The Dow Jones industrial average is the latest Wall Street institution to be reshaped by the financial crisis. Continue reading GM and CitiGroup removed from DOW

The Treasury Department and a committee of major bondholders at General Motors have reached a deal that could give creditors a larger stake in GM than previously offered. But bankruptcy is still likely in the next few days despite the deal.

The agreement, revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by GM (GM, Fortune 500) early Thursday, would essentially give the bondholders 10% of the company but also give them the rights to buy an additional 15% of the company’s stock at a low price.
Continue reading GM Bankruptcy

Dennis Kneale: Macke let’s start with you…Patty Daum is talking about how the credit markets tonight are really thawing tonight…and her sources tell her it’s going to be helping the stock market. What do you think of that?
Continue reading Has Jeff Macke gone nuts?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Six life insurance companies have qualified to receive billions of dollars in bailout money under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, a Treasury Department spokesman said Thursday.

Continue reading Insurance Companies that are qualified for Tarp

In turn, Obama said, the government would offer a tax cut to companies that do their research and development in the United States. And that will “jump-start job creation,” he said.

Among the changes Obama wants is to require U.S.-based multinationals to defer taking deductions on expenses related to their foreign operations until they bring back the profits to the United States and pay U.S. income tax on them.
Continue reading Obama tax plan for U.S. multinationals

“In the last few months you’ve seen a real pickup in activity although at much lower prices,” Mr. Buffett said, citing data from Berkshire’s real-estate brokerage business, HomeServices of America Inc., which is one of the largest in the U.S.

Continue reading Mr. Buffett on the state housing sector

WASHINGTON(AP) – Chrysler will file for bankruptcy after talks with a small group of creditors crumbled just a day before a government deadline for the automaker to come up with a restructuring plan, two administration officials said Thursday.

The Obama administration had long hoped to stave off bankruptcy for Chrysler LLC, but it became clear that a holdout group wouldn’t budge on proposals to reduce Chrysler’s $6.9 billion in secured debt, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the filing plans are not public. Clearing those debts was a needed step for Chrysler restructure by the Thursday night deadline.
Continue reading Chrysler to file for bankruptcy

Have you heard of NCO Financial Systems Incorporated? If not, you definitely need to know about them. This is a collection agency that is known for their dirty tactics.

NCO Financial Systems sends voicemails simply stated that so-and-so was calling from NCO, that it is an attempt to collect a debt, and to call a certain phone  number with the specified confirmation code.
Continue reading NCO Financial Systems – playing dirty ball

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. regulators are talking to Citigroup Inc about its capital levels after stress testing the bank, people familiar with the matter said, while the Wall Street Journal reported that Bank of America Corp may need billions in fresh capital.
Continue reading Citigroup and Bank of America need more capital after stress test

LONDON (Reuters) — The global economic downturn has shown signs of easing in recent weeks, although significant risks remain, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote in the Financial Times on Friday.

The decline in world trade may be abating and conditions in some financial markets have improved, Geithner wrote in an opinion piece ahead of a meeting of G20 finance officials in Washington on Friday.

Continue reading Geithner Report: Global economy improving