finance

Published: 04/7/11

Baby Boomers' Retirement Dilemma [VIDEO]

By not in system - AOL News

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Published: 10/20/10

Bloomberg Report Shows TARP Profits Top Treasury Bond Returns

By Steven Hoffer - AOL News

(Oct. 20) -- Returns on the Troubled Asset Relief Program used to bail out the financial industry, better known as TARP, generated higher profits for taxpayers than 30-year Treasury bonds, according to a Bloomberg report. The government earned $25.2 billion on its investment of $309 billion in the financial sector, which many critics originally believed would result in losses of hundreds of billions of dollars. However, concerns persist regarding the TARP program. "From the perspective of the taxpayers getting their money back, TARP has been a great success," Todd Petzel, chief investment ...

Published: 05/6/10

Biden on Terror Threat: Asks Europe for More Cooperation in Tracking Money

By Tom Diemer - Politics Daily

Vice President Joe Biden slammed Iran Thursday for supporting terrorist groups and urged the European Union to restart a financial tracking program that gives the U.S. access to European data as a means of following the money in terrorism investigations. The Iranian government also "faces a stark choice" on its nuclear program, Biden told the European Union Parliament in Brussels. "Abide by international rules and rejoin the community of responsible nations, which we hope for, or face further consequences and increasing isolation." The Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, created in the ...

Published: 01/25/10

Test Fight for Obama's New Populism: Consumer Financial Protections

By David Corn - Politics Daily

So President Obama wants to be a populist fighter? In the past two weeks, he's proposed slapping the big banks with a bailout tax and implementing restrictions on financial institutions' casino-like activities. He'll probably have to fight like hell to make all this happen, for Big Finance and its lobbyists are not going to play dead or play nice. And there's another important battle-line where Obama may have to engage in rough combat with the big-money crowd: establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The CFPA is the brainchild of Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, who heads ...

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Published: 12/3/09

Bank of America Ready to Pay Back $45 Billion in Bailout Money

By David Sessions - Politics Daily

Bank of America announced Wednesday that it will pay back the $45 billion it received from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. The U.S. dollar and euro both rose in response to the positive news from America's largest bank. "We appreciate the critical role that the U.S. government played last fall in helping to stabilize financial markets, and we are pleased to be able to fully repay the investment, with interest," Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said in a statement. The announcement underscored the speedy recovery of U.S. banks that received bailout funds. Treasury Secretary Timothy ...

Published: 11/20/09

Debtors' Revolt: True Stories of Overdraft-Fee Survivors

By Kase Wickman - Politics Daily

We all know someone who's had a $35 cup of coffee. No, this isn't a kids-these-days rant about the coin required for a fancy-schmancy latte (extra foam, extra hot, non-fat, please). This is about cold, hard, overdraft fees. You don't even have to be a caffeine drinker to fall victim to them. Even those who pinch pennies can't escape their grasp. The Federal Reserve says that banking institutions make between $25 million and $38 million annually from overdraft fees. Bank of America, which received billions in government bailout money, is notorious for its merciless $35 overdraft fees. ...

Published: 10/20/09

Executives at Bailed-Out Banks Are Awash in Company Perks

By David Sessions - Politics Daily

Several $100,000 payments for personal use of corporate jets. A $200,000 gym membership. A $2.5 million company reimbursement to cover personal taxes. Chauffeurs and personal security. These are just a few of the high-dollar perks that executives at bailed-out banks have received this year, the Washington Post reports. On average, executives at the 29 largest bailed-out firms took $380,000 in corporate perks last year, a 4 percent increase despite going through a market crash and taking a combined $350 billion in bailout money. But the benefits and bonuses may not keep coming this year if ...

Published: 09/18/09

From the Dept. of No Change: Ex-Lobbyist Named Top Financial Regulator

By David Corn - Politics Daily

Would you take a fellow who lobbied for deregulation on behalf of an Enron-like energy company that was busted for manipulating markets and place him in a top regulatory job, where he's supposed to ensure other firms don't violate the rules? You would if you were following business as usual in Washington. And that's what's happening -- with nary a peep of protest.Let me first declare that I have some skin in this game. On Thursday, my colleague Daniel Schulman and I broke a story reporting that the Obama administration had nominated Scott O'Malia, a Republican Senate aide, to be a commissioner ...

Published: 03/11/09

Banks Seek to Return Bailout Money, Avoid Restrictions

By Mark Impomeni - Politics Daily

What does a doctor do when his terminally ill patient tries to give back the potentially life-saving medicine he just administered? What does the dying patient do if the doctor wants to extract unwanted lifestyle changes in exchange for the treatment he needs?These are essentially the questions facing Congress and a growing list of financial institutions that have received federal funds under the Wall Street bailout program. Responding to voter anger at perceived abuses and irresponsible squandering of the first round of $350 billion in bailout money, the Democratic Congress has placed more ...