Grave business - my financial world

When the Treasury Department first unveiled its plan to buy stakes in banks last month, the move was heralded as a potential savior for fast-sinking banks and financial firms.
Now, critics of the proposal are growing by the day.
Legislators have been among the most vocal. Members of Congress, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman […]

What do investors think about the $700 billion package? Depends whom you ask.
Stock markets gave it the thumbs down in the morning when it looked like it would sail through Congress but they also didn’t like the fact that the bill was rejected in the House Monday either.
The Dow was down more than […]

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. has restructured its agreement with lenders in response to declines in advertising revenue.
McClatchy said Friday the amendment to its $1.175 billion credit facility will give it greater flexibility in two key areas - allowable leverage and interest coverage ratios.
In return, McClatchy says it is offering banks new security in collateral […]

As Congress moves on the financial bailout plan, restructuring of troubled mortgages should be part of the final package, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said she hoped that changes on home loans "will be a feature of that."
Under the $700 billion proposed bailout plan, the government […]

Kerry K. Killinger has been forced out as chief executive of Washington Mutual Inc., according to reports on Sunday.
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed people briefed on the situation who said Killinger's 18 years at the helm of the the country’s biggest savings and loan had come to an end.
Both papers […]

U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed Tuesday. It’s a somber indication that the housing slump continues to deepen.
Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, to its lowest […]

Companies that were sued over contaminated pet food linked to the deaths of perhaps thousands of dogs and cats have agreed to pay $24 million to pet owners in the United States and Canada.
The settlement is detailed in papers filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Camden. It still needs a judge’s approval.
"The […]

The number of newly laid off workers applying for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, indicating the weak economy was still weighing on the job market.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 last week to 371,000. The gain was in line with expectations.
The weak economy has triggered four […]

Burger King Holdings Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit jumped 29% as the stalwart Whopper, the new Homestyle Melt and promotions with TV tie-ins gave a boost to worldwide sales at stores open at least a year.
Net income for the world’s No. 2 hamburger chain rose to $49 million, or 36 cents per share, […]