Letting Banks Use TARP Money To Make Profits On Other Banks
A lot of people and members of Congress are upset that banks that took TARP money may buy toxic assets from other banks. There does not seem to be any problem with the arrangement.…
Banking, finance, and taxes
All Banking, finance, and taxes Articles
Newest first · Page 243Credit Card Interest Rates Keep Rising
If you have been expecting that all of the lower rates and all of the government bailout money was going to make your credit cards cheaper, perhaps you may need to rethink the scenario. …
FASB Bring Sense, and Cents, To Banks & Mark-to-Market (C, WFC, BAC, JPM)
The Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, has voted to loosen its rules for the (now dreaded) balance sheet act of mark-to-market valuation for accounting. Many will argue that this is unfairly giving clemency…
Geithner Says He Can Fire Bank CEOs
Secretary Geithner has been late to every party he has attended since talking over Treasury. His plans have often been tardy and full of holes. He seemed to redeem himself with the new public/private…
NiSource Buying Back Debt (NI)
NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) looks to be tendering some of its debt. The company announced a tender offer after yesterday’s close for up to $300 million of its 7.875% Notes due 2010. That’s not so…
S&P Cuts Ireland; Financial Potato Famine (IRE, AIB, IRL, ELN)
It is not very frequent that you see an English-speaking country take a sovereign credit ratings agency downgrade. That would indicate the government is one step farther away from being able to repay its…
Will The World’s Hedge Funds Move Off-Shore?
What will hedge funds do if large governments start to regulate their activities, tax them at higher rates, and make them disclose their holdings? Places like New York City, Greenwich, and London may find…
Wall St. To Move To Socialism
It looks like Treasury Secretary Geithner wants to completely socialize Wall St. and set up a level of regulation that will cover anything in the financial industry which has a pulse. According to The…
Commercial Real Estate Is Snake In The Grass For Banks
The price of bank stocks is some indication that Wall St. believes that the industry is coming out of the woods. But, even if toxic assets can be sold off of bank books under the…
Will Wells Fargo Become Solar Lender of Choice? (WFC)
There has been an interesting ride in the solar sector that was almost identical to what was seen in the tech bubble days in 1999 and 2000. Just like the tech bubble, the solar…
Short Sellers Lighten Up On Online Brokers (ETFC, AMTD, SCHW)
We noticed how short sellers had increased their bets against banks and financials, even if this was right at the time that the big short squeeze came via a huge market rally. But what…
New Plan To Buy Bank Toxic Assets Could Ruin Bank Balance Sheets
A troubling wrinkle about how the Treasury’s plan to buy toxic asset from banks could cause huge losses and the need for more capital comes from premier bank analyst Richard Bove at Richard Bove.…
How Treasury Secretary Geithner Became The Most Powerful Man In The World
The transformation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be remembered for its speed and unexpectedness. Just four weeks ago, on the heels of a failed presentation of the Administration’s plan to help shore up…
S&P Puts Eagle Eye On Buffett & Berkshire (BRK-A, GE)
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services is putting Mr. Buffett on Watch. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) has had its ratings outlook revised to “Negative” from “Stable” along with Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp., Berkshire Hathaway…