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It's Worse Than We Thought
The Wall Street Journal devotes its top spot to, and the Washington Post fronts, news that the GDP actually fell 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. That figure is significantly worse than the initial 3.8 percent estimation reported by the Commerce Department at the end of last month and the 5 percent most analysts were expecting.
Obama Sticks a Fork in Reaganomics
Let the debating begin. President Obama unveiled his inaugural budget on Thursday, a plan that calls for raising taxes for the wealthy and lowering them for the middle class. It includes spending cuts in agriculture, a new energy tax, oh, and another $250 billion provision for ailing banks. It comes at a cost.
Jobs To Return to Apple
Great news! Jobs may be returning to aid the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, it's only one position, but a significant one at least. Yesterday, Apple directors told agitated shareholders that talismanic CEO Steve Jobs is planning to return to the company in June, the New York Times reports. Breaking a nine-month radio silence about Jobs' health, Arthur D.
Bernanke: Another Year of Pain
Just another year of recession. Fingers crossed. That's the latest assessment of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who sees a potential economic recovery a year away.
"Basically, It's a Disaster"
More than a decade's worth of gains have now been wiped out. The Dow on Monday sunk to a low last plumbed in the Clinton-Gore years in what BusinessWeek calls "the stock market's frightful slide." The blue-chip index is down to April 1997 levels, and the S&P 500 has lost half of its value since the start of 2008. For long-term investors, it all makes for grim accounting.
No Sleep for Citi
The prospect of Uncle Sam nationalizing the country's most vulnerable banks is once again the big concern today, as the Wall Street Journal reveals that Citigroup is seeking more federal backing to cushion against the blow of further mortgage-related losses and to keep its flimsy share price from collapsing.
Obama To Take Swipe at Deficit
The story du jour is Obama's intention to decrease the federal deficit by half, or to $533 billion, by the end of his first term, a plan that will be officially outlined when he presents a budget Thursday to Congress for the 2010 fiscal year. Most of the savings will be come from troop withdrawals in Iraq and increasing taxes on Americans pulling in more than a $250,000 per year income.
Dow Reacts to Talk of Bank Nationalization
All eyes are on the Dow Jones industrial average as talk of bank nationalization and bleak economic predictions drove the measure down 6.2 percent—the worst weekly decline since the week of Oct.
The "Cricket Tycoon" Nabbed
And just like that, the hunt for wanted Texas financier Allen Stanford was wrapped up in Virginia, business pages across the world are reporting, with the alleged swindler turning himself in to federal agents in Fredericksburg. The "cricket tycoon," as the Guardian calls him, surrendered without a struggle. "He wasn't hard to find," an FBI spokesman told the newspaper. "We said, 'Are you this guy?', he said, 'Yes', and we served the papers on him." Now, his legal troubles begin.
Swiss Bank Turns in Big Cheeses
Some very wealthy Americans will be choking on their coffee this morning as they read in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Swiss bank UBS has agreed to hand over the names of about 250 account holders as part of a $780 million settlement with U.S. prosecutors.
The "Cheaper" $21 Billion Option
Just another $21.6 billion should do it. That's the latest bailout figure General Motors and Chrysler came up with to keep their tottering operations alive, the business pages detail this morning. General Motors is requesting the lion's share, seeking $16.6 billion from the federal government, bringing the sum total it has requested to $30 billion. The Associated Press writes that GM says it needs the full $30 billion to weather the economic downturn.
GM's Day of Reckoning
It's crunch time for General Motors. The automaker prepares to file the "largest restructuring plan of its 100-year history," as it seeks to justify its use of the $13.4 billion federal loan package it received back in December, the New York Times reports.
Death of a Czar
There will be one less czar in Washington.
The End Of The World As We Know It
Bloomberg and the Washington Post continue to give top billing to the stimulus bill's executive pay restrictions, while the Wall Street Journal devotes its Sunday coverage to G7 talks over China's currency and the New York Times highlights global joblessness.
Senate Democrats to Fat Cats: No Pay For You!
The papers this morning are dominated by news that an $787 billion economic stimulus bill got the final go-ahead from Congress Friday nigh, and is on its way to the White House to be signed into law. Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times zero in on a provision inserted by Senate Democrats (specifically Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut) that will "prohibit cash bonuses and almost all other incentive compensation for the five most senior officers and the 20 highest-paid executives" at large companies that receive, or have received, money under TARP.
Gregg Walks on Big Money Talks
How to spend all $800 billion-ish in stimulus money? It's a proposition that proved too much for Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, who yesterday withdrew as President Barack Obama's nominee for commerce secretary, the Washington Post reports.
The New New Deal
A deal is done.
Unimpressed With $2.5 Trillion
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a one-time darling of Wall Street, unveiled a bold $2.5 trillion bank bailout plan yesterday, and stocks plummeted 5 percent in what the Wall Street Journal calls "the worst selloff since President Barack Obama assumed office." While Geithner outlined a plan to restart frozen credit markets and restore the hea
Fear of a "Lost Decade"
President Obama did not mince words Monday night. "Obama Warns of 'lost decade,' " the Wall Street Journal blares.
Amazon's New Kindle
There'll be plenty of time for somber news in the next item, but first let's dwell on some breaking, and much anticipated, tech news: Amazon will announce a new version of its Kindle e-book reader later today, the Wall Street Journal reports. What's more, Amazon has acquired a new work by novelist and early e-book advocate Stephen King that will be available "exclusively, at least for a time, on Kindle," it writes.
New Help for Homeowners
CNNMoney, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal keep their eyes on Timothy Geithner with new and updated stories speculating what the treasury secretary has in mind for the remaining $350 billion of the bailout fund. CNNMoney and Bloomberg highlight Geithner's remarks yesterday at a Democratic retreat in Williamsburg, Va., where he said that banks receiving financial aid would be required to modify mortgages and help borrowers avoid foreclosure.
Geithner to the Rescue
The government's newest plan to prop up the foundering economy, to be formally outlined by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a speech Monday morning, leads today's business stories. Out is the idea of a "bad bank"; in is a multi-pronged approach that will inject additional capital into the market, incentivize investors to absorb "toxic assets" and expand the reach of government entities, including the Fed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the FDIC, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A Slimmer Stimulus?
Can a bipartisan group of senators get spending on the Obama stimulus plan under control before it balloons to well above $920 billion? That was the aim of fierce negotiations behind closed doors Thursday, as a vote looms as early as today. CNNMoney.com is calling it a "big push for [a] smaller stimulus." There is consensus that a stimulus plan is needed, just one that's not quite so big.
The Golden Parachute Takes Flak
Fat cats, you've been warned, today's business press proclaims. From here on in, pay packages for the executives of those stricken firms on taxpayer support must show "common sense," President Barack Obama chided yesterday from the White House. As was leaked earlier in the week, the Obama administration is calling for a $500,000 cap on executive pay and for restrictions on "golden parachute" payouts and when stock incentives can be cashed in (now, who would be foolish enough to do such a thing these days?) until the government assistance is repaid. The limits run deep.
Obama Tackles Fat-Cat Pay
A $500,000 salary and no bonus beyond ordinary stock dividends. That's the limit to executive pay for bailed-out companies under a new plan expected to be announced today by President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the business pages trumpet today.
