Credit Crunch

Fed Cuts Interest; Stocks Soar

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 03.18.2008 | Business

Read More: Interest Rates, U.S. Economy, Credit Crisis, Fed Rate Cutes, Economic Slowdown, Recession Fears, Federal Reserve, Recession, Ben Bernanke, Credit Crunch, Economic Meltdown, Business News

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a point Tuesday, capping its most aggressive two months of act...

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A Note To the Employees Of Bear Stearns

Fortune's Stanley Bing | Posted 03.17.2008 | Business

Read More: Investment Banks, JP Morgan, Bear Stearns, JP Morgan Buys Bear Stearns, Credit Crunch, Business News
<i>Fortune</i>'s Stanley Bing

I'm sure your eyes goggled when you saw it too. JP Morgan paid a couple or three hundred million for a company worth incalculably more. It's stunning.

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Lehman Brothers Too Big To Fail? Don't Count On It

Henry Blodget | Posted 03.17.2008 | Business

Read More: Bear Stearns, Credit Crunch, Wall Street, Lehman, Bear Stearns Purhcase, Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase, Bear Stearns Bailout, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns Buyout, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Bear Stearns Collapse, Lehman Shares, Business News
Henry Blodget

Wall Street is in a full meltdown. Bear Stearns is gone, so the markets are wondering who's next. The leading contender? Lehman Brothers.

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No Bailout For Bear Stearns, Or For Any Homeowner For That Matter

James Boyce | Posted 03.17.2008 | Business

Read More: 2008, Mortgage Crisis, Bush Economy, Greed, U.S. Economy, Bear Stearns Bailout, Wall Street, Economy, Detroit, Bear Stearns, Credit Crisis, Credit Cards, Capitalism, Credit Crunch, Business News
James Boyce

A little economic trauma is exactly what this country needs for everyone to realize what the last eight years has done to this land, once the largest economy in the world.

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U.S. Economy Battles Host Of Financial Woes

New York Times | Vikas Bajaj | Posted 03.14.2008 | Business

Read More: Yen, Dollar, Credit Crisis, Oil Prices, U.S. Economy, Weak Dollar, American Economy, Oil, Credit Crunch, Commodities Market, Stocks, Business News

Almost everything seems to be going wrong for the American economy at once. People are buying less, but most things are costing more. Mortgage rates a...

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Ross Bets A Billion On Municipalities' Strength

New York Post | Paul Tharp | Posted 03.13.2008 | Business

Read More: Credit Agencies, Billionaires, Credit Crunch, Wilbur Ross, Barney Frank, Business News

Wilbur Ross - who's betting $1 billion that municipalities will beat their latest funding crisis - says politicians are trying to help but have it all...

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Sales, Dollar Plunge; Oil Soars

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 03.13.2008 | Business

Read More: U.S. Retail Sales, Consumerism, Weak Sales, Retail, Retail Sales, Shopping, Weak Dollar, Recession Fears, U.S. Consumers, Commerce Department, Recession, Credit Crunch, Consumers, Mall Sales, Malls, Business News

WASHINGTON — Oil hit a record high, the dollar sank again, and consumers stopped buying pretty much everything. Stocks kept gyrating, too, on T...

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Media Needs to Take More Responsibility With Regard to False Information

Mark Weisbrot | Posted 03.12.2008 | Politics

Read More: Mainstream Media, Social Security, Iraq War, Media, Credit Crunch, Accountability, Media Bias, Housing Crisis, Housing Bubble, Journalists, Herd Mentality, Journalism Accaountability, Political Journalism, Journalists Accountability, Journalism, Herd Mentality Journalism, Politics News
Mark Weisbrot

A herd mentality often prevails: journalists know that they will almost never get in trouble for reporting something that is wrong when everyone else is also saying it.

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Frugal Consumers Swap Steak For Chicken

Reuters | Posted 03.12.2008 | Business

Read More: U.S. Economy, Trading Down, Economic Downturn, Shopping, Inflation, Recession, Credit Crunch, Rising Inflation, Stagflation, Consumers, Consumer Spending, Shoppers, Housing Slump, Business News

At U.S. warehouse club stores, a growing number of shoppers are giving up steak for cheaper chicken. Coffee sales are soaring at McDonald's, while hig...

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Fed Acts To Ease Strain On U.S. Economy

New York Times | Edmund L. Andrews | Posted 03.12.2008 | Business

Read More: U.S. Economy, Credit Crisis, Cash Loans, Stock Prices, Central Bank, Treasury Securities, Recession, Federal Reserve, U.S. Recession, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Credit Crunch, Business News

Impelled to take extraordinary measures for the second time in less than a week, the Federal Reserve moved on Tuesday to subdue the deepening crisis i...

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Recession 101: What Are the Signs?

ABC News | Posted 03.10.2008 | Business

Read More: Recession Fears, U.S. Economy, Recession, Credit Crunch, Recession Watch, Consumer Spending, Business News

Though the country is not yet officially in a recession, some economists argue the signs are pointing to one. A dismal job report released Friday add...

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Merrill Lynch CEO Says Worst is Over

Reuters Via CNBC | Posted 03.10.2008 | Business

Read More: Credit Crisis, Merrill Lynch, John Thain, Credit Crisis Over, Credit Crunch, Business News

U.S. bank Merrill Lynch will not need to return to the market again following the turbulence in credit markets that forced it to raise nearly $13 bill...

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Short Attention-Span Theater

Harry Shearer | Posted 03.08.2008 | Politics

Read More: Primary Do-Over, Credit Crunch, Subprime Mortgages, Michigan Primary, Florida Delegates, Michigan Delegates, Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Mortgage Crisis, Financial Crisis, Florida, Florida Primary, Michigan, Politics News
Harry Shearer

Two events dominating this week's news demonstrate together how we've managed to build a society incapable of taking the long view -- of anything.

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Fed: Economy Has Weakened

AP | JEANNINE AVERSA | Posted 03.05.2008 | Business

Read More: Federal Reserve, U.S. Economy, Manufacturing, Economic Growth, Credit Crunch, Manufacturing Jobs, Business News

WASHINGTON — The economy has weakened since the start of this year as shoppers turned even more cautious given the severe housing slump and pain...

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Bernanke Calls for More Mortgage Relief

AP | JEANNINE AVERSA | Posted 03.04.2008 | Business

Read More: U.S. Economy, Subprime Crisis, Subprime Mortgages, Foreclosure, Recession Fears, Recession, Subprime Loans, Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, Homeowners, Credit Crunch, Housing Market, Business News

WASHINGTON — Battling a dangerous wave of home foreclosures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called Tuesday for additional relief and urge...

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Wall Street Gears For New Pain

Wall Street Journal | LINGLING WEI, RANDALL SMITH | Posted 03.03.2008 | Business

Read More: Citigroup, U.S. Economy, Banks, Subprime Loans, Real Estate, Credit Crunch, Subprime Shakedown, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearsn, Subprime Loan Crisis, J.P. Morgan, Commercial Real Estate, Business News

After suffering a beating from their exposure to home loans, banks and securities firms are about to take their lumps from office towers, hotels and o...

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Credit Crunch Worries Economists

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 03.03.2008 | Business

Read More: Credit Crunch, Subprime Loan Crisis, Subprime Loans, U.S. Economy, Business News

WASHINGTON — The cascading fallout from the subprime loan crisis, barely a cloud on the horizon a year ago, is now viewed by experts as the econ...

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AIG Hammered By Credit Crunch

Wall Street Journal | Liam Pleven | Posted 02.29.2008 | Business

Read More: Aig, Subprime Mortgages, American International Group, Credit Crunch, AIG Losses, Business News

The credit crunch hit American International Group Inc. with brute force, as the global insurer reported a $5.3 billion fourth-quarter loss largely be...

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Credit Cardholders' Overdue Bill of Rights

John Tepper Marlin | Posted 02.28.2008 | Business

Read More: Overdue Bill of Rights, Adam Levitin, Credit Cardholders, Credit Slips, Carolyn Maloney, Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, Credit Card Debt, Credit Cards, Credit Crunch, Business News
John Tepper Marlin

Credit Slips says that Rep. Carolyn Maloney's bill -- credit cardholders bill of rights -- is the most important credit card legislation in 40 years.

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Is This The Worst Crisis Ever?

Eben Esterhuizen | Posted 02.27.2008 | Business

Read More: U.S. Economy, Economics, George Soros, Stock Market, Recession Fears, Recession, David Rosenberg, Alan Greenspan, Credit Crunch, Bear Market, Credit Markets, Stocks, Financial Crises, Business News
Eben Esterhuizen

A bear market is only possible if there is a consensus that a financial crisis is significantly worse than ever before. And that is why we are currently in a bear market.

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Goin' Down Slow

Bob Burnett | Posted 02.26.2008 | Politics

Read More: Housing Market, Credit Crunch, Recession, Economy, George W. Bush, Politics News
Bob Burnett

A memorable blues song goes, "I have had my fun, if I don't get well no more...my health is failing and I'm goin' down slow." The songwriter, St. Lou...

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US Home Foreclosures Soar in January

AP | ALEX VEIGA | Posted 02.26.2008 | Business

Read More: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Rates, U.S. Economy, Housing Crisis, Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Credit Crunch, Recession, Recession Watch, Business News

LOS ANGELES — The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to ta...

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Existing Home Sales Decline

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 02.25.2008 | Business

Read More: National Association of Realtors, Credit Crunch, Existing Home Sales, Housing Crisis, Home Prices, Business News

WASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes fell for the sixth straight month in January, dropping to the slowest sales pace on record. Median home pri...

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Media Manuvers: Credit Crunch for Dummies

Yvette Kantrow | Posted 02.22.2008 | Media

Read More: Credit Crunch, Bond Insurance, Subprime Mortgages, CDO, CLO, Siv, Media, Media News
Yvette Kantrow

Where's a good villain when the media needs one? Pity the ink-stained wretches and bleary-eyed bloggers tasked with covering the credit crisis, with ...

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KKR In Credit Crunch

New York Post | ZACHERY KOUWE | Posted 02.21.2008 | Business

Read More: KKR Financial Holdings, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Kkr, Credit Crunch, Refinancing, Henry Kravis, Business News

Even the barbarians didn't think the credit crisis would last this long. A firm affiliated with leveraged buyout giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.,...

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