson, the Los Angeles Times reports. “I'm busier now than a one-armed paper hanger,” said one investigator. “What is happening is terrifically economically...

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