Louise Story

• Financial Takeout: Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, joins the show with details of one of the most dramatic half-hours in stock market history. Also, Goldman Sachs braces for their shareholders' meeting today, as the company loses business from AIG. 
• U.K. Elections: BBC's Rob Watson has been reporting on the formation of the new British government following the closest elections in recent history. Britain currently faces a hung parliament; with no party gaining a clear majority, the parties will negotiate this weekend to try to form a coalition government.

• Financial Takeouts: Later today the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will call five former top Bear executives to testify about the investment bank’s role in the shadow banking system. The New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter, Louise Story joins the Takeaway to explain the common, and legal ways that banks use this system to shrink their questionable balance sheets.

• UK Elections: Last minute campaigning in Britain heats up before tomorrow's elections. To explain the British electoral system, we're joined by Rob Watson.

• TIMES SQUARE BOMB TAKEOUT: WNYC reporter, Arun Venugopal, spoke with tourists and street vendors in Times Square to find out the impact of the attempted bombing this weekend. He catches us up on the reactions, the resilience and on the fast moving police investigation. 
• MONEY TAKEOUT: United and Continental Airlines are merging to become the biggest single airline in the world. Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times explains how this might affect the ticket price wars, and why it's likely to pass anti-trust tests.

Goldman Sachs's top executives, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Vice President Fabrice Tourre, visited Capitol Hill yesterday for a good old-fashioned grilling during a U.S. Senate committee hearing. New York Times financial reporter Louise Story was there and followed the hearings all day long. She found more than a few contradictions in the executives' testimony, as the senators on the panel grew more and more testy.

• BUSINESS TAKEOUT: Goldman Sachs's top executives are about to face a grilling on Capitol Hill today. Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, previews what's in store for one of the biggest financial giants at the upcoming Senate hearing.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin previews Game 5 of the NBA playoffs between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ibrahim smells an upset brewing.
• LISTENERS TAKEOUT: We hear from Takeaway listeners on what you think of the Tea Party, and what you love about Detroit.

President Barack Obama delivered a forceful plea for cooperation from Wall Street banks in a speech at New York City’s Cooper Union yesterday. Some of the president's language to bankers was stern — during one part of the talk, he pointed in the direction of Goldman Sach's CEO and said, "Unless your business model depends on bilking people, there is little to fear from these new rules."

After yesterday's speech to bankers in New York City yesterday, we take a close look at financial reform's major players and how they're reacting; and, we check in on this morning's headlines.

Following news on both big earnings and a fraud suit filed against them by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Goldman Sachs is trying to push back against the kind of publicity that surely inspires some populist rage. In a conference call with reporters yesterday, the company's general counsel wanted to reassure the public that the firm would never knowingly attempt to defraud its clients. But does this language assuage regular investors, or restore confidence in Godlman's dealings?  

On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a civil suit against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, after uncovering what the SEC calls significant evidence of fraud during the run-up to the current financial crisis.

JP Morgan was the first bank to report results this quarter, and they're pretty good. The bank announced that they had earned $3.3 billion in first-quarter income. The announcement signals that fewer borrowers are falling behind on their loans. Finance and Wall Street reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story, joins us with the details.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT: What’s the difference between a Washington Lobbyist and a former congressional aide? It sounds like the setup to a bad joke, but in fact, Louise Story, The New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter, says that the question is actually very valid and becoming very hard to answer.
• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: With the nuclear summit winding down, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, looks at the future of the START treaty, which President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed last week. The treaty aims to significantly decrease the amount of nuclear weapons between the two countries, but it looks like it's going to be a long and slow journey for START treaty in Congress.

• Financial Takeout: A front page story in today’s New York Times reports that Lehman Brothers used a small company it owned in order to funnel billions of dollars through its coffers to ship debt off its books. Takeaway financial contributor Louise Story, who reported that story, explains.
• Sports Takeout: The Pittsburgh Steelers made some news yesterday as their star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger had sexual assault charges against him dropped, but more trouble lurks ahead. Ibrahim Abdul-Matin has the latest.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  It's a case of "who watches the watchmen" when The New York Times' Louise Story joins the show with a damning new report that shows how regulators missed major problems at Washington Mutual.  
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: All eyes were on golf this weekend, but the spotlight wasn't necessarily on Tiger Woods. The Takeaway's Sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin discusses the performance that landed Phil Mickelson his third Masters victory.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  The National Bureau of Economic Research is going to release a statement later today that says that they don't know when, or even if, our nation's current recession came to an end. New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter Story Louise Story joins us with more from this Times' Exclusive.
• LISTENERS TAKEOUT: You called in with ideas on how to fix your city or town's budgetary woes.

The White House is taking steps to help small businesses secure loans, but while they wait, those businesses are finding creative ways to stay afloat. The White House recently launched a $21 million program this week to help banks make loans to small businesses. This comes more than a year after President Obama proposed to allocate $15 billion (with a 'b') from the federal bailout specifically for this purpose. Getting even this relatively small amount of money out the door proved a struggle for the White House, as the administration tries to pass more legislation to help small businesses.

• MONEY TAKEOUT: From airlines to cell phone companies, more and more businesses are beginning to ramp up costs for services that used to be included. Wall Street and fnance reporter for The New York Times Louise Story, explains why there are fewer free lunches in the country these days.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, recaps the finals of the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament and the heated game between Stanford and UConn.

• BUSINESS:  A little-known company in St. Louis has come to dominate a thriving industry by helping employers process, fight and beat unemployment claims. New York Times reporter Louise Story explains how the TALX Corp. is turning a busted economy into a booming business model.
• SPORTS: Which of the two finalists, Butler or Duke, will bring home the national championship? Takeaway sports correspondent Ibrahim Abdul Matin previews tonight's big college basketball game.

New York Times finance reporter Louise Story previews unemployment numbers for March and tells us how temporary jobs with the Census Bureau, and February's bad weather may skew the numbers.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: President Obama announced yesterday that he would lift some bans on off-shore drilling in a future, comprehensive environmental bill he hopes to get to congress before the 2010 elections. Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, explains the politics behind the move. 
• FINANCE TAKEOUT: 2009 was a record year for the nation’s top hedge fund managers. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for our partner The New York Times, gives us a sneak peek at surprising earnings data that shows that the top 25 earning managers pulled in a collective $25 billion last year alone.

• FINANCE TAKEOUT: As a natural resource, crude oil is arguably the keystone of our entire global economy. It seeps in to the cost of every aspect of our travel, business, development, production and even how we farm our food. New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter Louise Story says that while it’s been an historically tumultuous decade for international oil trade that,  these days, the price of oil is staying relatively still.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Last night UConn took on Florida State University and the University of Kentucky went up against Oklahoma. Sports correspondent Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, recaps last night's women's Final Four, in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.