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01 Jan 2011 21:54

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Biz: Henry Paulson personally lost $1 million in the housing crisis

  • See? Treasury secretaries suffer just like the rest of us. You can call Henry Paulson a lot of things, but one thing you can’t call the Bush-era Treasury Secretary is “unaffected by the financial crisis.” See, Paulson’s home just got sold on the D.C. housing market, and it went for far less than he bought it for. Let’s check the numbers already:
  • $4.3M the cost he paid for his home, near the National Cathedral, in 2006 (which is swank, BTW)
  • $4.6M the amount Paulson, no longer a bureaucrat, put the home on the market for in April
  • $3.25M the amount Paulson’s home finally sold for a couple of weeks ago – a $1 million loss source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Nov 2010 11:27

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Biz, World: Ireland willing to take bailout money … VERY begrudgingly

  • Hey, yo, Ireland. ShortFormBlog here. We just wanted to commend you for coming to your senses and deciding to take a loan from the European Union. But there’s still a problem – you’re remaining way too timid about accepting help. You guys don’t want to end up like Greece or Iceland, do you? While we don’t know how much you’ll be willing to take (all you’re on the record for is saying €100 billion would be “too much”), but with that crappy housing market and contracting economy of yours, you might be wise to work on improving your economic stability with a bailout, not trying to figure out how little you can get. Again, if you don’t want the bailout money, we’ll take if off your hands. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 11:11

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Biz, World: Ireland getting peer pressure to take bailouts to ease debt

  • Anyone know where Ireland can find 15 billion euros by Tuesday? The country of potato bread and U2 (to grossly oversimplify) needs some extra money to allay fears of other, fiscally stronger European countries, such as Germany, as well as to calm local markets, which went haywire on Friday on debt concerns. Ireland denies the need for an immediate bailout (despite a banking system in tatters), but outside sources, such as Barclay’s Capital, suggest that the country could need €80 billion (or $110 billion) in bailouts between 2011 and 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that political needs (including her own) may be in play. “There may be a conflict here between the interests of the financial world and the interests of politicians,” she said. One source suggests the possibility of an Irish default could hurt her crisis-resolution plans. Meanwhile, Ireland plans to release a budget next month it hopes will ease debt concerns. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2010 00:10

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Biz, U.S.: TARP’s final cost could be way less than first advertised

  • $700 billion the amount TARP cost taxpayers when it first happened two years ago
  • $50
    billion     the most TARP will cost taxpayers when all is said and done source
  • » Says who?: The White House’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, suggested that the final bill for TARP could be 7 percent of the original cost – or less, depending on how the markets go. But don’t expect anyone to gloat about this. TARP is political poison.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

30 Sep 2010 21:53

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Politics: Economist Robert Reich: Rich getting richer, poor staying poor

  • There are big, big holes in that Wall Street financial reform act — holes big enough for Wall Street traders to drive their Ferraris through. …  I think we’re going to be left with a Wall Street that continues to grow more and more powerful and richer relative to the rest of the United States economy.
  • Economist (and Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Labor) Robert Reich • Regarding the economic recovery and financial reform, which he says has not succeeded in helping the middle-class, but has succeeded in allowing the financial industry to get richer. It’s created a disparity that, according to Reich, hasn’t existed since the Great Depression. “[The middle class] can’t go deeper and deeper into debt. They can’t work longer hours. They’ve exhausted all of their coping mechanisms,” he says. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Sep 2010 18:38

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U.S.: People don’t like it when you prevent a second depression

  • TARP is probably the most effective large-scale government program that the public has vehemently decided was a bad idea.
  • Douglas Elliot of the Brookings Institute • Lamenting the public and political hatred for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (58% say it was unneeded). Economists estimate that without the bailout, GDP would have fallen 11% in the last two years, resulting in “a 1930’s-like depression.”  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jun 2010 09:22

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Biz: It took all freaking night, but we have a finance reform deal

  • Quite frankly, common sense prevailed. … Our objectives were to get the risky stuff out of banks. We figured out how to do that.
  • Sen. Blanche Lincoln • On her derivatives proposal, the meat of which was kept in a last-minute deal brokered waaaaaaaaaaaaay past bedtime. Obviously, most of this stuff will fly over non-investors’ heads, but the deal essentially allows banks to keep using derivatives on less-risky investments – foreign exchange, interest rate, gold and silver swaps, and hedges on their own investments – while forcing them to spin off separate companies for their riskiest derivatives. You know, the ones that caused the financial crisis, like cleared and uncleared commodities, agricultural, energy and equities swaps, and credit. Some biz-friendly Democrats wanted to railroad this, but failed. Nice save. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Jun 2010 13:22

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Biz: Lehman Brothers’ art library is on the market, kids

The failed company will pay off some of its debts by selling off their art. It’s expected to raise $10 million; this painting alone should nail over $500,000. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2010 11:08

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Biz: “Flash Crash”: Senators set sights on automated trading

  • A computer glitch caused yesterday’s crash. High-speed algorithmic trading, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of all trading volume, is already under scrutiny by regulators due to the financial crisis. Now, thanks to yesterday’s buttcrack, some Senators are suggesting an investigation. Many are concerned that the automated system can fall out of the control of regulators, causing cluster#(&@s such as the one we saw yesterday. With good reason. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2010 20:42

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Biz: The biggest losers on Wall Street today emphasize the weirdness

  • 37% Procter and Gamble’s much followed free-fall during the momentary crisis; it quickly bounced back
  • 1¢ the value of Accenture’s stock at
    2:48 p.m. EST, down from $40; it, too, quickly bounced back source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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