Treasury Department

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Chrysler Gets New Aid, but End May Loom

Treasury pushes automaker toward Fiat deal or liquidation

(Newser) - The Obama administration has given a further $500 million to keep Chrysler afloat, but Washington signaled yesterday it increasingly believes Chrysler will not survive as an independent company. Treasury officials met yesterday with CEO Robert Nardelli, as well as the heads of the United Auto Workers and Italian automaker Fiat....

Chrysler Execs Spurn $750M Fed Loan Over Pay Limits

(Newser) - Chrysler's financing arm has turned down a $750 million federal loan in order to skirt limits on executive pay, sources tell the Washington Post. Fearing that an earlier $1.5 billion loan was running out, the Treasury offered Chrysler Financial the extra credit about 2 weeks ago, attaching strict compensation...

Bank Lending Still Down 23% 4 Months After Bailout

Journal says Treasury's tally hides damage

(Newser) - Banks that received taxpayer aid to restart lending are loaning less than they did before the bailout, a Wall Street Journal analysis finds. The most recent figures available, from February, show a 23% drop in new loans from the lending level in October, when the Treasury Department kicked off TARP,...

Fannie Mae CEO Picked as Bailout Chief

Former Merrill Lynch prez to overhaul $700B TARP program

(Newser) - Wall Street veteran and Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison has been nominated to oversee the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue, Bloomberg reports. If confirmed by Congress—where he's likely to be grilled on his defending of bonuses at Fannie—Allison will be tasked with deploying the second phase of the...

Citing Too-Low Prices, Banks Won't Sell Toxic Assets

Stress test an Obama weapon

(Newser) - Banks are proving so reluctant to part with their so-called “toxic assets” that the Obama administration may have to strong-arm them into doing so, Time reports. Banks are protesting that the prices being offered—about $70 per $100 bond by the magazine’s calculations—are too low. That’s...

Feds May Reveal Which Banks Are Weakest

Results of 'stress tests' may go public

(Newser) - The administration may go public with some of its "stress test" results, which diagnose how well the country's 19 biggest banks will weather the financial crisis, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The administration has so far been treating all banks equally, but the stronger banks could soon be...

Fed to Banks: Keep Quiet on Stress Tests

Officials worry leaked results will cause market chaos

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is adopting a loose-lips-sink-ships policy when it comes to the “stress tests” being administered to big US financial firms. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and others have been ordered to keep quiet about their financial report cards, Bloomberg reports. Officials fear that should those results leak, investors would...

Dow Rises 246 on Rosy Bank News
 Dow Rises 246 
 on Rosy Bank News
MARKETS
Apr 9, 2009 3:23 PM CDT

Dow Rises 246 on Rosy Bank News

Rosy NYT report on Treasury 'stress tests' fuels risk appetite

(Newser) - Surging financial stocks spurred a broader rally today, the Wall Street Journal reports. A New York Times report that all 19 banks facing Treasury “stress tests” will pass boosted shares in a sector already buoyed by a strong Wells Fargo earnings forecast. The Dow rose 246.27 to close...

Bailout Honchos Weigh Toxic-Asset 'War Bonds'

Treasury's new idea would allow private investors to profit from bailouts

(Newser) - Responding to charges the bank bailout privatizes profits while socializing losses, the Obama administration is exploring creating mutual-fund-type instruments that would allow private citizens to invest in toxic assets. The bailout funds, akin to war bonds, would allow the taxpayers who funded the bailout to profit along with Wall Street,...

US Extends Bailout to Life Insurers

Treasury throwing a lifeline to a third industry

(Newser) - The Treasury Department has decided to give struggling life insurance companies access to federal bailout funds, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The industry—which had earlier seemed largely immune to the credit crisis—has been hit hard by stock market and real estate declines, leaving some firms on the...

Treasury Helps Companies Skirt Bailout Rules

(Newser) - The Obama administration has devised a maybe-legal method of avoiding Congress’ restrictions on companies that accept bailout funds, including limits on executive pay and a requirement that taxpayers get an ownership stake in the firms, the Washington Post reports. To sidestep the restrictions, the administration has created special entities to...

At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
investigation
Apr 3, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act

Legacy of missing red flags trails onetime regulator to Treasury

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner spent a lot of time thinking about the derivatives trade as president of the New York Federal Reserve—in 2005 he convinced banks to digitize the market, making it far more efficient. But he never convinced them to scale back risk and never exercised his powers to force...

Dow Up 87; Gains for March
 Dow Up 87; Gains for March 
MARKETS
Mar 31, 2009 3:20 PM CDT

Dow Up 87; Gains for March

Markets may be leveling out, though gains are fragile

(Newser) - Stocks posted gains today as the first quarter came to a close, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the April earnings season and the results of the Treasury’s stress tests threaten to shatter equities’ recent gains, signs of economic stabilization made March a relatively good month. The Dow rose...

In Bankruptcy Maneuver, GM May Split in 2

If GM faces Chapter 11, a splitting of the company could avert disaster

(Newser) - General Motors executives and Treasury officials alike seem adamant that the company should avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy at all costs, but bankruptcy scenarios are already crystallizing behind the scenes, BusinessWeek reports. One option calls for splitting the company into a “good GM,” which would emerge from bankruptcy with...

This Rally May Be the Real Deal
 This Rally May Be the Real Deal 
OPINION
Mar 26, 2009 9:07 AM CDT

This Rally May Be the Real Deal

Positive indicators, better policy, historical benchmarks; the time is right for a bottom

(Newser) - The tentative rally on Wall Street is reason enough for one economist to feel hopeful: "I’m ready to take another shot at calling the bottom," writes Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. Since (apparently) bottoming out March 9, stocks have risen 20%, and the reasons behind the climb are...

Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which...

Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90
 Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90 
MARKETS
Mar 25, 2009 3:07 PM CDT

Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90

Poor Treasury auction saps some investor confidence

(Newser) - Stocks wavered today, with the indices posting gains but off session highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. A rise in durable-goods orders stoked an early rally, but enthusiasm was tempered by weak demand for US Treasuries in an auction. The Dow dipped into losses in the afternoon, but closed up...

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Takeover Powers

Defends actions during AIG bailout

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner today asked Congress for expanded power to take the helm of big, failing  institutions like AIG and wind them down in an orderly fashion, Reuters reports. “AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner said in unusually spirited testimony before the House Financial Services Committee....

Obama Needs Help Selling Economic Plans

His team lacks common touch

(Newser) - The White House economic team is great on policy, but when it comes to reassuring the public, President Obama is on his own, Peter Nicholas and Peter Wallsten write in the LA Times. "The ability to communicate with average people was not what these people were chosen for,"...

Don't Listen to Krugman— This Plan Might Work

Pearlstein lays into fellow columnist

(Newser) - Even before the full details were released, critics were bashing the Treasury's public-private asset purchase plan; Paul Krugman predicted it would fail and lead the country into depression (not to speak of the writer into despair). Steven Pearlstein begs to differ, and the markets seem to agree. For the Washington ...

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