The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Fri 2010-01-29 16:28 EST

'Freefall' Excerpt: Too Late To Fix The Biggest Banking Blunder In History?

The Huffington Post News Editors

Reprinted from Freefall by Joseph Stiglitz. Copyright (c) 2010 by Joseph E. Stiglitz. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. The entire series of efforts to rescue the banking system were so flawed, partly because those who were somewhat responsible for the mess--as advocates of deregulation, as failed regulators, or as investment bankers--were put in charge of the repair...

Biggest Banking Blunder; com; excerpts; Fix; freefall; full Feeds; History; HuffingtonPost; lately.

Thu 2010-01-07 20:04 EST

Hard times at the Washington Post

Dean Baker

The Washington Post is a newspaper with a proud legacy. It has done much important reporting over the years, most famously its coverage of the Watergate scandal that resulted in the resignation of Richard Nixon. Unfortunately, it seems to have abandoned its journalistic standards. In its last issue of the decade, it published as a news piece an article by the Peter Peterson Foundation-funded Fiscal Times. This compromised the Post's journalistic integrity to the extent that readers can no longer take it seriously.

hard times; Washington Post.

Culture of Life News Mon 2010-01-04 16:52 EST

The Horrors Of The Carbon Trade Derivatives Beast

Elaine Supkis

There are many ways of fixing things. Using the right tools is important. The international bankers have chosen a very nasty tool for fixing both global warming and dealing with the Hubbert Oil Peak: wild derivative futures markets modeled on the goofy OTC --CDS market! The thing that just destroyed international banking. We mustn't forget that the reason we had a banking meltdown was due to the sudden climb in energy prices beginning with the invasion of Iraq.

Carbon Trade Derivatives Beast; Culture; horror; Life News.

The Money Game Mon 2009-12-28 16:44 EST

Here's The Secret Reason We Eliminated The Bailout Caps On Fannie And Freddie (FNM, FRE)

On Christmas Eve, when the news was assured of getting no coverage whatsoever, The White House announced that it had eliminated the maximum bailout cap for Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie (FRE). As some observers have pointed out, all the move really did was formalize what everyone has figured for decades, that the two zombie GSEs were truly organs of the federal government, and that their debts would be backed up ad infinitum. So, why the move, and why then? Credit analyst Edwart Pinto shares his theories.

Bailout Caps; eliminate; Fannie; FNM; FRE; Freddie; Money game; s; secret reasons.

Jesse's Café Américain Tue 2009-12-01 22:19 EST

Mark Pittman, Investigative Journalist

Jesse

Mark Pittman, the award-winning investigative reporter whose fight to open the Federal Reserve to more scrutiny led Bloomberg News to sue the central bank and win, died Nov. 25 in Yonkers, New York. He was 52. ...``He was one of the great financial journalists of our time,'' said Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University in New York and the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for economics. ``His death is shocking.''

investigation journalist; Jesse's Café Américain; Mark Pittman.

The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Wed 2009-11-25 12:11 EST

Geithner Singled Out In TARP Watchdog Neil Barofsky's Scathing Report On AIG Bailout

The Huffington Post News Editors

In its bailout last fall of the insurance giant AIG, a team led by current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner failed nearly every step of the way, according to a scathing report released Monday by a government watchdog. Instead of bargaining with AIG's numerous counterparties to resolve its billions of dollars in souring derivatives contracts, Geithner's team ended up funneling payments for those toxic derivatives to AIG's counterparties at "an amount far above their market value at the time," the report notes.

AIG Bailout; com; full Feeds; Geithner singled; HuffingtonPost; TARP watchdog Neil Barofsky's scathing report.

The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Wed 2009-11-25 10:44 EST

Fed Beaten: Bill To Audit Federal Reserve Passes Key Hurdle

The Huffington Post News Editors

In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter. The measure, cosponsored by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), authorizes the Government Accountability Office to conduct a wide-ranging audit of the Fed's opaque deals with foreign central banks and major U.S. financial institutions. The Fed has never had a real audit in its history and little is known of what it does with the trillions of dollars at its disposal.

Audit Federal Reserve Passes Key Hurdle; billed; com; Fed Beaten; full Feeds; HuffingtonPost.

The Guardian World News Wed 2009-11-25 10:31 EST

What was really behind the crash?

John Cassidy

In an exclusive extract from his new book, John Cassidy explains why the huge salaries of Wall Street bosses created a culture that helped trigger the financial crisis...In the wake of last year's crash, even some top bankers have conceded that Wall Street remuneration schemes lead to excessive risk-taking...But without direct government involvement, the effort to reform Wall Street compensation won't survive the next market upturn. For although the financial sector as a whole has an interest in controlling rampant short-termism and irresponsible risk-taking, individual firms have an incentive to hire away star traders from any rivals that have introduced pay limits. Compensation reforms, therefore, are bound to break down. In this case, as in many others, the only way to reach a socially desirable outcome is to enforce compliance. And the only body that can do that is the government.

Crash; Guardian World News; really.

The Guardian World News Fri 2009-11-20 09:45 EST

US pressure distorted oil figures, says whistleblower

Terry Macalister

Exclusive: Watchdog's estimates of reserves inflated says top official The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves. The allegations raise serious questions about the accuracy of the organisation's latest World Energy Outlook on oil demand and supply to be published tomorrow -- which is used by the British and many other governments to help guide their wider energy and climate change policies.

Guardian World News; pressure distorted oil figures; says whistleblowers.

Tue 2009-10-27 13:06 EDT

Courthouse News Service

Bank of America and Countrywide Home Loans destroyed mortgage documents, and "recreate" them by "insert(ing) data as they see fit," to cover up their own failure to keep records - or their fraud - according to a federal RICO class action. "To cover up the servicing mistakes and fraud and misrepresentation in the servicing of a consumer escrow, Defendants 'recreate' letters, insert data as they see fit, and fail to produce the entire HUD complaint form. This way, a consumer is left in the dark about the fraud that occurred to them," the complaint states. Lead plaintiff Kim Gorham says that when she sent a letter seeking information about her escrow account, she was informed that it had been "destroyed by a letter opener."

Courthouse News Service.

Yahoo! Finance: Tech Ticker Tue 2009-10-27 11:18 EDT

Policymakers in "Denial" About the Banks, Carmen Reinhart Says

In "This Time Is Different," economic professors Kenneth Rogoff (Harvard) and Carmen Reinhart (Maryland) examine eight centuries of financial crises, demonstrating how the credit crunch of 2008 wasn't so unique, after all. That's the good news...Reinhart gives policymakers "low marks" for failing to deal head on with toxic assets. There's "a lot of denial" in the approach to the banks, she says, seeing comparisons to Japan's post-bubble policies of delaying write-downs, which created zombie banks. "I'm not seeing a great deal of learning,"

bank; Carmen Reinhart Says; denial; finance; policymaking; Tech Ticker; Yahoo.

The Guardian World News Thu 2009-10-22 14:20 EDT

Bear Stearns duo 'lied over and over'

A pair of maverick Bear Stearns hedge fund managers lied to clients "over and over again" to protect their multimillion dollar pay cheques, exchanging secret emails to orchestrate a $1.6bn fraud as their funds imploded in the global financial crisis, a US jury heard yesterday. At a federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn, financiers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin became the first Wall Street bankers to stand trial in a criminal case arising from the credit crunch.

Bear Stearns duo; Guardian World News; lying.

The Guardian World News Mon 2009-10-12 10:04 EDT

Kaupthing chief named as suspect

Iceland's most controversial banker, Sigurdur Einarsson, the former executive chairman of failed bank Kaupthing, has been made an official suspect by fraud prosecutors examining alleged market manipulation relating to an investment in the bank by Qatari royal Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa al-Thani weeks before its collapse a year ago.

Guardian World News; Kaupthing chief named; Suspected.

The Guardian World News Mon 2009-10-12 10:02 EDT

Ex-Wall Street financiers face criminal action

Former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin's private jottings show concerns about 'blow up risk' to investors...Tannin and his boss, Ralph Cioffi, ran two funds holding $1.4bn of clients' funds that collapsed in July 2007, an event widely viewed as the first clear signal of America's sub-prime mortgage crisis and the global credit crunch. The meltdown of these funds sparked a chain of events that contributed to the demise of Bear Stearns, an 85-year-old Wall Street institution, in early 2008. They have been charged by US prosecutors with defrauding customers by hiding the true condition of investments as prospects steadily darkened.

Ex-Wall Street financiers face criminal action; Guardian World News.

The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Sat 2009-10-10 13:01 EDT

Elizabeth Warren: Serious Questions Remain About Obama's Loan Relief Plan

The Huffington Post News Editors

The Obama administration's effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure may not achieve its goal of helping 3 million to 4 million borrowers and may simply delay mortgage defaults for many, a government watchdog group says. The Congressional Oversight Panel, charged with making regular assessments of the $700 billion financial rescue fund enacted last year, said the Treasury Department should consider whether to improve the current $50 billion program or adopt new programs to meet an expected rise in foreclosures fed by increased unemployment...

com; Elizabeth Warren; full Feeds; HuffingtonPost; Obama's Loan Relief Plan; Serious questions remain.

Jesse's Café Américain Sat 2009-10-10 11:50 EDT

The Plan to De-dollarise the Oil Markets: Its Roots and Implications

Jesse

The breakdown of US dollar reserves being held overseas in the attached article of news is interesting, even though estimated. I am curious to see when Kevin Phillips and Chalmers Johnson start speaking to this as this sort of historic change is in their respective ballparks. Of course, there is always the option to listen to those in the American financial media who dismiss the internationally respected and well-connected Robert Fisk as a commie crank, a liberal web spinner, and a tinfoil conspiracty theorist.

De-dollarise; implications; Jesse's Café Américain; oil markets; plans; rooted.