Economical and Financial News

Wells bids $15 billion for Wachovia; scuffles with Citi

October 5, 2008 – 12:44 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co agreed to buy Wachovia Corp for about $15 billion, upstaging a government-backed Citigroup Inc bid for Wachovia's banking assets with a deal that would catapult it into the top ranks of national consumer banking.

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Palin / Reagan / Medicare Mashup

October 5, 2008 – 12:44 am
Igor Volsky's got the video mash-up of Sarah Palin sampling Ronald Reagan's dire 1961 prediction that Medicare would put us on the road to serfdom, followed by Reagan discussing the issue: It's worth being reminded now and again that conservatives really believed this stuff. That Medicare would lead to the eradication of freedom. That the Civil Rights Act was a horrible abridgment of American liberty. That withdrawal from Vietnam would lead to Soviet global domination. That Bill Clinton's 1993 budget would destroy the economy. And that the people responsible for those — Reagan, Goldwater, Gingrich, etc. — ideas are heroes to be admired.

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SocGen solid, ready to look at acquisitions: CEO

October 5, 2008 – 12:43 am
PARIS (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale , hit by a massive rogue trading scandal this year, is solid and is ready to look at acquisitions, chief executive Frederic Oudea told Le Parisien newspaper.

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Lehman creditors seek to probe firm: report

October 5, 2008 – 12:43 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unsecured creditors of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc asked a court overseeing Lehman's bankruptcy proceedings for permission to investigate how the firm ran out of money, The Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Friday.

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Breakthrough

October 5, 2008 – 12:42 am
There's long been some sentiment that if Barack Obama wins the election it will not merely reflect improvements in the race/racism situation in the United States, but also possibly cause further improvements. I've always been a bit skeptical of that, but watching the recent controversy over Gwen Ifill's book, the right-wing's bizarre effort to blame the Community Reinvestment Act for the financial crisis, and the McCain campaign's attacks on Obama's non-existent ties to Frank Raines are making me realize that the reverse is likely to be the case. For different reasons, both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush implemented political strategies that were designed to decrease the salience of racial issues in American politics. To Clinton, it was a way to render the Democratic Party safe for moderate white voters. For Bush, it was both a way of presenting himself as a “different kind” of Republicans and also an effort ...

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Belgium, Luxembourg scramble to sell Fortis

October 5, 2008 – 12:42 am
BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Belgium and Luxembourg scrambled on Saturday to find a buyer for the remains of troubled financial group Fortis and mulled a further nationalization after the Netherlands took over its Dutch units.

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Dow Jones FALLS as Bailout Passes

October 5, 2008 – 12:41 am
Just as the last majority vote was cast to necessitate the passage of the bailout, and as CSPAN anchors were saying the Dow was on the rise, the Dow started (despite the anchor's incorrect and embarassing words) falling! ?And fall it did.But why?UPDATE: ?(I learned a new concept!)Buy the rumor, sell the news (google example)Concept makes obvious sense just never really gave it much thought before. ?

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UBS management will earn less after crisis: report

October 5, 2008 – 12:41 am
ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS AG will not introduce a cap on salaries, but management will earn less that before the credit crisis, the Swiss bank's chairman said in an interview published on Saturday.

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Hypo Real fights for life after rescue collapses

October 5, 2008 – 12:40 am
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Property lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE) fought for its life on Saturday after German banks and insurers pulled out of a state-led 35 billion euro ($48.5 billion) rescue program stitched together only days ago.

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Palin on Freedom of the Press

October 5, 2008 – 12:40 am
I guess any time she speaks sentences that were clearly intended to be in the English language she “beats expectations” and Rich Lowry sees starbursts so I suppose we should count this as another triumph: As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we've really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance. Yes, indeed, a mutually beneficial relationship with those fighting the freedom of the press.

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