Ben Bernanke

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Fed Pledges $600B to Keep Money-Market Funds Afloat

Will partner with JPMorgan, lend money to help cover redemptions

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today unveiled a $600 billion program to finance the purchase of assets from money-market mutual funds, Bloomberg reports. JPMorgan will oversee five special units, which will use money borrowed from the Fed to buy CDs, bank notes, and commercial paper nearing maturity. The program is the Fed’...

Bernanke All But Endorsed Obama: Journal Editors
Bernanke All But Endorsed Obama: Journal Editors
OPINION
Oct 21, 2008 10:59 AM CDT

Bernanke All But Endorsed Obama: Journal Editors

Fed chief's support for stimulus conformed to Dem platform

(Newser) - The Fed once shunned politics, but chairman Ben Bernanke’s support for a second economic stimulus bill yesterday amounts to an endorsement of Barack Obama, write the outraged editors of the Wall Street Journal. By saying a stimulus would be "well targeted," despite GOP and White House resistance,...

Stocks Rally, Clearing 9,000
 Stocks Rally, Clearing 9,000 
MARKETS
Oct 20, 2008 3:33 PM CDT

Stocks Rally, Clearing 9,000

Bernanke urges more fiscal stimulus

(Newser) - Stocks extended earlier gains with a late-session rally today as Ben Bernanke voiced support for a new fiscal stimulus package and a key indicator showed a loosening in the flow of credit, MarketWatch reports. The Dow rose 413.21 to 9,265.43, the first time it has closed over...

Bernanke Backs New Stimulus
 Bernanke Backs New Stimulus 
Oct 20, 2008 10:24 AM CDT

Bernanke Backs New Stimulus

But Fed chief says new measure must include access to credit

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke gave his blessing to a new economic stimulus package today, the New York Times reports, saying the slowdown warrants another boost but hedging his approval with conditions that would discourage the sort of package Democrats are pushing. “If the Congress proceeds with a fiscal package, it should...

Homeowners Need Bailout, Too: FDIC Chief

Regulator clashes with Paulson, Bernanke over relief for lenders

(Newser) - The FDIC chief is blasting the White House and Congress for focusing the $700 billion bailout on financial institutions and not giving homeowners facing foreclosure more help, reports the Wall Street Journal. Sheila Bair, a Bush appointee, says the government’s insistence that homeowners not profit from its help—while...

Dow Off 500; Fed Can't Calm Investors
 Dow Off 500; 
 Fed Can't Calm 
 Investors 
MARKETS
Oct 15, 2008 12:59 PM CDT

Dow Off 500; Fed Can't Calm Investors

Recession fears weigh more heavily amid ugly data

(Newser) - Poor data and continued pessimism over the state of the US economy had the Dow down around 500 points as today’s session entered the final hours, MarketWatch reports, with hints of further interest-rate cuts from Fed chief Ben Bernanke doing nothing to boost confidence. The Dow dipped below the...

Bernanke: Stage Set for Recovery

Fear not, investors, Fed chairman insists

(Newser) - Americans face a historic financial crisis, but they needn’t worry because policy makers have responded in time, writes Ben Bernanke in today’s Wall Street Journal. “History teaches us that government engagement in times of severe financial crisis often arrives very late,” Bernanke says. “Fortunately, that...

Global Economy Needs Shelter From the Storm
Global Economy Needs Shelter From the Storm
Opinion
Oct 9, 2008 11:28 AM CDT

Global Economy Needs Shelter From the Storm

Think of it as a bankruptcy; with help, it can recover and thrive

(Newser) - The global economy is in such chaos that it needs the equivalent of bankruptcy protection, David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post. "Bankruptcy, if properly managed, is a workout process that provides a pathway back to solvency," he argues. "Companies often reemerge from bankruptcy healthier than before;...

Yes, It's Bad, But the Depression It Ain't

Economist sees differences and remains optimistic

(Newser) - The economic news out of Wall Street and Washington is scary and shocking, but there's no reason to use the "D" word anytime soon, Jay Hancock writes in the Baltimore Sun. He talks with economic historian and professor Louis Galambos, who remains guardedly optimistic about the "core of...

It Hasn't Been This Bad Since 1937

Stocks stuck in a 'downward spiral of fear;' no end in sight

(Newser) - With investors unconvinced the government’s $700 billion bailout or the Fed’s new plan to buy commercial paper will thaw frozen credit markets, markets remained trapped in “a downward spiral of fear,” reports BusinessWeek. The Dow’s 29% loss this year is its worst since 1937’s...

Dow Drops 508 Points
 Dow Drops 508 Points 
MARKETS
Oct 7, 2008 3:31 PM CDT

Dow Drops 508 Points

Fed's attempts to help do nothing for equities in the short term

(Newser) - Stocks plummeted today, as actions by the Federal Reserve to prop up the commercial-paper market and hints of an interest-rate cut from Ben Bernanke failed to restore investors’ confidence, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow fell 508.39 to 9,447.11. The Nasdaq shed 108.08, closing at...

Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut
Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut
MARKETS
Oct 7, 2008 1:28 PM CDT

Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut

After early optimistic surge, Dow falls 300 points

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned today that the financial crisis has not only darkened the country's current economic performance but also could prolong the pain. The Fed chief's gloomy assessment appeared to hint of an interest rate cut on or before the Fed’s next meeting later this month....

The Crisis Dwarfs $700B
 The Crisis Dwarfs $700B 
Oct 7, 2008 10:18 AM CDT

The Crisis Dwarfs $700B

A US-centric band aid can't quell global markets as confidence plunges

(Newser) - As the financial crisis continues to grow, the $700 billion bailout passed by Congress last week may be too little too late, the Washington Post reports. The plan may not begin relieving banks of toxic assets for another month, and, meanwhile, the crisis has gone global, making $700 billion seem...

Fed Will Buy Up Short-Term Debt to Boost Credit

New plan to ease credit pushes the central bank toward a commercial bank role

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today launched a new plan to buy up companies’ unsecured short-term debt in yet another effort to unfreeze the credit markets, the New York Times reports. Underscoring a sense of urgency on Wall Street as the crisis spread across Europe and Asia yesterday, the radical plan would...

Bailout Won't Bail Out Bernanke
 Bailout Won't 
 Bail Out Bernanke 
OPINION
Oct 6, 2008 2:42 PM CDT

Bailout Won't Bail Out Bernanke

Nation needs explanation of how it will help

(Newser) - The economic bailout plan does nothing to address the "collapse in confidence" hammering the financial system, Christopher Carroll writes for the Financial Times. Using the example of the "Bank of Rome" in August, 79 AD, the Johns Hopkins economist argues that the plan makes as much sense...

Fed Weighs Emergency Rate Cut

As economy deteriorates, inflation becomes less of a concern

(Newser) - Mounting fears that the credit crisis and continually worsening economic data will push a stagnant US economy into a severe recession has spurred the Federal Reserve to consider cutting interest rates from their current 2%, the Wall Street Journal reports. Even if the House follows the Senate in passing the...

Fed, Treasury Fall Back on Existing 'Inadequate' Tools

With no federal deal, agencies limited to ad hoc solutions

(Newser) - With yesterday’s failure of the $700 billion bailout, the Fed and Treasury are reconsidering their options, the New York Times reports. Fearful of cutting interest rates, they're back to rescuing struggling institutions on a case by case basis, and printing money—offering $150 billion in emergency loans to banks...

What Will Taxpayers Shell Out for All This?
What Will Taxpayers Shell
Out for All This?
analysis
Sep 28, 2008 1:44 PM CDT

What Will Taxpayers Shell Out for All This?

Some bailouts are more risky, some less—and add up to $1 trillion

(Newser) - If a $700 billion federal bailout sounds like a lot, it is—but Washington will actually shell out $1 trillion in all of its present and proposed plans. Between Henry Paulson's plan, and bailouts of Bear Stearns, AIG, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal breaks down...

The GOP Plan: Less Regulation, Private Funding

Bush, Paulson, Dems reject conservative counterproposal

(Newser) - When John Boehner scuppered the nearly-sealed bailout deal at yesterday's meeting, the House minority leader proposed an alternative plan: a bank-financed insurance system that would rescue individual mortgages. Under the GOP proposal, the government would not buy up the toxic mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the crisis but instead...

Treasury Will Struggle to Value Mortgage Holdings

Analysts say US will need to be leery of truly toxic portfolios

(Newser) - When Treasury starts spending the $700 billion in bailout money it’s asking for, the big question is going to be how much to pay for assets that are toxic in part because no one can figure out what they're worth. The bundled and rebundled mortgage securities causing Wall Street...

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