Finance

Dow Jones Plummets

Tim Einenkel — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:09:25 -0500

U.S. stocks slid, halting a five-day advance, on growing concern the global economic slump is deepening and consumers’ access to credit is shrinking.

General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc. lost more than 6 percent following a report that manufacturing contracted at the fastest pace in 26 years. American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell more than 9 percent on Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney’s prediction that credit-card companies will cut available lending by 45 percent, or more than $2 trillion. Treasuries rose, pushing yields to record lows, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may buy bonds to combat the worsening recession.

U.S Fell Into a Recession December 2007

Tim Einenkel — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:42:40 -0500

According to a panel of the Nation Bureau of Economic Research, the United States economy fell into a recession in December, 2007. CNN money has more:

The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy.

The NBER is a private group of leading economists charged with dating the start and end of economic downturns. It typically takes a long time after the start of a recession to declare its start because of the need to look at final readings of various economic measures.

The committee views the payroll employment measure, which is based on a large survey of employers, as the most reliable comprehensive estimate of employment," said the group's statement. "This series reached a peak in December 2007 and has declined every month since then."

Employers have trimmed payrolls by 1.2 million jobs in the first 10 months of this year. On Friday, economists are predicting the government will report a loss of another 325,000 jobs for November.

What the Bailout Money Buys

Dorsey Shaw — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:17:28 -0500

Last night our own Rachel Maddow put the $4.6165 trillion dollar bailout in a historical perspective when she highlighted some interesting number crunching via Barry Ritholtz and his new book Bailout Nation.

Volcker to Head Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board

Beau Friedlander — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:58:01 -0500

Just because someone's served in the Clinton administration does not disqualify them for a post in Obama's new one. Why? Because Obama is the Envisioner-In-Chief. That's why.

The issue of so-called "recycled" Clintonistas was addressed by the president-elect today in yet another news conference--this one focused on his newly created economic recovery advisory board. The underlying message today was Obama is bringing the vision to the table, he needs people to implement that change.

Obama Live Press Conference

Tim Einenkel — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:47:37 -0500

Video and Transcript: Obama Press Conference

Tim Einenkel — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:06:19 -0500