lehman bros.
Blacking Out the Bailout Details
When it comes to the government’s $700-billion rescue plan, it’s clear that a huge amount of money is at stake. As a result, the Treasury Dept. vowed last week to run an “open and transparent program,” so taxpayers know exactly where that money will go and how it will be used.
But as Bailoutsleuth.com explains, it’s [...]
The Big Guns Are Out
President George W. Bush, the Treasury Dept., the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are all out in force today, as they should be. You own a piece of some of our biggest banks today.
Bush went first, explaining to the American people that Washington will invest $250 billion in the nation’s banks. The [...]
What Were Lehman Officials Really Thinking?
Lehman Bros. CEO Richard Fuld, in a written statement for the House oversight committee, portrays himself as a victim of mortgage-market forces beyond his control. Fuld writes, “What happened to Lehman Bros. [which could have been one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history] could have happened to any firm on Wall Street and almost [...]
Lehman CEO: Why Weren’t We Bailed Out?
The House oversight committee has spent the day unloading on Lehman Bros. CEO Richard Fuld — his $480 million in compensation over the past eight years, his investment bank’s unprecedented leveraging of mortgage assets, his misleading of Lehman shareholders up to the day the company declared bankruptcy and the fate of 25,000 Lehman employees.
Fuld has [...]
GOP Line on Financial Crisis: Blame the GSE’s
The House oversight committee is holding a hearing now on the collapse of Lehman Bros. and the financial crisis generally. This hearing– and four others– will likely provide hints of how Congress, post-bailout bill, will try to revamp how the government polices Wall Street.
The committee has produced internal Lehman Bros. documents that show Lehman CEO [...]
The Decade of Moral Hazard is Over
If you feel like you’re trying to muddle through absorbing and understanding what happened on Wall Street, and why we are in the mess we’re in, this short video from the Financial Times might help clear things up.
Investment editor John Authers traces many of today’s problems back to the rescue of Long Term Capital Management [...]
What Are Those Strong ‘Economic Fundamentals?’
With the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. and the Bank of America takeover of Merrill Lynch roiling Wall Street, Sen. John McCain attempted to reassure voters about the economy at a rally this morning in Jacksonville, Fla.
Before an audience of about 3,000, McCain repeated his assertion that “the fundamentals of the of our economy are strong,” [...]
Alpha Males and Wall Street
To keep the markets from melting down today in the wake of the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy filing and the sale of Merrill Lynch, ten of the world’s largest banks have created a $70 billion pool of money, the Financial Times says.
Banks can borrow from the fund, using the kind of collateral the Fed doesn’t usually [...]
And The Sky is Falling, Too
It’s an entirely new financial world out there today — in a single weekend, Wall Street has turned upside down.
As The Washington Post explained, two of the world’s biggest investment banks are basically about to disappear, with Lehman Bros. filing for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch being bought by Bank of America. Once the shock of [...]
