Stay updated on financial news, market trends, and economic changes that affect your money. From interest rate hikes to government policy shifts, we break down what’s happening now—and what it means for your finances.
President Bush said that his Administration and members of Congress have been working hard over the weekend to find a solution to controlling the damage to the nation’s financial markets caused by the sub-prime mortgage collapse. He says that they’ve made good headway on a bill addressing the ensuing financial crisis, but that they have … Read more
The FTC Fights Prepaid Calling Card Scam The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, is going after shady prepaid calling card companies who misrepresent the value of their product to consumers. The FTC “works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and … Read more
The Federal Reserve Board announced on Thursday a plan to inject $180 billion into the global economy in an effort to ease the pain of the credit crisis and calm the fears of nervous investors. The Fed is working in a united effort with five central banks: the Swiss National Bank, the European Central Bank, … Read more
U.S. Government considering a broad rescue. There’s talk of a historic move by the federal government to control the ensuing credit crisis by rescuing financial institutions from their bad investment decisions. Though details of the plan have not been finalized, the government is considering forming a government entity to absorb the bad loans that are … Read more
President Bush made a brief statement on September 18th stating that he shared the concerns of the American people regarding the financial markets and the state of the economy. The President has cancelled today’s GOP-fundraising travel plans in order to stay in Washington to meet with economic advisors and to keep an eye on the … Read more
Rescuing private companies with taxpayer money; here we go again. The Federal Reserve announced on Tuesday to give an $85 billion emergency loan to the New York-based insurance company, American International Group, also known as AIG. The U.S. government gets a 79.9% stake in the company in exchange for the two-year loan, as well as … Read more
Two more pillars of Wall Street fell over the weekend, shaking any last bit of investors’ confidence in the integrity of the global financial system. Stock markets around the world tumbled in response to the failures of the massive companies. And, another pillar is in deep trouble. Lehman Bothers goes bankrupt. Lehman Brothers, the nation’s … Read more
The Fed’s Sunday announcement of the takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may possibly become the largest government rescue in U.S. history. The cost is high; up to $200 billion of taxpayer money could be used to fund the rescue. But the cost of taking no action and letting the two government-sponsored … Read more
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced on Sunday that the government will take charge of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly know as Freddie Mac. The two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are responsible for buying or backing about half of all U.S. mortgages, … Read more
The years of unsolicited junk-mail you’ve received from credit card issuers and loan companies may have finally paid off. Millions of American consumers could be awarded free credit monitoring services from TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S. A class-action lawsuit accuses TransUnion of selling personal and financial consumer information … Read more
