- GMAC Said to Discuss U.S. Aid Package of $3 Billion or More
- GMAC Set for Another Cash Infusion
- Fund Chief Snared by Taps, Turncoats
- Rich Cling to Life to Beat Tax Man
- The Price for Fannie and Freddie Keeps Going Up
- Lehman move releases $11bn
- Secret mobile phone code cracked
- NY’s Tavern on the Green Restaurant Bites the Dust
GMAC Said to Discuss U.S. Aid Package of $3 Billion or More – Bloomberg
GMAC Inc., the home and auto lender that counts the U.S. government as the largest stakeholder, is discussing with the Obama administration a third bailout of $3 billion to $4 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.
The size of the assistance is under negotiation, the person said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. A deal may be reached in days as Detroit-based GMAC incorporates losses from its home-loan businesses, the person said…..
GMAC Set for Another Cash Infusion – Wall Street Journal
GMAC Financial Services is close to getting approximately $3.5 billion in additional aid from the U.S. government, on top of $12.5 billion already received since December 2008, according to people familiar with the situation.
The announcement, expected within days, will coincide with GMAC taking additional steps to absorb losses related to its mortgage operations, these people said. The cleanup is designed to return the Detroit-based finance company to profitability in the first quarter of 2010, according to one of these people.
Fund Chief Snared by Taps, Turncoats – Wall Street Journal
Mr. Michaelson, a lawyer with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Manhattan, had been burrowing through the documents since they were carted away from the hedge fund’s headquarters months before. Galleon’s billionaire founder, Raj Rajaratnam, had handed them over voluntarily in early 2007 in cooperation with an SEC investigation of his younger brother, a probe that hasn’t resulted in charges.
Instead, when Mr. Michaelson’s team found the needle in this haystack of documents — a single text message — it pointed them toward Raj Rajaratnam himself. The writer urged him not to buy video-conferencing firm Polycom Inc.’s stock “till I get guidance; want to make sure guidance OK.”….
Rich Cling to Life to Beat Tax Man – Wall Street Journal
Nothing’s certain except death and taxes — but a temporary lapse in the estate tax is causing a few wealthy Americans to try to bend those rules.
Starting Jan. 1, the estate tax — which can erase nearly half of a wealthy person’s estate — goes away for a year. For families facing end-of-life decisions in the immediate future, the change is making one of life’s most trying episodes only more complex.
“I have two clients on life support, and the families are struggling with whether to continue heroic measures for a few more days,” says Joshua Rubenstein, a lawyer with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in New York…..
The Price for Fannie and Freddie Keeps Going Up – Wall Street Journal
On Christmas Eve, when most Americans’ minds were on other things, the Treasury Department announced that it was removing the $400 billion cap from what the administration believes will be necessary to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac solvent. This action confirms that the decade-long congressional failure to more closely regulate these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) will rank for U.S. taxpayers as one of the worst policy disasters in our history……
Lehman move releases $11bn – Finanial Times
Administrators to Lehman Brothers’ European arm will soon be able to start returning $11bn (£7bn) of client assets trapped in the bank since its collapse after yesterday winning support for a distribution plan .
The agreement is a milestone in the unwinding of the bank’s operations. Policymakers are watching the process with a view to reforms that would avoid a repeat of the turmoil triggered by Lehman’s collapse…..
Secret mobile phone code cracked – Financial Times
Computer hackers this week said they had cracked and published the secret code that protects 80 per cent of the world’s mobile phones. The move will leave more than 3bn people vulnerable to having their calls intercepted, and could force mobile phone operators into a costly upgrade of their networks.
Karsten Nohl, a German encryption expert, said he had organised the hack to demonstrate the weaknesses of the security measures protecting the global system for mobile communication (GSM) and to push mobile operators to improve their systems…..
NY’s Tavern on the Green Restaurant Bites the Dust – AP via NY Times
Tavern on the Green, once America’s highest-grossing restaurant, is singing its culinary swan song.
The former sheepfold at the edge of Central Park, now ringed by twinkling lights and fake topiary animals, is preparing for New Year’s Eve, when it will serve its last meal. Just three years ago, it was plating more than 700,000 meals annually, bringing in more than $38 million….
Tags: Bailouts, Cell Phones, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Food, Galleon, GMAC, Lehman Brothers, Politics, Raj Rajaratnam, Restaurants, RIP, TARP, Taxes
