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Get Your Obama Treasury Secretary Bracket
Tweet Share on Facebook November 5, 2008 Comment (1)Who would you pick to be the next Treasury Secretary?
Portfolio.com has a neat tool to help you figure it out. (via Market Movers)
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Election Reshapes Banking Panels: Kanjorski wins, Dole Loses
Tweet Share on Facebook November 5, 2008 CommentTuesday’s election results will reshape the Congressional committees that will play a key role in the government’s response to the housing crisis next year. (That’s the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.)
Here’s a look at the look the election outcomes for committee members who were in relatively tight races:
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How President Obama May Attack the Housing Crisis
Tweet Share on Facebook November 5, 2008 Comment (5)By taking the White House and building on their majorities in Congress, the Democrats are in a great position to move legislation. And since it remains at the heart of the financial mess now threatening to drag the economy into a deep recession, look for the Democrats to make the housing crisis a key part of their agenda for the next Congress.
Just how would the approach to the housing mess change under a Democratic-controlled Washington? Expect the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress to get more aggressive in their efforts to keep struggling borrowers in their homes. Here’s an example of one controversial idea that has a much better shot at becoming law in the current political landscape.
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Not Much 'Hope for Homeowners' So Far
Tweet Share on Facebook November 4, 2008 Comment (17)If you thought those auto sales numbers were ugly, just look the early results of the government's recently launched initiative to keep distressed borrowers in their homes.
From The Associated Press, via LA Land.
The government expects only 20,000 troubled borrowers will apply to refinance into more affordable mortgages by next fall under a new program passed by lawmakers over the summer.
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Barney Frank to Banks: TARP Cash Isn’t for Acquisitions
Tweet Share on Facebook November 3, 2008 Comment (4)As the question of how financial institutions should deploy their TARP funds grows increasingly contentious, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank on Friday said he was “deeply disappointed” with the way some banks were using their bailout cash.
From Frank's statement:
I am deeply disappointed that a number of financial institutions are distorting the legislation that Congress passed at the President's request to respond to the credit crisis by making funds available for increased lending. Any use of the these funds for any purpose other than lending—for bonuses, for severance pay, for dividends, for acquisitions of other institutions, etc.-- is a violation of the terms of the Act.
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Morgan Stanley Cancels Holiday Bashes
Tweet Share on Facebook November 3, 2008 Comment (4)After bringing Wall Street’s leading investment banks to their knees, the financial crisis has put another once-proud tradition on the endangered species list: bankers’ holiday parties.
From the New York Post:
Banking company Morgan Stanley - having weathered a financial crisis that crippled profits and took its shares on a wild roller-coaster ride - has cancelled all plans for Christmas festivities this year, according to an internal memo distributed Friday that was obtained by The Post.
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Video: Where’s My Bailout?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 3, 2008 Comment (1)Check out this video from reason.tv poking fun at the government’s $700 billion bailout:
(Via The Real Estate Bloggers)
