Government Takes $250 Billion Stake in Banks
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hiThe U.S. Treasury announced plans today to purchase up to $250 billion in preferred stock from the nation’s top banks. The move is part of a plan that President Bush says will help prevent recession and preserve the free market.
“Government owning a stake in any private U.S. company is objectionable to most Americans – me included,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a statement. “Yet the alternative of leaving businesses and consumers without access to financing is totally unacceptable. When financing isn’t available, consumers and businesses shrink their spending, which leads to businesses cutting jobs and even closing up shop.”
Nine major financial institutions have already agreed to the voluntary plan. Combined, these institutions will receive $125 billion in capital from the government. The banks are:
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
- Morgan Stanley
- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
- Bank of America Corp.
- Citigroup Inc.
- Wells Fargo & Co.
- Bank of New York Mellon
- State Street Corp.
As part of the voluntary program, the government will buy stock “on attractive terms that protect the taxpayer,” according to a joint statement by the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC.
The shares be non-voting, unless the matter directly affects the government’s rights as a shareholder. Banks that agree to be part of the program will accept restrictions on executive compensation while the government is holding the stock.
Paulson said taxpayers should expect a “reasonable return” from the stock and said the government will also receive warrants to buy additional stock from institutions participating in the program.
“The actions today are aimed at restoring confidence in our institutions and markets and repairing their capacity to meet the credit needs of American households and businesses,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a statement.
Source: U.S. Treasury, Wall Street Journal
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The Credit markets see gradual improvements
Related Posts: Real Estate News
hiThe government’s efforts to crank open the credit markets have led to some mild improvements in lending rates and Treasury bill yields. But it will probably take months, and perhaps a few years, before lending returns to healthier levels.
It was clear Tuesday that there is still plenty of fear in the lending business – one indicator, the difference between the rate at which banks lend to other banks and the rate at which they buy U.S. government debt remains near a 25-year high. But analysts believe that as long as conditions keep improving, the economy should be able to grow.
The problem is that the health of the economy and the credit markets is intertwined: The health of the economy relies on credit, and the willingness to lend depends on the economic outlook. As a result, the economy’s recovery might be jagged and gradual, as lenders incrementally loosen up as they grow more confident that borrowers are on steadier ground.
And, like an economic recovery, there’s no specific piece of data that will signal that things are significantly better in the credit markets. Rather, investors will need to see prolonged, steady improvement on various fronts – bank-to-bank lending, lending to businesses and consumers, and investment in corporate debt such as commercial paper – to get a sense that credit has returned to a healthier state.
Confidence in the lending business grew a bit Tuesday as the U.S. government said it would spend $250 billion of its $800 bailout plan on buying stock in nine major banks, after European governments announced a similar move Monday to recapitalize their own banks. The actions helped bank-to-bank lending rates tick lower, and bring some optimism back to the stock market.
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McCain would buy bad homeowner mortgages
Related Posts: Credit & Finance, Government, Real Estate News
hiRepublican presidential candidate John McCain is proposing a $300 billion program for the federal government to buy up bad home mortgages and allow homeowners to keep their houses.
McCain said: “Until we stabilize home values in America, we’re never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy and we’ve got to get some trust and confidence back to America.”
McCain announced the plan during Tuesday’s debate. He said that as president he would direct the federal government to purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage providers. The loans would be replaced with fixed-rate mortgages, ostensibly at a loss to the government. This would really effect the Florida Real Estate market in a large positive way.
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Gov. Crist signs order freeing $571 million for buyers and developers
Related Posts: Credit & Finance, Government, What If Realty News
hiTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 3, 2008 – Trying to take the offensive in an economic crisis, Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order Thursday freeing $571 million in state-backed financing that real estate developers and reluctant buyers can tap to build and buy new homes.
The state will float tax-exempt bonds, backed by Florida’s gold-standard rating on Wall Street, to provide developers a line of relatively cheap credit. The hope is they’ll start building homes and apartments again soon.
Also, homebuyers can use the state-backed financing to get low-interest loans through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
“There’s more capital available … that wasn’t available just a few weeks ago,” Crist said of Thursday’s action. “The people of Florida are having a hard time getting loans. This is a place where they can get loans at a lower rate.”
At the governor’s mansion Thursday, Crist paired the $571 million capital program with $541 million in anti-foreclosure money coming into Florida from the federal government, thanks to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in July. Taken together, more than $1 billion is being made available to aid Florida’s struggling economy, the governor said.
The bulk of the $541 million in federal money will go to local governments in metropolitan areas hit hardest by the long real estate slump, including South Florida and Orlando.
The money, expected sometime next year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will help the Florida Real Estate market and will be used to buy foreclosed properties and rehabilitate them, said Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham. Money also will be available to low- and moderate-income home buyers for help with down payments and closing costs, he said.
Copyright © 2008 South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Josh Hafenbrack. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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“The BailOut Bill” and its Earmarks as of 10-02-08
Related Posts: Credit & Finance, Government, Real Estate News
hiSo if you have the time to read 451 pages HERE’s the link. I wonder how many legistators have actually read it?
Check this out …………..
New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)
Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)
What the heck do these have to do with the problem at hand?
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