This report comes via “The Center for Public Integrity”:
The top subprime lenders whose loans are largely blamed for triggering the global economic meltdown were owned or bankrolled by banks now collecting billions of dollars in bailout money — including several that have paid huge fines to settle predatory lending charges.
These big institutions were not only [...]

As developments in the global auto industry continue apace, it is becoming increasingly evident that Fiat has fashioned itself as a change agent in an industry rife with overcapacity. While eyes in the U.S. are fixed on a Fiat-Chrysler link-up, eyes in Europe are also fixed on Fiat in a Fiat-GM Europe merger.  But, these [...]

A post from Reuters in overnight trading in Asia caught my eye.  It proclaimed “Asia faces up to challenges of global crisis." What I found particularly interesting about the post was the fact that the Asians had set up a $120 billion fund through the Asian Development Bank which excluded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [...]

Yesterday, I posted a video in which two auto experts argued that the dissident creditors were getting a raw deal (See “A discussion about Chrysler’s bankruptcy plan on Charlie Rose“). The crux of the problem is their belief that they were being railroaded into a deal in which they, as secured creditors, would receive [...]

We are a few weeks into earnings season and it should be abundantly clear that financial institutions are firing on all cylinders.  In fact, financials are leading the broader market for the first time since 1993.  Yet, loan losses have been absolutely enormous.  What gives?
The Great Giveaway is the essence of recent market performance in [...]

Below you can watch a video clip of Congressional Oversight Chairperson Elizabeth Warren’s introductory remarks at a hearing today on Capitol Hill. Afterward, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner responds in a 10-minute open statement.

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Apparently the Obama Administration was just bluffing about bankruptcy for the automakers, because when push came to shove, they blinked.  The automakers are to get yet more bailout funds and the dates for restructuring plans hae been pushed back.

General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are to get more loans from the US treasury as the troubled [...]

On the back of a decent quarter at JPMorgan Chase, CEO Jamie Dimon has signalled his desire to repay government money as quickly as possible and remove the strings attached to that money.  Dimon has often said that JPMorgan Chase did not need the TARP bailout money it has received and only accepted  because it [...]

John Hussman has a nice piece out named “Green Shoots over Thin Ice. (hat tip Scott)” Below is the core of his argument regarding the recent rally in stocks and the free gift to bondholders. I have bolded parts of the original to add emphasis.
Thus far, we’ve got a strong rally off the recent [...]

This comes via Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman and is an even-handed review of what just happened:
As widely expected FASB modified fair value accounting rules. The key seems to be for assets for which there is not a market. The last traded price does not have to be used. Rather other [...]