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Quinn seeks income tax hike for schools (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:47:33 GMT

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn delivers his State of the Budget address to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly on the House floor at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, March 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)AP - Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.


Home loan demand nudges higher in latest week (Reuters)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:52 GMT

An arrow points down in the window of a branch of Northern Rock in London March 10, 2010. Nationalised mortgage lender Northern Rock's headline losses shrank in 2009, helped by rising net interest income and lower loan losses in the second half, though it said loan writedowns would stay high in 2010. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN - Tags: BUSINESS) POLITICS)Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.


Nationalized UK bank Northern Rock back in profit (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:47:59 GMT
AP - Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock said Wednesday that it returned to profit in the second half of 2009 as interest income rose and losses on loans fell.
One Congressman's Solution for Boosting Small Business Loans (The Motley Fool)
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:24:07 GMT
The Motley Fool - The first Friday of every month brings the all-important employment report. February's numbers were better than anticipated. The United States lost only 36,000 jobs, versus the 68,000 that experts expected. This compares with 651,000 jobs lost in February 2009. Still, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, with the unofficial rate stuck around a whopping 16%.
Commercial delinquency lower than other mortgages (AP)
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:41:53 GMT
AP - Commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday.
Management Education on the Fly (BusinessWeek)
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:08:46 GMT
BusinessWeek - Who got us into this mess? It's not just greedy mortgage lenders and irresponsible economists who are responsible for the current financial crisis. Leaders, so called, have played a role too, by not managing their companies and so being detached from what was going on in them. And behind much of this has been an educational process that encouraged such detachment. As I've argued at length in my book, Managers not MBAs, the MBA is fine education -- but in the functions of business, not the exercise of managing. ...
Summary Box: AIG's $15.5B Alico sale to MetLife (AP)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:11:42 GMT
AP - THE SALE: American International Group Inc. sold its American Life Insurance Co. division, or Alico, to MetLife Inc. for $15.5 billion. The deal is AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks. On March 1, it said it would sell its AIA Group unit to Prudential PLC for $35.5 billion.
AIG sells Alico unit to MetLife for $15.5 billion (AP)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:33:30 GMT

FILE - In this March 18, 2009 file photo, an AIG office building is shown in New York. American International Group will sell its overseas life and health insurance unit for $15.5 billion to MetLife Inc., the insurer said Monday, March 8, 2010, as it attempts to repay billions in government aid.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)AP - American International Group Inc. said Monday that it will sell its American Life Insurance Co. division for $15.5 billion to MetLife Inc. The government-approved deal, AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks, will give the insurer more cash to repay the billions of bailout dollars it still owes the government.


MetLife seals Alico deal after two-year quest (Reuters)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:22:41 GMT

A statue stands atop Grand Central Station in front of the MetLife building in New York, October 8, 2008. REUTERS/Lucas JacksonReuters - MetLife Inc pursued AIG's foreign life insurance business for two years before finally clinching a $15.5 billion purchase that will give it beachheads in 47 nations from Peru to Bangladesh.


 Is Bank of America a Buy? (The Motley Fool)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:50:54 GMT
The Motley Fool - With the recent auction of Treasury's Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News) warrants, the big bank joins Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - News), and several other banks in completing its exit from TARP. But, is it a buy?
US insurer MetLife to buy AIG unit for $15.5 bln (AFP)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:02:58 GMT

Spectators gather around the MetLife blimp at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, in 2003. US life insurance giant MetLife will acquire a unit of American International Group in a 15.5-billion-dollar deal that will help AIG pay back part of its government bailout, the firms said Monday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Mike Simons)AFP - US life insurance giant MetLife will acquire a unit of American International Group in a 15.5-billion-dollar deal that will help AIG pay back part of its government bailout, the firms said Monday.


AIG set for $15.5 bln deal with MetLife: report (AFP)
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:46:20 GMT

The MetLife blimp passes in front of the moon over the San Francisco Bay. US insurance giants American International Group and MetLife will announce a $15.5 billion deal for AIG's second-largest foreign life-insurance business, The Wall Street Journal has reported.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)AFP - US insurance giants American International Group and MetLife will on Monday announce a $15.5 billion deal for AIG's second-largest foreign life-insurance business, The Wall Street Journal reported.


AIG to get $231M if sale of Asian unit crumbles (AP)
Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:29:41 GMT
AP - American International Group Inc. will receive a termination fee of $230.6 million if the sale of its Asian life insurance business to Britain's Prudential PLC falls through.
Consumer borrowing up in January after 11 declines (AP)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:11:28 GMT
AP - Consumer borrowing broke a record stretch of declines with a small increase in January as a boost in auto loans offset continued weakness in credit card borrowing.
Consumer credit posts first rise in a year (Reuters)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:59:09 GMT
Reuters - Total U.S. consumer credit rose $4.96 billion in January, its first rise in a year and the largest for any month since mid-2008, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday.
US consumer credit rises first time in a year (AFP)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:52:20 GMT

US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. Borrowings by Americans rose for the first time in a year in January, the Federal Reserve said Friday in a sign that the US economic recovery is on track.(AFP/File/Karen Bleier)AFP - Borrowings by Americans rose for the first time in a year in January, the Federal Reserve said Friday in a sign that the US economic recovery is on track.


Treasury restates support for Fannie, Freddie (AP)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:51:40 GMT
AP - The Treasury Department was forced Friday to reiterate its financial support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after a key lawmaker rattled investors by pointing out that their debt does not enjoy the explicit guarantee of the federal government.
Wall St rallies on jobs data, consumer credit (Reuters)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:41:22 GMT

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, February 18, 2010. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - Stocks jumped and the Nasdaq hit an 18-month closing high on Friday as U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month and consumers showed signs of shedding their penny-pinching ways.


Summary Box: Consumer borrowing up in January (AP)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:37:06 GMT
AP - BORROWING UP: Consumer credit rose by $4.96 billion in January, breaking a record string of 11 consecutive declines.
Lawmaker is working to improve loan modifications (AP)
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:23:45 GMT
AP - A key lawmaker is working with banks, regulators and the Obama administration on a new way to boost the government's struggling foreclosure prevention effort by encouraging banks to reduce the total amount borrowers owe.