- Decade of Debt: $9 Trillion
- Stephen Roach Op Ed: The case against Ben Bernanke
- US says debt outlook worsening
- Bank of America Judge Calls SEC Response ‘Puzzling’
- Senator Edward Kennedy dies at 77
- Hedge Funds’ Holdings in Financials: $70 Billion
- Sarkozy to Deny Work to Bankers Bucking Bonus Rules
- Temasek Steps Back From Singapore Inc.
- Temasek eyes listing prospects
- Fight Brews as Proxy-Access Nears
- Nemazee, Political Fundraiser, Charged With $74 Million Fraud
- Chrysler Sues Daimler Alleging Breach of Contract
- US Postal Service seeks 30,000 job cuts via buyouts
Decade of Debt: $9 Trillion – Wall Street Journal
Plunging tax receipts, soaring spending and a sluggish recovery will push the nation’s deficits dramatically higher over the next decade, creating new complications for President Barack Obama’s domestic agenda.
The deteriorating budget picture, detailed Tuesday in separate White House and congressional reports, comes just as Democrats and Republicans prepare to resume the battle over Democratic plans to spend $1 trillion overhauling the nation’s health-care system….
Stephen Roach Op Ed: The case against Ben Bernanke – Financial Times
Barack Obama has rendered one of his most important post-crisis verdicts: Ben Bernanke will be nominated for a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve. This is a very short-sighted decision. While America’s head central banker deserves credit for being creative and courageous in orchestrating an unusually aggressive monetary easing, it is important to remember that his pre-crisis actions played an equally critical role in setting the stage for the most wrenching recession since the 1930s. It is as if a doctor guilty of malpractice is being given credit for inventing a miracle cure. Maybe the patient needs a new doctor…..
US says debt outlook worsening – Financial Times
….The announcement came as the White House pro jected the budget deficit would be $2,000bn higher over the next 10 years than it had predicted. Taken with a separate forecast by the independent Congressional Budget Office, the news presented a bleak picture of America’s deteriorating debt position.
The CBO released sharply higher deficit projections predicting the 10-year deficit would reach $7,140bn, some $2,700bn more than it had thought in March. Unlike the White House’s calculations, the CBO estimate assumes all policies will stay exactly as they are.
“If you include the administration’s fiscal plans, this implies a deficit increase way in excess of $10 trillion over the next decade – the numbers are deeply alarming,” said Bill Gale, a s….
Bank of America Judge Calls SEC Response ‘Puzzling’ – Bloomberg
The judge weighing Bank of America Corp.’s $33 million settlement of a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over bonus disclosures called the agency’s explanation of the accord “puzzling.”
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said today that he wants a fuller explanation of the settlement by Sept. 9. He wants to know why the SEC accepted the bank’s claim that executives who issued a misleading statement relied on lawyers’ advice and why the agency didn’t press the bank to waive its attorney-client privilege to keep communications with counsel confidential….
Senator Edward Kennedy dies at 77 – Financial TImes
Edward Kennedy, who died from the consequences of a brain tumour at the age of 77, surely found political and personal redemption in the end. He did not fulfil the ambitions of his dynastic family by becoming president of the United States, as one brother did and as another might have, both victims of the assassin’s bullets, but he became a lion of the US Senate, liked and admired by friend and foe alike…
Hedge Funds’ Holdings in Financials: $70 Billion – Wall Street Journal
Hedge funds made an outsize bet on financial stocks in the second quarter, according to a closely watched report on hedge-fund holdings.
During the quarter, hedge funds increased their ownership in financial stocks by 55% to $70 billion, compared with the previous quarter. The funds now own 3.7% of the sector’s market capitalization, according to a Goldman Sachs research report released Monday. That is an all-time high, the report said…..
Sarkozy to Deny Work to Bankers Bucking Bonus Rules - Bloomberg
President Nicolas Sarkozy said France will refrain from hiring banks that refuse to accept government limits on compensation for traders.
“From now on, France will give no mandates to banks that don’t apply these rules,” Sarkozy said today after meeting with French bank executives in Paris. He didn’t differentiate between France-based and international institutions. “It is possible to change the rules of financial capitalism.”….
Temasek Steps Back From Singapore Inc. – Wall Street Journal
Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. announced revisions to its charter in an effort to distance its mission from the interests of Singapore Inc.
The revised charter defines Singapore’s Temasek as an investment company, managed on commercial principles to create and deliver sustainable long-term value for its stakeholders…..
Temasek eyes listing prospects – Financial Times
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company, said yesterday that it would be prepared to list some of its biggest holdings, including port operator PSA and Singapore Power, if future conditions warranted such a move.
“There is a right time for them to be listed,” said Ho Ching, Temasek chief executive, as she unveiled a revised charter outlining the group’s goals and relationship to the Singapore government….
Fight Brews as Proxy-Access Nears – Wall Street Journal
The largest U.S. businesses, law firms and business groups have stepped up their challenge to the “proxy access” rule, which would let certain shareholders use a company’s board-election process to nominate directors opposed to management.
The campaign has ramped into high gear in recent weeks because the measure looks like it will be passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in November. In a last-minute bid to derail or weaken the measure, opposing groups have dispatched both Washington lobbyists and grass-roots letter-writers….
Nemazee, Political Fundraiser, Charged With $74 Million Fraud – Bloomberg
Hassan Nemazee, chairman of Nemazee Capital Corp. and a fundraiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, was arrested on a bank fraud charge and ordered to remain under house arrest on $25 million bail.
Nemazee was charged with using phony documents to trick Citigroup Inc. into lending him as much as $74 million. The financier got the loan by telling Citibank he held accounts with hundreds of millions of dollars that could serve as collateral, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said yesterday in a statement……
Chrysler Sues Daimler Alleging Breach of Contract – Bloomberg
Chrysler LLC sued Daimler AG, seeking damages for an alleged breach of contract the U.S. automaker said may derail manufacturing of its vehicles for the 2010 model year and beyond.
Daimler refuses to honor contracts transferred after the sale of Chrysler’s best assets to Fiat SpA, according to the lawsuit filed Aug. 21 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Daimler is demanding payments it previously waived for past contracts on engine parts, and is using the issue as “leverage” to avoid signing new supply agreements for steering columns and torque converters, Chrysler said…..
US Postal Service seeks 30,000 job cuts via buyouts – Reuters
The U.S. Postal Service, the nation’s second-largest employer, offered buyouts on Tuesday to quickly slash up to 30,000 jobs as it grapples with declining mail volume and embraces more automation.
The incentive for voluntary resignations and early retirements among a pool of veteran workers by the end of September is part of a drive to cut costs by $6 billion this fiscal year, the Postal Service said…..
Tags: Bank of America, Ben Bernanke, Chrysler, deficits, Fed, Hedge funds, National Debt, Nicolas Sarkozy, Obituaries, Politics, SEC, USPS
