U.S. banks will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they performed in government “stress tests,” before the results are made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing government officials. Some estimates of likely losses that were used in the stress tests were tougher than expected, the newspaper said. “Under a more adverse scenario, which assumes a...

President Obama was pretty clear on March 30th that Chrysler as we know it is finished. “If they and their stakeholders are unable to reach such an agreement, and in the absence of any other viable partnership, we will not be able to justify investing additional tax dollar to keep Chrysler in business.” That blunt message was directed at Chrysler, the United Auto Workers union, Chrysler’s p...

The writing is on the wall. It’s still indecipherable, but it seems to be getting clearer. Or is it? President Obama thinks it is, saying recently there are “glimmers of hope” for the long-ailing U.S. economy, while at the same time urging patience. Obama’s top economic advisor, Larry Summers, is also cautiously optimistic, predicting an end to the economic “free fall” perhaps b...

The financial MSM and government officials alike are looking for a recovery in the housing market to bubble valuations to “restart the economy.” That is not going to happen–not this year, not in five years or even in ten years. Here’s why.The entire world is hoping that housing is about to “recover” and re-ascend its glorious bubble-era heights of valuation. Bu...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Instead of funneling taxpayer money into large, faltering firms, it is time for the government to take the radical step of breaking them up into smaller, more transparent companies, top economists told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday. “We have little to lose, and much to gain, by breaking up these behemoths, which are not just too big to fail, but also too big to save and too...

Despite huge government efforts to restore lending to normal, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Tuesday that borrowing costs remained high and credit was still not flowing normally. Speaking before a Congressional panel in Washington, Mr. Geithner said that some corners of the credit market had improved recently as the government set up programs to ease lending among banks, for home mort...

BOSTON–State Street Corp, one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, reported a 10% drop in quarterly profit Tuesday and said that it had $5.9 billion in unrealized losses in its investment portfolio. Net profit shrunk to $476 million, from $530 million a year before, while earnings per share stood at $1.02, down from $1.35 a year earlier. Operating earnings were $1.04 per...

On Monday, the first official meeting of President Obama’s cabinet, the President asked his cabinet secretaries to cut a total of $100 million from their budgets in the next 90 days. “None of these savings by themselves are going to solve our long-term fiscal problems,” President Obama said of the cuts, acknowledging that they make up only 0.0025% of the $4 trillion federal b...

WASHINGTON–The U.S. Treasury’s plan to purge toxic assets from banks’ balance sheets is vulnerable to fraud and abuse and needs tough rules against conflict of interest, the government’s bailout watchdog said on Tuesday. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP: undefined, undefined, undefined%), said in a report...

WASHINGTON — Spending wisely is key to keeping your family afloat during these tough times. Racking up hundreds or even thousands of dollars in unneeded purchases on a credit card is a bad idea, especially since spending on credit can be extremely costly if bills aren’t paid in full every month. Still, plastic can you help build credit, accumulate reward points, and limit liability for...