credit crisis

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CDC Says It Underestimated Coronavirus Totals—by a Lot

Estimate rises to more than 20M Americans infected

(Newser) - As high as the coronavirus numbers seem, the CDC said Thursday, they're probably an underestimate. Only 10% of the nation's coronavirus cases have been diagnosed, the agency's director told reporters. With 2.3 million confirmed cases so far, that would mean more than 20 million Americans have...

US Could See Record 1M Foreclosures in 2010

Numbers 'unprecedented'

(Newser) - More than 1 million American households are likely to lose the roof over their heads to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in the first six months...

Church Foreclosures Soar Heavenward

Houses of worship ensnared by same shifty credit as homeowners

(Newser) - Homeowners and banks aren’t the only ones laid low by the reckless mortgage market of years past, as churches across the nation teeter on the brink of foreclosure. Houses of worship ensnared by the promise of low rates and big loans set out on a spree of new construction,...

US Bank Lending Falls at Fastest Rate in History

Figures spark renewed fears that feds are at a loss

(Newser) - The US bank lending rate has fallen its fastest in history, sparking renewed fears that the government hasn't done enough to prop up the economy and that America's troubles are far from over. Lending has plummeted $100 billion just since January, which amounts to a 16% annualized drop. Some $740...

Crazy Loans Are Back, With a Vengeance
 Crazy Loans Are Back,
 With a Vengeance 
PIK TOGGLE, ANYONE?
Dec 2, 2009 10:16 AM CST

Crazy Loans Are Back, With a Vengeance

Companies paying debt with debt have Fed worried

(Newser) - The government's efforts to boost lending, to beat the recession, are inadvertently stimulating a return to wildly risky loans that look sound only if you're wearing rose-colored-glasses. Companies are returning to credit-bubble practices, worrying analysts, including those at the Fed. In one instrument, a "covenant lite" loan, credit is...

NYT to Blankfein: Your 'Apology' Is Bull

Editorial board schools Goldman CEO in true meaning of 'sorry'

(Newser) - Lloyd Blankfein took his sweet time acknowledging his firm's role in almost toppling the financial system, and the New York Times editorial board stewed until today, when the paper's audience is largest. The Goldman Sachs CEO said in a speech this week, "We participated in things that were clearly...

What Broke Celebs Can Teach Us

 What Broke 
 Celebs Can 
 Teach Us 
TIPS FOR THE MANSIONLESS
Nov 6, 2009 9:38 AM CST

What Broke Celebs Can Teach Us

Don't make the same mistakes as Nicolas Cage and Annie Leibovitz

(Newser) - Celebrities really are just like us: During these financially stressful times, they’re suffering, too. On Huffington Post, Manisha Thakor points out the takeaway from four high-profile meltdowns.
  • NBA Player Antoine Walker: Squandered away his $110 million fortune by age 33. The lesson? If you have a variable income, don’
...

In Switch, 'Real Economy' Hits Big Banks
 In Switch, 
 'Real Economy' 
 Hits Big Banks 
PAUL KRUGMAN
Oct 19, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

In Switch, 'Real Economy' Hits Big Banks

Slumping profits are 'payback' from Main Street whipped by bad practices

(Newser) - Those concerned about the nation’s banks should forget about the “softly, softly policy” of the Obama administration that has allowed Goldman Sachs to go back to business as usual in spectacular fashion. The real problem, Paul Krugman writes, is banks like Citi and Bank of America that are...

Foreclosures on Pricey Properties Pick Up

Well-to-do buyers weren't immune to wacky loans, and they're coming due

(Newser) - The country's most expensive homes are now making up a larger segment of foreclosures in the most recent spike of mortgage defaults. An analysis of recent data shows that 30% of June foreclosures involved homes valued in the top third based on location; that’s up from just 16% at...

Banks Yanking Homeowners' Last Hope: Short Sales

Healthier lenders no longer anxious to cut deals

(Newser) - As banks get healthier, they're getting stingier with one of the few remaining lifelines for underwater homeowners—short sales. To keep home sales moving in leaner times—and to get bad loans off their ledgers—lenders would forgive the difference between the outstanding mortgage balance and the purchase price. Such...

CityCenter: Las Vegas' $8.5B Stimulus Bet

Hotel-casino-condo-shopping behemoth brings 12K jobs, optimism to battered state

(Newser) - A gigantic addition to the Las Vegas Strip is a one-stop stimulus package for a city and state walloped by the recession and an $8.5 billion bet that happy days are near again. With 12,000 jobs, the CityCenter project—a kaleidoscope of condominiums, boutique hotels, shopping, and, of...

Consumers Blindsided By Card Cancellations

(Newser) - Many credit card users are getting to the register only to discover that their cards have been canceled—without a word of warning, the Wall Street Journal reports. With credit tightening, many issuers give only a cursory rationale for the drops, and then only by mail weeks later. And though...

Creditworthy Shunned Under Tight New Mortage Rules

(Newser) - Would-be homeowners with good credit are finding themselves shut out of the mortgage market by stiff restrictions from wary lenders, the New York Times reports. Many believe that in an effort to move away from the laxness blamed for the financial crisis, lenders have gone too far the other way...

Big Losses Loom at Small Banks

(Newser) - Small and midsize banks across America could face $100 billion in losses from commercial real-estate loans next year, shrinking their capital in most cases to scary lows. The Wall Street Journal conducted worst-case-scenario stress tests on 900 banks and found crises looming far beyond Wall Street. Small and midsize banks...

Bernanke: Risks Remain Despite Stress Tests

But Fed chief is encouraged by bank response

(Newser) - Big banks' response to "stress tests" has been encouraging but they will need to watch out for risks not covered by the tests, Ben Bernanke warned regulators yesterday. The Fed chief—signaling that investment giants like Goldman Sachs can expect tighter scrutiny—said banks should self-test for potentially disastrous...

Fed to Release Stress Test Results Next Week

Data will show potential losses in specific loan categories

(Newser) - The US will learn the fiscal health of its 19 biggest banks Thursday, when the Federal Reserve and Treasury release the results of the “stress tests,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Delayed somewhat, the results will contain potential loss estimates in specific loan categories for each bank, and...

Obama Pledges Credit Card Reform
Obama Pledges
Credit Card Reform
Apr 23, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Obama Pledges Credit Card Reform

Obama backs House bill limiting 'deceptive' practices

(Newser) - President Obama told senior executives of credit-card firms today that he supports congressional efforts to rein in some of their business practices, the Washington Post reports. Both the House and Senate are working on bills to codify new regulations by the Fed that restrict lenders’ ability to arbitrarily raise interest...

Bank Lending Still Down 23% 4 Months After Bailout

Journal says Treasury's tally hides damage

(Newser) - Banks that received taxpayer aid to restart lending are loaning less than they did before the bailout, a Wall Street Journal analysis finds. The most recent figures available, from February, show a 23% drop in new loans from the lending level in October, when the Treasury Department kicked off TARP,...

Downturn Lays Bare Dubai's Dark Side
 Downturn Lays Bare 
 Dubai's Dark Side 
ANALYSIS
Apr 9, 2009 9:09 AM CDT

Downturn Lays Bare Dubai's Dark Side

Boomtown's shaky foundations becoming apparent as hard times hit

(Newser) - Dubai's "Disneyland for grownups" is becoming a more sinister ride as the emirate's boom times end. Countless grand building projects lie half-finished in the sand while indentured building workers from abroad unable to leave languish in work camps, Johann Hari writes in the Independent. He sees Dubai as a...

AIG Renames Office in Effort to Rebrand

(Newser) - Workers pulled down an AIG sign in New York City today as the insurer sought to rebrand itself and deflect outrage over executive bonuses, Reuters reports. The company's Manhattan property-casualty office, renamed AIU Holdings Ltd, wasn't the first to change its name since the bailout started last fall. AIG's US ...

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