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Through today, GMAC has received government bailout funds totaling $12.5 billion. The company is asking the Obama administration for $5.6 billion more. One might say that in a true democracy, GMAC would need to ask permission from each taxpayer whose funds would go towards shoring up the company’s balance sheet, a move that would make ... Continue reading this article…
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The executives of these companies had to see this coming. When a company is “too big to fail,” it becomes a public institution in senses of the phrase but the most literal. And for a number of banks and other financial companies in the past year, the public has become a partial owner thanks to ... Continue reading this article…
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Even though they are not bank holding companies as originally required for the original qualifications for receiving bailout money from the public, six insurance companies will now have the option of receiving this money. Among others, Allstate, Ameriprise Financial, Hartford Financial Services, Lincoln National Group, Principal Financial, and Prudential applied earlier for inclusin in the ... Continue reading this article…
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A quick roundup of current lending news. In December 2008 we reported a prediction that credit card issuers would be reducing available credit by about 45 percent, and recently the company behind the FICO score released a report of credit lines being reduced from April to October 2008, right before that prediction was made. From the study, we ... Continue reading this article…
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Thank you to all the taxpayers who are footing the bill for this. As Citibank continues to receive money from the government of the United States, funded by investors in Treasury bills and citizens of the future who will be paying more to the government to support the interest payments on that debt, Citibank continues ... Continue reading this article…
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As the government continues to bail out the banking industry and taxpayers continue to increase their stake in these companies, how far should the banks go to cut back spending on the excesses that have grown over the past several decades? The local New York City NBC news program aired a feature on ... Continue reading this article…
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The CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are heading to Washington, D.C. today for the second time to plead for government assistance. The first trip resulted in public relations faux pas. They flew to Congress on private corporate jets, spending much more company money than necessary. This brings to mind the image ... Continue reading this article…
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Reminder: While I am on vacation this week, Consumerism Commentary is featuring articles by other writers. Please read Criminal Charges: Volume XVII, the first of this week’s guest articles. Rescue Deal for CitiGroup. Citi is too big to fail, so the government is preparing an injection of $20 billion in addition to the $25 billion the ... Continue reading this article…
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Every Tuesday, Smithee presents an article about his own experiences with and observations about credit cards. Do you have a credit account with Citigroup? I probably do. I think I started one with Rooms To Go when we started paying for our very comfortable bed. They said it would be interest free for however-many months. I ... Continue reading this article…
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Should American taxpayers bail out the automobile industry? Automakers headquartered in the U.S. have failed to make products consumers wanted to buy, whether due to a lack of quality, lack of targeting, or a lack of convincing marketing. Democrats in the Congress want to extend $25 billion of the $700 billion bailout bill ... Continue reading this article…
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One of my concerns about the original bailout bill was that the money paid to financial institutions would be used to pay for outsized executive bonuses. While companies must offer outrageous compensation to attract and keep the best executive talent, the market place has forced the price upwards. That worked well when the financial ... Continue reading this article…
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Circuit City files for bankruptcy. This store is the latest victim of the current economy. You can look through the remaining stores, but I don’t think this bankrupcty will lead to fire-sale prices on electronics as we head into the holiday shopping season. Is It Time to Have a Money Talk, Child to Parent? Will ... Continue reading this article…
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The Financial Services Roundtable and the Consumer Federation of America asked the Department of the Treasury today for a piece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act money, the bailout money, to help banks and card issuers reduce the credit card balances for borrowers who don’t qualify for other government assistance like repayment plans. So far, the ... Continue reading this article…
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Following Barack Obama’s proposals announced earlier, Republican candidate John McCain has outlined the steps he would take as president to help spur the economy in the United States. 1. Eliminate taxes on unemployment benefits. Like the Democratic candidate, McCain suggests eliminating taxes on unemployment insurance to make sure that those individuals out of work have a ... Continue reading this article…
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Each major presidential candidate is making his presence known and ensuring his name is constantly in the media as next month’s election approaches. Recently, Democratic candidate Barack Obama announced six action steps to help heal the economy in this country and across the world. Five of these are “new” ideas, and one was originally ... Continue reading this article…
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With the $700+ billion bailout bill signed into law, the FDIC now insures more deposits per account holder per bank. Here are the new limits for the most common account types, effective October 3.
Single accounts are insured up to $250,000 per owner through December 31, 2009 Joint accounts are insured up to $250,000 per co-owner ... Continue reading this article…
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October 3 update: Wells Fargo has stepped in and placed a better offer for Wachovia. Wachovia is my main brick-and-mortar bank. The bank has held my primary, though small, savings and checking accounts for about fifteen years. During this time, it hasn’t always been known as Wachovia to me due to a series of mergers and ... Continue reading this article…
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The stock market was hoping for good news today regarding the bailout bill. When the House of Representatives voted down the proposal which had support from only 60 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of Republicans, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 Index, and the price of oil dropped sharply. With pressure from the Executive branch, I ... Continue reading this article…
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In the original version of this article, I was under the impression that the Senate had passed this bill already. It hasn’t; they have only just released the details to the public. A vote will come later. Over the weekend as I watched the Mets end a frustrating season with a disappointing final series, the details ... Continue reading this article…
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Thanks to Matt from Web Developer Guru who just a few minutes ago wrote in to let me know about this latest development. The FBI is investigating the financial firms primarily involved with the recent economic collapse, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and American International Group (AIG), and those who have been running ... Continue reading this article…
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