The U.S. economy appears to be stabilizing after declining for four straight quarters, but the recovery has been tepid so far.
Financial markets have shown signs of improvement, and interbank lending has largely returned to normal. Consumer spending is still shrinking due to ongoing job losses and difficult credit conditions, but it has been stabilizing over [...]
Archive for the ‘US Finance’ Category
G-20 summit: 6 countries in recovery
September 24th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Tags: businesses, economic, economists, financial markets, lending
more...Economy recovering, Geithner says, but fixes are needed
September 23rd, 2009 by Financial Writer
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the nation is moving toward economic recovery but that the regulatory system is broken and must be fixed.
In remarks prepared for a House hearing on Wednesday, Geithner says Congress must pass legislation that would require new protections for consumers, create a more stable system and protect taxpayers from bearing the [...]
Tags: banks, economic, economic recovery, economy, financial crisis
GAO: U.S. Unlikely to Get AIG Money Back
September 22nd, 2009 by Financial Writer
Despite some progress, congressional investigators say it’s still too soon to judge whether efforts by American International Group Inc. to restructure its operations and pay back the government will prove successful.
The government has provided $182.3 billion to the insurance giant. The Government Accountability Office says that as of early September, AIG’s outstanding balance of aid [...]
Tags: accountability, company, government, repayment
Mortgage Delinquences Set Record
September 21st, 2009 by Financial Writer
High U.S. unemployment keeps pushing up the rate of mortgage delinquencies, which could in turn drive personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures, monthly data from the Equifax Inc credit bureau showed on Monday.
Among U.S. homeowners with mortgages, a record 7.58 percent were at least 30 days late on payments in August, up from 7.32 percent in [...]
Tags: delinquencies, financial, lenders, loans, mortgage
More Banks Failures, Housing Decline
September 18th, 2009 by Financial Writer
U.S. consumers will spend less and the fallout from the collapse of the commercial real estate market will spread, leading to even more bank failures, says economist Nouriel Roubini, economics professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Furthermore, residential real estate prices have more room to fall, non-government bonds will come under pressure as [...]
Tags: business, economics, economist, real estate, us
Dollar Faces Unavoidable Crisis
September 17th, 2009 by Financial Writer
The U.S. dollar faces more uncertainty and a currency crisis is unavoidable, says commodities guru Jim Rogers.
The economy could take further hits as debt levels remain high, he told CNBC. The recent rebound is only a reaction to consumption falling immensely in 2008.
“How can the solution for debt and consumption be more debt and more [...]
Tags: crisis, Debt, dollar, economy, interest rates, money
Economy Has Not Turned Up
September 16th, 2009 by Financial Writer
The U.S. economy has not begun to climb out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, but the “terror” that followed last year’s near-collapse of the financial system is gone, due in part to government intervention, Warren Buffett told Reuters on Tuesday.
Buffett maintained a positive outlook on the government’s much criticized Troubled Asset Relief [...]
Tags: bank, depression, economy, financial system, recession
Hooray for banks that refused bailouts!
September 14th, 2009 by Financial Writer
A group of banks that turned down TARP funds have outperformed banks that received gobs of support. It just goes to show that not all banks needed a rescue.
It’s nearly one year after the big crash, and the financial system is still functioning.
Most banks didn’t go out of business or get taken over. Your ATM [...]
Tags: banking, banks, business, financial
Volcker: Banks Should Not Trade
September 14th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Banks should not be allowed to own hedge funds or equity funds and their trading activity should be limited, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore on Thursday.
“A bank that generates the major part of its income from trading should not be allowed to have a banking [...]
Tags: banking, banks, economic, financial, obama
Unions Have Little to Show for Backing Obama
September 14th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Former Pennsylvania coal miner Richard Trumka isn’t president of America’s biggest labor federation yet, but he’s already cranking up rhetoric on issues from healthcare reform to making it easier to unionize.
When President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress first showed signs of compromise on healthcare reform, the incoming AFL-CIO leader warned lawmakers to keep a [...]
Tags: democratic, financial, obama, president