Today's Business Press

What's in the major publications.

The Fed Has a Shiny New Inflation-Fighting Weapon and Isn't Afraid To Use It

Posted Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 3:20am

The Federal Reserve is undertaking a “fraught exercise,” says the Washington Post, by withdrawing trillions of dollars of economic support while trying not to damage the economy those dollars have been propping up in the process. “Fed Chairman Ben S.
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Frustrated Wall Street Donors Turn Away From Democrats

Posted Monday, February 8, 2010 - 6:51am

The days when Obama could solicit a record $89 million in campaign funds from the financial industry are over, the New York Times reports. After the White House's months of harsh rhetoric and attempts to tighten regulation, even Wall Street’s big Democratic donors are turning on him. His proposals, especially the Volcker rule and the “financial responsibility tax” on bigger banks, are angering many in the industry.
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Bank of America and Ken Lewis Are Getting Sued Left and Right

Posted Friday, February 5, 2010 - 2:57am

Even as Bank of America moved towards a $150 million settlement in its SEC lawsuit, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced he was suing it, former CFO Joseph Price, and former CEO Ken Lewis, for fraud.
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NSA Working With Google To Understand Chinese Hacker Intrusion

Posted Thursday, February 4, 2010 - 3:02am

Google (GOOG) is teaming up with the National Security Agency, reports the Washington Post.
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On Capitol Hill, Volcker Rule Faces Criticism

Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 6:41am

Hearings on Obama’s two new proposed Wall Street regulations started yesterday, with former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker testifying in defense of his proposed ban on proprietary trading. According to the New York Times, the suggested caps on bank size and the controversial Volcker rule are already facing criticism. Sen.
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Banks Ready To Battle Over Volcker Rule

Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - 3:04am

The battle over proprietary trading is about to be joined, reports the Wall Street Journal today. First things first: What is prop trading, as defined by Paul Volcker and the Obama Administration? That’s what banks, private equity, hedge funds, and regulators all want to know. Taking the general concept of investment banks using their own money to make trades and turning it into a well-defined behavior that can be measured and monitored by regulators is no small part of the issue.
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Amazon Surrenders in Weekend E-Book Battle

Posted Monday, February 1, 2010 - 6:08am

The under-10-bucks e-book may soon be a thing of the past. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon (AMZN) stopped selling books from publisher Macmillan on Sunday due to a dispute over e-book pricing.
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Ben Bernanke Wins A Second Term

Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 - 5:31am

After some heated back-and-forth and an eventual vote of 70-30, the Senate confirmed Ben Bernanke’s second term Chairman of the Fed yesterday. The New York Times notes that the vote “was the weakest endorsement ever extended to a chairman in the Fed’s 96-year history.” The Washington Post says: 


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Big Banks Cutting Loans to Employees With "Hardship"

Posted Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 2:46am

The big banks are inventing creative ways around the executive compensation limits, reports the Wall Street Journal today. “Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. are doling out shares that employees can sell within months—much sooner than normally allowed.
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Gas Pedal Problem Forces Toyota To Halt Sales

Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 5:17am

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) “is halting sales and production of eight models that the automaker recalled last week to fix gas pedals that could get stuck,” according to today's Detroit News. The car company asked dealers to stop sales of the vehicles yesterday. The paper says, “The Japanese automaker's move will be costly, affecting models that account for close to half of its U.S.
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TARP Cop Says He's Building a Case for a Trial

Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - 3:32am

Details of President Obama’s State of the Union proposals are starting to trickle out, and the Washington Post reports on one meant to show the administration’s commitment to fiscal restraint: a three-year freeze on federal funding not related to national security. The story says the freeze won’t save a lot of money right now—but it will slow down the growth rate of the budget and save many billions over the next decade.
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Metrics Firm Detects 50 Apple Tablets Testing iPhone Apps

Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 - 3:13am

The New York Times buries the lead in its story on Apple’s (AAPL) new device, presumed to be a tablet computer. A company named Flurry, the Times has learned, has detected the new tablet’s software signature through applications in which its analytics code is embedded. The company licenses tracking software to developers of iPhone apps to record metrics about the way their apps are used.
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Is Geithner on the Outs in Obama's White House?

Posted Friday, January 22, 2010 - 3:32am

The Washington Post today speculates on whether Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is on the outs in the Obama Administration. The story hits all the dramatic notes from yesterday’s announcement that President Obama was proposing Paul Volcker’s version of a new Glass-Steagall Act over Geithner's and economics advisor Larry Summers’ more modest plans for reform. Volcker, standing right behind the president, beamed. Geithner, further away, struck an emotionless pose.
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An Obama Reboot? President Proposes Volcker's Glass-Steagall Redux.

Posted Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 2:59am

Sure to dominate the media cycle today is the Obama administration’s surprise announcement of what some observers are already calling Glass-Steagall II, after the late, oft-lamented law that separated investment and commercial banking activity, whose repeal under President Clinton has been blamed in part for the financial crisis.
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AIG Deal Looks Good for Uncle Sam

Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 5:45am

If American International Group (AIG) sells its life-insurance unit to MetLife (MET), the government could at last see some payback on the funds it provided to prop up the insurer throughout the downturn.
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