Louise Story

New York Times

Louise Story appears in the following:

Home Sales Suffer Serious Blow In July

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Existing home sales got knocked out yesterday, plummeting a record 27 percent in July from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors. Purchases dropped to an annual pace of 3.83 million homes, the lowest rate since 1999.  Many blame the end of a government tax credit as the reason for the poor home sales.

Comment

Existing Home Sales Released Today

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Another month, another economic indicator is being released and examined. Today existing home sales numbers are being released by the National Association of Realitors, and predictions from economists and experts are looking pretty grim. Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story, explains how these numbers may affect us and our economy.

Comment

Markets Take Hit After Jobless Claims Rise

Friday, August 20, 2010

Financial markets took a hit yesterday after jobless claims rose to their highest level since last November. The jobless claims were up 12,000 from the prior week, which indicates that the claims are at 500,000. This increase is feeding concern that the economy is starting to slow down again. Louise Story tells us whether this is yet another looming sign of the feared double-dip recession. 

Comments [1]

Congress Passes Emergency Funds for Teachers, But Will They Get Their Jobs Back?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Earlier this month, Congress passed $26 billion in stimulus spending, $10 billion of which was aimed at rehiring public school teachers who had lost their jobs because of budget cutbacks. The Department of Education estimates that between 100,000 and 300,000 people in public schools across the country have either been fired or risk losing their jobs because of budget cuts.

Comment

Government Considers Next Moves for Fannie and Freddie

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner convenes a meeting of mortgage analysts and economists today to discuss the future of mortgage financing. There will be a lot of nitty-gritty details, including the amount of debt the federal government should back and the proper role of securitization. However, there’s a bigger question that gets at the heart of American culture:  Is home ownership still a social good in and of itself? And how much should the government put on the line to encourage it?

We discuss the implications of the government's next moves, and we want your input: Should the government encourage people to buy their homes? Is property ownership a social good in America today? 

Comments [1]

Billionaires Pledge to Give Up Half Their Money to Charity

Thursday, August 05, 2010

More than 30 billionaires have agreed to donate at least half their fortunes to charity; the list was made public yesterday. The Giving Pledge Campaign is the brainchild of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffet. It now has pledges from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media mogul Ted Turner, filmmaker George Lucas, and dozens more. Forbes Magazine is estimating at least $150 billion could be donated. Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story, has the details of this new venture by some of the country's richest people.

Comments [1]

Pay Cuts Becoming Common

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

At the height of the recession, many companies were offering their employees time off without pay in order to save money and not have to eliminate jobs. Those furloughs are now being replaced by pay cuts, and many fear those pay cuts could potentially lead the United States into a period of deflation. We discuss this with Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story.

Comments [1]

Money: Goldman's Political Influence, Fannie Mae Stocks Still Trading Heavily Despite Low Worth

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

New York Times finance reporter, Louise Story explains why Goldman Sachs is choosing not to put money into political advertising, despite the Supreme Court ruling that lessened restrictions. She also takes a closer look at why Fannie Mae stock, while worth little, is still trading heavily. 

 

Comment

Citi Settles with SEC for $75 Million

Friday, July 30, 2010

Citigroup has reached a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors about the extent of its holdings in sub-prime mortgage investments. This follows the SEC's investigation into several banking practices during the financial crisis and their record settlement with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs.

Comment

Economic Dissonance Between Wall Street and Main Street

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The economic numbers that we’re seeing across the country seem to indicate, as Fed Chair Ben Bernanke asserted, that our nation’s economic future is “unusually uncertain.”  The Consumer Confidence index released in July reaffirms a growing pessimism on Main Street, where the decline in confidence is likely due to barely noticeable wage growth and concerns over employment. But that is not the case on Wall Street, where the stock exchange is experiencing an upward trend sparked, in part, by recent earnings reports from some big businesses that have slimmed down their costs through the recession. But what does this disconnect mean to you?  

Comment

Store Shelves Empty? Blame Shrinking Cargo Space

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Marquee items pegged around events like Father's Day have been coming too late for shoppers. Across the country, retailers and suppliers are fighting against a lack of cargo space that’s stalling this time-sensitive merchandise and driving up costs for retailers. Fighting for freight space is leading retailers to pay two to three times last year's rates. What does this mean for consumers?

Comment

Ben Bernanke Says Fed Could Assist Economy

Friday, July 23, 2010

When Fed Chair Ben Bernanke called the economic outlook "unusually uncertain" on Wednesday, markets reacted by taking a dive. When Bernanke returned to the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, he amended his previous statement and said that the Federal Reserve was open to assisting the economy if necessary. This helped the stock market rally after the previous day's dip.

Comments [2]

Weak Trading Hits Wall Street Banks

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Wall Street powerhouses like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America release their second quarter earnings this week; and those numbers are less than stellar. In fact, Goldman Sachs released it's lowest returns since the financial crisis of 2008.

Comment

Cash-Strapped City Outsources Municipal Jobs

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

By firing all 96 of its full-time employees, the cash-strapped city of Maywood, California is saving money by utilizing a strategy well known to American companies: outsourcing. They town may have had to file for bankruptcy if it hadn't taken this outsourcing approach.

Comment

Goldman Sachs to Settle with SEC in Fraud Case

Friday, July 16, 2010

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $550 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission in hopes of settling the fraud suit levied on the company back in April. The settlement is pending approval by a federal judge; if approved, it would be the largest penalty ever assessed against a financial firm in the SEC's history.

Comments [3]

The Financial Regulatory Overhaul - What It Means For Banks, What it Says About Washington

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Today, after months of wrangling, the Senate is set to pass a bill that will completely change how the government regulates Wall Street and the banking sector. The legislation marks the first major overhaul of financial regulations since the 1930s.

But although there seemed to be general agreement that the financial sector was in dire need of an update, only three Republicans look ready to vote in favor of the bill. Is this major Democratic victory a sign that bipartisanship is dead in Washington? And how will Wall Street respond?

Comment

FTC Issues Report on Debt Collection Reform

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report this week, recommending significant litigation and arbitration reforms to the system for resolving consumer debt collection disputes.

Comment

Unemployment Rate Drops, Layoffs Rise

Friday, July 02, 2010

New figures out this morning show the unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent, it's lowest in almost a year. But this was driven mostly by a drop in people looking for work. Employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, which was the most since last October. New York Times finance reporter, Louise Story, breaks down the numbers. Louise reminds us that 8 milllion jobs have been lost since 2007 and that a real recovery will take years. She also looks at the effects of these numbers on the markets.

Comment

Can AIG and Others Sue Goldman Sachs?

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, co-reported on a big story in today's paper. In the fall of 2008, when the government propped up A.I.G. with billions of taxpayer dollars, the insurance giant was forced to forfeit its right to sue the very banks which helped drive it into the ground.

A.I.G. investors and executives alike have been frustrated over their lack of legal recourse against big banks, including Goldman Sachs, for insuring over-leveraged mortgage backed securities with them. However, after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit for fraud against Goldman Sachs in April accusing the bank of misrepresenting a mortgage deal to investors. A.I.G. is now examining the idea of filing its own suit against Goldman. Was A.I.G. indeed misled by Goldman into insuring mortgage deals that the bank knew were flawed?

Comment

In Colorado Pot-Selling Pioneers Don't Get Rich Quick

Monday, June 28, 2010

Colorado is the first state where the medical marijuana business is fully regulated, licensed and taxed. Unlike California where medical marijuana dispensary owners work in nonprofit collectives, Colorado allows cannabis business owners to profit as much as possible from their sales. Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000, and more than 80,000 people in the state now hold medical marijuana certificates, according to The New York Times. However, tight rules and restrictions have made it hard for these businesses to thrive.

Comment