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| Friday, November 20, 2009 |
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ANALYSIS
March 2, 2009
Sagging Index no longer reflects what’s going on in the market, some say, Replacements? Google it, to start.
March 2, 2009
Downward price spiral will actually boost the cost of capital for most companies. CFOS, take note.
March 2, 2009
The latest bailout at AIG could be a preview of how the president will deal with Wall Street.
March 2, 2009
No corporate defaults. Big debt offerings. Percolating CP issuance. Things may be looking up in the capital markets.
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November 14, 2008 12:01 AM ET
Senators of both parties today said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had tabled a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal to address the housing crisis that administration officials had said might help solve the root cause of the financial meltdown. Mr. Paulson poured cold water on the FDIC plan Wednesday after a subordinate, Neel Kashkari, praised it in congressional testimony last month. The Treasury Secretary said yesterday that the proposal advanced by FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair was still under consideration. He added, though, that it wouldn’t be part of the rescue plan because it called for the government to spend money rather than invest it. Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said today that Mr. Paulson “dressed up” what the government was doing with Ms. Bair’s proposal. “The fact is he rejected it flat out,” Mr. Dodd. “That’s terribly regrettable.” Mr. Dodd got support from a number of other senators on the panel, including Florida Republican Mel Martinez, who lauded Ms. Bair’s “aggressive approach.” Mr. Martinez, who was secretary for Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush, said the administration’s recent housing programs “have all been timid and they’ve been late.” The broad, bipartisan support for Ms. Bair’s plan suggests that while it has little chance of seeing the light of day in the waning months of the Bush administration, it might be resuscitated under President Barack Obama. Ms. Bair told the committee last month that the government may seek to have delinquent mortgages modified into more sustainable loans by offering lenders incentives such as guarantees on the new loans. The government would bear some of the losses on the loans under her plan. Its cost has been estimated at $40 billion to $50 billion. At his news conference yesterday, Mr. Paulson also said that the government would try to increase the availability of student loans, auto loans and credit cards in a new focus on struggling consumers. Mr. Dodd said that while Mr. Paulson’s new focus on consumers is praiseworthy, “to put that ahead of home ownership is just denying the underlying problem.” More than a quarter million U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month, a 25% increase from a year earlier, RealtyTrac researchers said today. Foreclosures are occurring at an annual rate of 2.3 million, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, a non-profit research group, The FDIC plan could help as many as 3 million borrowers at risk of foreclosure for $50 billion, Martin Eakes, head of the center, told the Senate panel today. “It could be done on a widespread and streamlined basis and would substantially reduce foreclosures,” he testified. The Bair plan also drew praise today from executives with J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, who added that details needed to be worked out. President-elect Obama said at his first news conference after the election that the Treasury Department should “help families avoid foreclosures and stay in their homes.” Mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Wednesday that they will accelerate efforts to curb foreclosures by streamlining loan modifications. About 10,000 borrowers a month may qualify for the programs.
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