After a dismal day attempting to raise money for its TARP exit, Citigroup needed a boost. What might shine a brighter light on the fallen financial super market? Maybe an anti-Goldman move--something that would show the public that the bank has a heart after all. Thus was born a...

Yesterday's meeting between President Obama and his favorite "fat cat" bankers was one big show. The President was nonplussed that three of the execs couldn't figure out how to actually make it to the meeting in person (any of these masters of the universe ever hear of...

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street"

-President Obama on CBS News "60 Minutes"

Fat Cat Wall Street bankers head to the White...

Over the weekend, the government found $200 billion in TARP money and Elin Woods discovered a few more paramours were hanging with husband Tiger. (If that $60 million enhancement to the pre-nup is true, it looks like Elin the scorned will be collecting $6.66M per girlfriend!)

The BLS November Employment Report is out and the news is better than expected. 11,000 jobs lost (versus estimates of 100,000) and rate dipped to 10% from 10.2% in October. Recovery, here we come, right? Sort of.

For months, the news on jobs has been as follows: less bad=good....

Why aren't banks playing the mortgage modification game? We've been told that lenders prefer to modify and/or restructure loans, rather than enter into the costly and time consuming foreclosure process. At least that was the thought when the government rolled out the Home Affordable Modification Plan ("HAMP").

Despite paying...

I always get nervous when three or more people who don't study the economy or financial markets say exactly the same thing. This past weekend, it was a teacher, a lawyer and a doctor, all of whom proclaimed: "we're definitely headed for a double-dip recession!"

Special Inspector General for TARP (aka "SIGTARP") Neil Barofsky said something we've all known for a while: the government gave away the farm when AIG failed.

If you recall, AIG's failure meant that the companies on the other side of all of its contracts (counterparties) were going to be...

Here's my interview with Charlie Gasparino, author of "The Sellout". In addition to calling the SEC "inept," watch to the end when he describes Wall Street CEO's. Can you guess which of the former Masters of the Universe is: "The Iconoclast," "Nasty," "Nastier," "Smart," "Twerp-ish" "a Man's man" and...

10.2% -- that's the most important number from the October Employment Report. For the first time since 1983, over 1 out of every 10 American is out of work. How's that for starting your Friday with some sobering news?

I'm starting to get the hang of this interview thing...of course it's easier when the guy on the other side of the table grew up in the same town. Sadly he is so much younger than I, that we only knew a few of the same teachers--Mr. Sloan and Ms....

I'm getting sick and tired of everyone talking about how much worse shape we would be in, but for (fill in the blank: TARP, stimulus, auto bail outs...) Even if it's true, it doesn't make anyone feel better. That's what I keep thinking when Obama Administration officials sound like cheerleaders...

Dressing up executive compensation as the salvation of regulatory reform is the best Halloween costume of the year.

Limiting executive compensation is a terrific way to appease the masses and make it look like you're doing something without having to embark on the hard work of true regulatory...

Channeling his inner Russian emperor, Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg's compensation edict shook top executives at some of the nation's biggest banks. The Special Master will cut the cash component of salaries for the top 25 earners at the companies he oversees: AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial,...

Today is the 22nd anniversary of "Black Monday," when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in one day. Over two decades later, people are waking up to another form of Black Monday -- one where we are asked to make sense of the mind-blowing...

While everyone has been focused on big bank earnings this week, I've been thinking about small banks. The FDIC expects that these institutions will continue to be under pressure from bad loans made in the boom times. Soon, we're going to see the 100th bank failure in...

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Wells Fargo plans to raise interest rates on all credit card customers by 3% on November 30^th. Funny coincidence-House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank wants to speed up the enactment of the Credit Card Act from February 22, 2010 to December 1.

Sometimes...

The US stock market was down the first two days of October, which has been a month of some scary markets for investors. Sure, statistically speaking, September has actually been the worst month for stocks, but October has seen some wild rides.

Ken Lewis, the embattled CEO of Bank of America has always been full of surprises. It sure took my breath away when Lewis bought Countrywide Mortgage on the eve of the biggest mortgage meltdown in US history, not to mention his shot gun $50 billion acquisition of Merrill...

I have confidence in sunshine
I have confidence in rain
I have confidence that spring will come again
Besides which you see I have confidence in me

-from The Sound of Music (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II)

Ah, if only life were a...