Fed to boost auction amounts to aid banks

January 4, 2008
Fed to boost auction amounts to aid banks

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve announced Friday that it is increasing the amount of money available to banks through the new auction process it created to ease the nation's severe credit squeeze. The Fed again pledged to continue the auctions “for as long as necessary."

The Fed said that it will increase the amount offered at each of the next two auctions from $20 billion to $30 billion, a 50 percent jump. Those two auctions will be Jan. 14 and Jan. 28.

Leading lender likens US credit crisis to Great Depression

August 31, 2007
Leading lender likens US credit crisis to Great Depression

The US financial industry displayed fresh signs of distress from the credit crunch afflicting global money markets yesterday, with one mortgage provider describing lending conditions as the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Leading accountancy firm H&R Block revealed huge losses at its up-for-sale mortgage arm, Option One, and said it was considering a halt on new loans. Reporting a quarterly loss of $302m (£150m), Mark Ernst, chief executive, said: "The loan originations market is in the midst of the most severe dislocation it has seen in years, maybe the most severe since the 1930s."

Credit crisis compounds Republicans' political troubles

August 22, 2007
Credit crisis compounds Republicans' political troubles

WASHINGTON — The credit crisis that has hit home mortgages and shaken worldwide financial markets is turning into a political albatross for President Bush and Republican presidential contenders, piling atop an unpopular war in Iraq and eroding traditional GOP claims of being good stewards of the economy.

And it may be having a more far-reaching effect as well: giving Democrats a powerful argument for passing new financial regulations that the administration desperately wants to avoid.

Credit Crunch In U.S. Upends Global Markets

August 10, 2007
Credit Crunch In U.S. Upends Global Markets

NEW YORK, Aug. 9 -- The turmoil in the U.S. credit markets turned global Thursday, prompting central banks in Europe and the United States to pump more than $150 billion into the financial system to keep it operating smoothly.

U.S. stocks suffered their second-worst decline of the year as the cost of borrowing for corporations continued to rise and some investors urged policymakers to help.

Some economists predicted that the tightening credit market would be a drag on the economy, but others said the impact would be minimal. Yet signs were emerging that the nation's credit problems were spreading in unpredicted ways.