Chrysler Files For Chapter 11

Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will enter into a partnership with Italy's Fiat. Obama said the deal would allow Chrysler to "thrive."

Lies, Threats, Deal: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis

Revelations that Ken Lewis had his arm twisted at the highest levels of government to buy Merrill should make for some interesting litigation...

By Robert Lenzner
www.forbes.com

Economists see more job losses, 9.8% unemployment

Nearly one in 10 U.S. workers will be unemployed before the job market starts to improve, economists in a USA TODAY survey predict. Most expect continued deterioration in the overall economy over the next six months...

www.usatoday.com

Obama: Clearing economic "wreckage," fixing U.S. image

President Barack Obama sought to reassure Americans on Wednesday he was making progress tackling the economic crisis and in fixing the U.S. image abroad, but urged patience...

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during his 100-day anniversary news conference in the White House East Room in Washington April 29, 2009....

www.thestar.com

Did Bernanke Bully Bank of America ?

A new report by the New York Attorney General says that government officials bullied Bank of America Chief Ken Lewis into accepting a merger with Merrill Lynch--then ordered him to keep mum about losses at Merrill..

www.forbes.com

Busting Bank of America

The cavalier use of brute government force has become routine, but the emerging story of how Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke forced CEO Ken Lewis to blow up Bank of America is still shocking. It's a case study in the ways that panicky regulators have so often botched the bailout and made the financial crisis worse..

http://online.wsj.com

Knives out for 'reckless' Bank of America boss

Ken Lewis was preparing for the fight of his life this weekend in a high-stakes battle to retain his job as chief executive of Bank of America when shareholders assemble for the annual meeting of the financial giant...

www.independent.co.uk

Financial Aid Available for Adults Returning to School

Aralifestyle.com

The financial crisis has brought about new kinds of challenges for many Americans.

High gas prices, foreclosures and low wages are some well-known symptoms. One of the biggest obstacles, however, has been the feeling of uncertainty we encounter on a daily basis, whether it be our job stability, our family budgets, or even our ability to save for retirement.

With layoffs expected across a multitude of industries, many adults are taking action against this cloud of uncertainty by going back to school.

The Treasury and Commerce departments waste as much as $100 billion a year..

Bloomberg.com

While taxpayers and lawmakers fret about the $700 billion bank bailout, the Treasury and Commerce departments are among a list of agencies that waste as much as $100 billion a year on contracts, often managed in secret.

Meltdown losses Total '$4 trillion'

News.bbc.co.uk
One year ago, the IMF estimated that total losses from the credit crunch would be $1 trillion, which has been exceeded, showing how rapidly the financial meltdown has escalated.

Bank of America's Profit Mainly Due to Recent Deals..

The company's profits came mostly from Merrill Lynch, the investment bank it purchased in the fall with financial aid from the federal government.

Revenue from trading in financial products, including corporate debt and securities, has driven the renewed profitability of most large banks in the first quarter, even as retail banking operations continue to struggle.

Stocks slide as investors dump financials

Bank of America's earnings surpassed analyst expectations by more than tripling to $4.2 billion.

But investors were unnerved that the company wrote off almost $7 billion in bad debt -- more than twice the amount of a year ago -- and poured an additional $6.4 billion into its reserve to cover future loan losses.

The Top 4 Tricks Credit Card Companies Play..

Credit Card Companies Tricks

A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services.

The issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user.

A credit card is different from a charge card, where a charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the shape and size specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard as ID-1.

Wall St reet fears grow over stress test results

FT.com: Rising panic over how the results will be released has raised fears the results could lead to another collapse of confidence in the battered financial sector.

Among other concerns, there is uncertainty over how the federal government will release the results, whether it will publish one aggregate number, or a bank-by-bank breakdown.

Ken Lewis has one foot out the door

Thedeal.com: Those rumors about Ken Lewis resigning or getting the boot as CEO of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) just keep swirling and swirling. Meanwhile, Lewis, seems to already have one foot out the door.

Bulls and Bears Both Point to Lending

Online.wsj.com: The bulls are finding more evidence that this rally is the start of something lasting. The bears warn that the higher the market goes, the more pain will be suffered on the other side.

Strangely, both are pointing to the same part of the economy to make their opposing cases: the lending system.

Decision time at Bank of America Merrill Lynch

By William Wright:

Efinancialnews.com: If politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant, then it is time for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch to stop playing politics and get on with making their merger work...

BofA's wallet may be full enough to repay TARP

BofA Head Kenneth Lewis boldly told the Charlotte Observer Wednesday that BofA could repay the borrowed monies immediately if it were not maintaining higher-than-normal capital to account for the "fragile" state of the financial system.

MAKE MONEY: Bank of America earnings preview

TheDeal.com: Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) is releasing first-quarter earnings Monday morning. Now that J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have issued earnings and beat analyst's expectations, Bank of America has a lot to prove, especially since CEO and Chairman Ken Lewis' position has come under fire in recent weeks due to the Merrill Lynch acquisition.

Tech earnings reports this week: Show me recovery

Money CNN: IBM, APPLE, YAHOO, MICROSOFT..

As four leaders report earnings this week, analysts say they expect headwinds and will look for how the companies plan to grow when the economy recovers.

High net worth clients rethink concept of risk

Financial Times: “Wealthy families are not immune and their wealth faces some of the same threats as others. There is the potential for some to find themselves poorer as a result of these extraordinary circumstances.”

Is Now the Time to Buy Gold?

Seekingalpha.com: Gold almost took off past the $1,000 dollar range and is now currently at $879. This last week's soft CPI & PPI reports shows that we are currently in a deflationary period and that inflation will not be a concern in the near term.

The 10 people who have profited most from the financial crisis

Timesbusiness.typepad.com: We’ve rounded up ten credit crunch Houdinis who’ve escaped the financial crisis and are laughing all the way to the ailing bank.

Ten people who predicted the financial meltdown

Timesbusiness.typepad.com: The financial events of recent weeks have filled many of us with shock and panic. Surely no one could have predicted that we would be in this mess? Well, actually, they did. Here are ten people who saw the financial meltdown coming...

Filthy rich: the 10 highest paid hedge fund managers of 2008

Timesbusiness.typepad.com: Stock markets across the world may have tanked last year but that didn’t stop the top performing hedge fund managers from making themselves a huge pile of cash.

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS. Business big shot: Sir Martin Sorrell

Business.timesonline.co.uk: Sir Martin Sorrell is expected to warn the world today that the economy is back in the “bath” – a vicious recession that is hitting revenues of WPP, the world’s second-largest advertising group.

MATH WHIZ: Big banks' fuzzy math

Money.cnn.com: Analysts are anticipating a flurry of capital-raising among banks once the stress tests end. They expect to see the healthiest institutions following in the footsteps of Goldman Sachs and selling stock en route to an early exit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Weaker banks are expected to try to raise money, with less certain success, to bolster their capital cushions.

TIME BOMB: Banks brace for derivatives 'big bang'

Money.cnn.com: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has called for putting the market, currently an "over-the-counter" affair that consists of private contracts between traders, on the same footing as the markets for stocks and commodities, in which parties trade with a central counterparty or exchange.

‘We screwed up and have to pay the consequences’

Financial Times: Sir Martin Sorrell, Jorma Ollila, Chris Giles and Lionel Barber debate the failure of capitalists and hopes for recovery..

See the Video Conference...

And Nothing But The Truth: Bank Profits Mask Economic Peril Still Lurking

WashingtonPost.com: The earnings bloom, however, is probably a false spring, according to bank executives and financial analysts. Banks rise and fall with the economy.

As prosperity recedes, more people and companies are defaulting on loans. The nation and its banks still face grave challenges, they said.