G-20 Summit

President Obama is heading to Europe to represent the US in the G-20 Summit. He is going to mixed reviews as several European nations feel that the current economic crisis is due to the US and the US is providing solutions to a problem we started. He may still receive his "rock star" status though but the next few days will tell what may prove to help or hurt Obama's presidency as well as supporting the world wide economy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29972593/

GM, Chrysler Restructuring

President Obama announced today that the government would not be providing GM & Chrysler with a government bailout or loan, at the moment. GM would receive 60 days while Chrysler would receive 30 days to provide the government with a plan to show some significant restructuring and plan to keep the companies in float before they could receive some sort of federal assistance.

Bear Stearns and the Financial Crisis

An interesting article on the (secret) history of Bear Stearns and how it relates to the current financial crisis.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/02/magazines/fortune/cohan_houseofcards.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009030410

Roller Coaster Ride

This week was a roller coaster ride in the markets as they improved after the announcement by the government that they would buy back abou $500b in bad loans to improve balance sheets. Then the market dropped after everyone's excitement died down. Another jump came when the treasury secretary announced more details in the finance package to help stimulate the economy. The market cooled a bit after the excitement died down (again). There was also a slight jump after the President's press conference and town hall meetings where he explained his stance on how to fix the current economic crisis.

Ex-Dividend Rate

The Ex-Dividend Date is the final date to purchase a stock in order to receive dividends on that particular stock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-dividend_date

Presidential Press Conference 3/24/09

Positive Day

The markets closed up today as the Fed announced that they would be buying about half of the bad mortgages sitting on the balance sheets of many banks. Many saw this as a way to hopefully allow banks to start lending again and to improve the numbers on financial statements.

American Stock Markets

It looks like the American stock markets have slightly rebounded after yesterday's drops with an unseen upswing in speculation for the housing market and possible positive Fed releases. Some are hoping that Fed Chairman Bernanek is trying to build momentum with his optimism to spark a renewed flame to build a positive road to recovery.

http://business.smh.com.au/business/markets/us-stocks-advance-20090318-916j.html

Developing Story: AIG Bonuses

In a letter to AIG CEO, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said that the bonuses should not have been paid out due to the current crisis and have been disclosed. Working with the President, Cuomo have mentioned that some sort of law would be placed in effect to tax the bonuses at high rates to return the money to the American taxpayers if the money was not willingly returned. Although AIG said the payments were made under contract, Cuomo countered that they shouldn't have been made if the company knew they couldn't afford it in the face of this economic crisis.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090317/aig_cuomo.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/17/aig.bonuses/index.html

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/16/aig.letter.3.16.09.pdf

5th Day Rally

Althougth the markets ended low, the markets still didn't seem to show any signs that it wanted to fall again, even in the midst of the President's and taxpayer's seeming outrage at AIG's bonuses.

5th Day Rally

Today could mark the 5th day the markets have had a positive surge. Many hope that this signals that the markets have finally hit bottom and can now rebound into a recovery period as well as showing some hope that the stimulus actually helped. This is being hampered by the AIG bonsuses but many want this be only a minor speedbump.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090316/wall_street.html

AIG Bonus

AIG is causing an outrage in that they plan to pay out several billion dollars in bonuses. President Obama is seeking legal ways to block this as this is an outrage to taxpayers who have already lost so much and don't think that bonuses should be paid to irresponsible management.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/16/AIG.bonuses/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29714402/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29717766

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090316/aig_outrage.html

Madoff >= $820m

According to papers filed in court this week, it would appear that Bernie Madoff is worth about $820m. This is reported to be his real estate worth according to an article posting on the Wall Street Journal website.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/14/madoff.worth/index.html

Cramer's Stock Market Manipulation

Watch Jim Cramer's full explanation on how he manipulates the stock market as previews on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 3/12/09

If you didn't watch this episode, here is the quick recap. Jon Stewart basically called out CNBC and clarified that CNBC did not due its due diligence in reporting to accurately represent the information that they were reporting and that Jim Cramer were trying to admit their mistake saying that it is "...easy after the fact..." These quotes I think accurately reflect what Stewart has been trying to say all along.

"Wouldn't 150 years translate to a life sentence for anyone?" - in reference to the sentence for Madoff

"It's not a f**king game." - to Jim Cramer in his intro to Cramer about the amount of money people lost

"They burned the f**king house down and walked away with our money." - Stewart describing the current financial crisis

Watch the full episode on Hulu here -> http://www.hulu.com/watch/62203/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-thu-mar-12-2009

Uptick Rule

The Uptick Rule is regulatation limiting the amount of short sales in the market in a given period. The rule was eliminated in 2007 by the SEC but calls have been made to reinstate the rule as a method of regulation in the markets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptick_rule

Positive Note

It seems that the markets want to start on a positive note this Friday morning as Wall Street was showing positive numbers on the heals of banks telling Washington that they do not need anymore bailout money at the moment. Let us see how this day goes...

GM doesn't need $2b

GM told President Obama's auto task force today that it doesn't need th $2b that it orginally asked for (this month). They say that they are still having trouble but will not ask for the money until they actually need it. The market rallied a bit after this information was released.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-says-it-doesnt-need-2B-apf-14619404.html

Mark to Market Accounting

The Mark to Market Accounting calculates the value of financial instruments to expire at some point in the future at current prices. This has been used in oil barrels when it seems that the quantity is running low to allocate dollar amounts based on future expected returns and rates. It has also been used in several accounting scandels and bank frauds such as Enron to generate paper returns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark-to-market

Madoff pleads guilty

Today, financier Bernie Madoff plead guilty to all 11 counts of operating a Ponzi scheme. He admitted to running the scheme and "knew this day would come." He could face a maximum of 150 years in jail.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/12/news/newsmakers/madoff_courtappearance/index.htm

New Direction for Finance Today

As we are in special economic and financial times, I am taking this blog in a new direction. Rather than providing general overviews of current finacial events and explaining (or even not explaining) terms that everyone may or may not know, I am deciding to post headlines and terms in short bursts and provide links to articles that I feel accurately represent events and terms. This way as little as possible is lost in translation and as much as possible is covered.