Mar 26 Obama to Announce Major Expansion of Mortgage Relief Program Updated 11:00am ET The Treasury Department has posted this press release with more details on the mortagage aid plan. With estimates showing more than 3 million households may file for foreclosure by year's end, the Obama administration is… Continue reading
Mar 26 Watch News Wrap: White House Unveils Mortgage Plan In other news Friday, the White House unveiled its new initiatives to help homeowners at risk for foreclosure and Congress sent the final installment of the health care bill to President Obama, with a few adjustments. Continue watching
Mar 25 How Were Off-Balance-Sheet Transactions Allowed to Continue? Question: In this current financial crisis, I keep hearing about “off balance sheet” transactions. I’m old enough to remember Enron’s collapse, which also entailed “off balance sheet” transactions. What are these (I think they are also referred to as structured… Continue reading
Mar 25 Watch Foreclosures: Who's Being Helped, Who's Losing Out? The Obama administration is tweaking the current foreclosure policy to help people stay in their homes. Judy Woodruff reports on who may be helped. Continue watching
Mar 24 Michael Lewis Explores the Financial Meltdown in 'The Big Short' By Jeffrey Brown The author of several well-known bestsellers including "Moneyball" and "The Blind Side," Michael Lewis has written about a wide variety of subjects, ranging from how the Oakland A's baseball team picks its players to the Silicon Valley tech… Continue reading
Mar 24 What's the Difference Between Quantitative Easing and the Fed Buying Securities? Question: What’s the distinction between “quantitative easing” and the Federal Reserve simply buying and selling government securities to affect the nation’s money supply? Paul Solman: The distinction is that when the Fed is selling, it’s sopping up money from the… Continue reading
Mar 24 Report Slams Obama Effort to Stem Foreclosures By Jason Breslow The Obama administration's $50 billion effort to plug the nation's home foreclosure crisis has fallen short of expectations and may ultimately prove to "be of questionable value." That's the conclusion of a scathing report released late Tuesday by the… Continue reading
Mar 24 Debate Over Value of Yuan Heats Up in Washington The long-running debate over the value of China's currency is heating up in Washington. Last week, senators from both parties introduced a bill that would compel the Obama administration to confront China over the undervalued yuan, which many… Continue reading
Mar 24 Patchwork Nation: Healthcare Aside, Economy Still Dominant By Dante Chinni The headlines may be all about health care reform this week, but throughout the United States, the biggest story continues to be the sputtering economy. Poll after poll shows that the economy and unemployment are the top issue with… Continue reading
Mar 24 Watch Michael Lewis Tackles the Mortgage Crisis in 'The Big Short' Jeffrey Brown takes a look inside the doomsday machine of the subprime lending crisis with author Michael Lewis in a conversation about his new book, "The Big Short."… Continue watching