Personal Finance News

Citigroup eyes selling Japan consumer unit: paper (Reuters)
21 hours ago
Reuters - Citigroup Inc is considering selling its Japanese consumer finance company CFJ KK or cutting the unit's business significantly as part of its plans to shed assets, Japanese daily Nikkei reported on Sunday.

Young widower pushes for change in Mass. life insurance law (AP)
10 May 2008 at 1:35pm
AP - When Jenny and John Crowley learned they were having a baby, they did the responsible thing: they bought life insurance.


Citigroup to slash 400 bln dlrs in assets (AFP)
9 May 2008 at 5:34pm
AFP - Citigroup, reeling from the subprime mortgage crisis, said Friday it plans to sell roughly 400 billion dollars in assets in a streamlining reorganization aimed at restoring the US banking giant to profit.


Citigroup aims to shed $400 billion of assets (Reuters)
9 May 2008 at 3:44pm
Reuters - Citigroup Inc said on Friday it plans to shed $400 billion of assets within three years and boost revenue by up to 10 percent annually, in a bid to restore profitability after huge losses tied to flagging mortgage and credit markets.


Countrywide falls on worry over B of A merger (Reuters)
9 May 2008 at 3:39pm
Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp shares fell nearly 6 percent on Friday on renewed speculation that Bank of America Corp will renegotiate or cancel its agreement to buy the largest U.S. mortgage lender.


Mortgage credit losses could total $500 bln: Goldman (Reuters)
9 May 2008 at 3:25pm
Reuters - Goldman Sachs economists expect a total of $500 billion in residential mortgage credit losses, a renewed slowdown in economic activity after the near-term boost from fiscal stimulus, and no monetary policy tightening in 2008 or 2009, according to a research note from the firm.


AIG sees no signs of mortgage asset market rebound yet (Reuters)
9 May 2008 at 2:43pm
Reuters - American International Group , after disappointing with a worse-than-expected loss on Thursday, did little to buoy investor spirits on Friday, telling shareholders it does not yet see signs of a rebound in the market for mortgage assets, which have cost it dearly over the past two quarters.

ALL BUSINESS: Government-backed housing bailout badly needed (AP)
9 May 2008 at 1:56pm
AP - A government-backed mortgage bailout is needed, and it must be done right away.

On Wall St: The elephant in the room (FT.com)
9 May 2008 at 1:20pm
FT.com - Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM), the biggest buyer of US mortgages, this week demonstrated why it is the elephant in the room when it comes to the ranks of financial institutions deemed too big to fail.


Citigroup to shed nearly $500B in assets (AP)
9 May 2008 at 4:38pm
AP - Citigroup Inc.'s new chief executive, Vikram Pandit, plans to stick with a global banking model after months of intense review — but only after shrinking the company by about one-fifth first.

Citigroup targeting 9 percent revenue growth (AP)
9 May 2008 at 9:02am
AP - Citigroup Inc. said Friday it is aiming for 9 percent revenue growth as it looks to rebound from recent struggles tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets.


US House-approved mortgage crisis bill faces veto (AFP)
8 May 2008 at 9:04pm
AFP - The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that lawmakers hope could stem the tide of home foreclosures due to the subprime mortgage crisis, but it faces a presidential veto.


House passes major housing rescue bill (Reuters)
8 May 2008 at 7:32pm
Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to create a $300 billion mortgage-insurance fund and provide billions more in homeowner aid to stabilize a housing market shaken by a wave of foreclosures and a credit crunch.

AIG posts 1Q loss of $7.8B, plans to raise $12.5B in capital (AP)
8 May 2008 at 5:32pm
AP - American International Group Inc. said Thursday that it swung to a first-quarter loss of $7.81 billion because of losses tied to credit swaps and mortgage-related operations and that it plans to raise a total of $12.5 billion in new cash to shore up its capital base.


Insurer AIG posts 1st-quarter loss on write-downs (Reuters)
8 May 2008 at 4:48pm
Reuters - American International Group Inc , the world's largest insurer, posted its largest ever quarterly loss on Thursday and said it would raise $12.5 billion to fortify its balance sheet.

Many businesses didn't claim tax refund (AP)
8 May 2008 at 11:42am
AP - Sometimes the IRS can't get people to cooperate, even when it tries to give money away.


Slovakia hails eurozone approval, rejects inflation criticism (AFP)
7 May 2008 at 1:34pm
AFP - Prime Minister Robert Fico hailed EU approval of Slovakia's euro entry as a historic decision for his country on Wednesday while rejecting criticisms of its efforts to curb inflation.


March pending homes sales down 1 percent (Reuters)
7 May 2008 at 10:06am
Reuters - Pending sales of previously owned homes fell 1 percent in March, as expected, as turmoil in the housing and mortgage markets continued, a real estate trade group report on Wednesday showed.

Markets see Fannie Mae profits, OFHEO says: report (Reuters)
7 May 2008 at 9:20am
Reuters - Financial markets believe Fannie Mae, the biggest provider of funding for U.S. home loans, can reverse losses by applying fresh capital of $6 billion toward profitable investments, the company's federal regulator told CNBC on Wednesday.

Fannie Mae Soothes the Street (BusinessWeek Online)
7 May 2008 at 8:08am
BusinessWeek Online - Fannie Mae's worse-than-expected first-quarter loss, reported on May 6, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the news of continuing declines in home prices across the U.S.