News

Reuters - Bank of America Corp , the
largest U.S. retail bank, may set aside a record $6.5 billion
in the first quarter to cover possible future loan losses,
including in its mortgage and home equity portfolios, according
to a banking analyst.

AFP - The United States should use public funds to shore up its financial system and calm recent market turmoil, Japan’s financial services minister said in an interview published Monday.

AP - Congress should cut short its spring break to work on proposals this week that would tighten regulation of investment banks and help people facing foreclosure, a Republican senator said Sunday.

Bloomberg - March 24 (Bloomberg) — Seven months before Election Day,
rising home foreclosures, shrinking financial assets and
gasoline approaching a record $4 a gallon are daily reminders
that the U.S. economy may be the worst in almost 30 years.

AP - Japanese shares rose Friday, buoyed by gains in property developers and financial issues.

BusinessWeek Online - It’s ugly on Wall Street. With the subprime mortgage meltdown, credit crunch, and falling stock market, investment bankers are facing the worst job losses since the months following September 11. In the wake of its near collapse last week, Bear Stearns is expected to lay off at least half of its 14,000 employees. Citigroup said on Mar. 20 that it plans to add 2,000 layoffs to the 4,200 it announced in January. And many bankers are wondering not only which firms will be hit next, but whether their own jobs are safe.

AP - The subprime mortgage crisis has yielded at least one benefit for states: Mortgage-related investments have become so cheap that they are luring some pension funds to buy.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve and Bank
of England denied a report on Saturday that they were in talks
over possibly using public funds to make mass purchases of
mortgage-backed securities to ease the global credit crisis.

AP - A convicted sex offender was charged Thursday with killing a 71-year-old real estate agent whose body was found near a smoldering mattress in a home she had been showing him.

Investor’s Business Daily - The Federal Reserve’s move to take on $30 billion in risky Bear Stearns holdings may turn out to be the political equivalent of crossing the Rubicon.

Investor’s Business Daily - Somewhere a kid is dumping nickels into a piggy bank, and she doesn’t care a whit about the subprime mortgage crisis.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc is cutting about
2,000 more investment banking and trading jobs, a person
briefed on the matter said, as the largest U.S. bank moves to
lower costs after subprime mortgage and credit problems led to
a record quarterly loss.

AFP - Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse warned Thursday it could suffer a first quarter loss, citing exposure to the US subprime crisis, and said some of its traders had engaged in “intentional misconduct” and had been suspended.

BusinessWeek Online - Another stone fell into place in the federal government’s plan to build a path to credit market recovery. On Mar. 19, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or OFHEO, said it was reducing the amount of capital it requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to maintain on their balance sheets above statutory requirements. By reducing the capital surplus level from 30% to 20%, the regulator will provide up to $200 billion in immediate liquidity to the distressed mortgage-backed securities market.

AFP - Germany’s IKB unveiled more bad news Thursday, suspending the sale of billions of euros (dollars) of risky assets tied to US subprime mortgages and revealing it was getting yet more state aid.

Investor’s Business Daily - The applications index fell 2.9% to 652 during the week ended March 14, the lowest in ‘08, said the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance volume slid 4.6%, while applications for buying a home fell 1%. The declines came despite a sharp drop in fixed-rate mortgage rates. Adjustable rates continued to soar.

Investor’s Business Daily - Cash-strapped financial firms should rethink their hefty dividends during the subprime crisis to ease capital shortages, says Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

AP - Treasurys staged a massive rally Wednesday, as fears about continuing fallout from the credit crisis prompted investors to seek safe assets ahead of a long holiday weekend.

AP - The government on Wednesday relaxed capital requirements at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a plan to quickly inject an additional $200 billion of financing for home loans.

Reuters - Two U.S. home financing heavyweights
won government approval on Wednesday to pump $200 billion more
into troubled U.S. mortgage markets, the latest step to
stabilize credit markets and avert a deep recession.