May 19, 2010 at 10:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Exchanges,
International,
Policy,
Politics
Associated Press | Downtown Bangkok became a flaming battleground Wednesday as an army assault forced anti-government protest leaders to surrender, enraging followers who shot grenades and set fire to landmark buildings, cloaking the skyline in black smoke. After Red Shirt leaders gave themselves up to police, rioters set fires at the Stock Exchange, several banks, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, Central World — one of Asia’s biggest shopping malls — and a cinema that burned to ground.
Get the full story: Protesters set Thai stock exchange on fire.
May 18, 2010 at 10:31 a.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking,
Policy
From The Wall Street Journal | The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has inherited hundreds of potentially worthless bonds from failed lending institutions, and this number appears to be growing. The FDIC (and, by extension, the U.S. taxpayer) owns more than 250 collateralized debt obligations that were purchased by small institutions that later failed.
Get the full story: wsj.com.
May 14, 2010 at 5:36 p.m.
Filed under:
Manufacturing,
Policy,
Politics
Associated Press via Bloomberg | Industrial equipment maker Illinois Tool Works Inc. spent $213,000 to
lobby Congress on trade policy for manufacturing and other topics,
according to a recent disclosure filing. The company’s spending was 25 percent more than the $170,000 it
spent on lobbying in the fourth quarter of last year but 7 percent less
than the $230,000 it spent in the first quarter of 2009.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
May 14, 2010 at 3:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking,
Policy,
Politics
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, center, listens as President Barack Obama addresses the Business Council in Washington, May 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Tribune staff report | Troubled Chicago lender ShoreBank has received recent interest from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for several reasons.
The Tribune reported Wednesday that ShoreBank has generated little interest among strategic buyers, according to banking industry insiders, but it is counting on an infusion of about $75 million in capital from the U.S. Treasury. First, it must line up more than $120 million in capital from various banks. As the Tribune reported, existing investors such as Chase and Bank of America, as well as charitable foundations, are weighing additional investments in ShoreBank.
But Goldman Sachs is a more recent sign-on — the bank agreed to commit about $20 million to ShoreBank.
Get the full story »
May 14, 2010 at 3:10 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Policy,
Politics
Associated Press via Bloomberg | Kraft Foods Inc. spent $870,000 in the first quarter to lobby on food safety, nutrition standards and other business matters, according to a recent disclosure report.That is down from the $1 million the company spent in the previous quarter and up from the $770,000 spent in the first quarter of last year.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
May 13, 2010 at 2:29 p.m.
Filed under:
International,
Manufacturing,
Policy,
Politics
From Reuters | Congress is considering identical bills that could help Boeing Co. best Europe’s EADS for a potential $50 billion U.S. Air Force contract. The bills were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Thursday.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
May 12, 2010 at 4:04 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Policy,
Politics
From Crain’s Chicago Business | In a speech in Washington, D.C., Exelon Corp. Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe spoke about the Senate climate change legislation proposed Wednesday. Rowe said the bill is a reasonable compromise, but he put long odds on it going anywhere this year.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com.
May 12, 2010 at 11:02 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Policy,
Politics
Associated Press | The White House is asking Congress to raise a liability cap that could limit how much BP has to pay in economic damages in the Gulf oil spill. The administration also wants to increase a per-barrel tax on oil companies to replenish a clean-up fund likely to be tapped to pay for the massive spill.
Get the full story: White House: Raise industry fees for clean-up fund.
May 11, 2010 at 5:37 p.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Exchanges,
Policy
Dow Jones Newswires | The top executives of CME Group Inc. on Tuesday pushed the exchange operator’s method of dealing with price volatility as a model for other asset classes, while calling for improved coordination between cash and derivatives markets.
Craig Donohue, chief executive of CME, said a five-second pause in trading at the height of the May 6 market turmoil spurred a recovery in equity index futures prices and helped other markets recover.
Get the full story »
May 11, 2010 at 11:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Policy,
Politics
From Reuters | The Senate on Tuesday approved a proposal, from independent Senator Bernie Sanders, to look at the Federal Reserve’s role in the Wall Street bailouts of 2008-2009, as part of a broad financial regulation reform bill. The proposal would make congressional investigators conduct a single audit of the U.S. central bank’s use of its emergency lending authority since December 2007. It would require the Fed to disclose which banks received its help by December 1.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
May 11, 2010 at 9:50 a.m.
Filed under:
International,
Policy,
Stock activity
A pair of specialists work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Associated Press | The stock market mostly held on to its big comeback after investors set aside worries about Europe’s debt struggles. The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 37 points after fluctuating for much of the day. Broader indexes were mixed.
Analysts said it was encouraging to see the market hold on to most of its gains from Monday, when the Dow soared 405 points in response to the creation of a bailout fund for weak countries like Greece. Tuesday’s steady trading signaled that the previous day’s big advance wasn’t solely driven by euphoria.
Get the full story: Stocks fall after excitement wanes over EU plan.
May 10, 2010 at 10:05 a.m.
Filed under:
International,
Policy
Associated Press | Interest rates surged in the bond market Monday after European leaders and central banks around the world agreed to rescue measures to help stem growing debt problems in Europe. European Union leaders and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a nearly $1 trillion aid package that will help weak European countries like Greece that are facing mounting debt problems. The U.S. Federal Reserve is also making loans available to central banks in Europe that can then loan the money out to financial institutions in their countries.
Get the full story: Interest rates up sharply on rescue plan news.
May 7, 2010 at 11:19 a.m.
Filed under:
Conventions,
Policy,
Politics
The Chicago Auto Show at the McCormick Place Convention Center in February. The bill passed by the Senate today imposes more flexible show-floor rules aimed at cutting exhibitors’ costs and aggravations. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)
By Kathy Bergen | SPRINGFIELD–McCormick Place, as trade shows have known it for the past
half-century, will have a very different environment under legislation
that the General Assembly sent to the governor today.
By a vote of 51-6, the Illinois Senate approved legislation passed by
the House yesterday that puts an interim czar at the helm, with marching
orders to privatize the management of the nation’s largest convention
center.
Get the full story »
May 6, 2010 at 10:59 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airports,
M&A,
Policy,
Politics
| By Jon Hilkevitch | A leading congressional force on aviation issues came out Thursday against the proposed merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines.
U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the proposed $3 billion merger announced this week would accelerate the consolidation of the airline industry and lead to higher fares, downgraded service and fewer choices for travelers. |
|
See also
• Oberstar’s letter objecting to the merger.
|
Get the full story »
May 6, 2010 at 10:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Credit repair,
Economy,
Policy
Associated Press | Regulators must do all they can to help banks make loans to credit-worthy borrowers, especially small businesses, a development that’s critical to strengthening the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. It’s a delicate dance for the Fed and other banking regulators. As regulators encourage banks to make loans to sound borrowers, they are also working to make sure banks get back on firmer footing after suffering through the worst financial and economic crises since the 1930s.
Get the full story: Bernanke says banks should loan to the credit-worthy.
