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.
A recent heat wave in Russia coupled with extraordinarily dry conditions has been feeding the most widespread wildfires in the nation’s recent history. The fires stretch from central Russia to near Moscow and are generating a devastating plume of smoke that has killed 52 people and destroyed over 2,000 homes. Those massive fires are having a secondary (and potentially more lasting) effect as they have threatened the Russian wheat crops, which make up about eight percent of the world’s wheat production.
Former chief economist of the International Monetery Fund, Simon Johnson weighs in on the jittery markets; headlines. (Also, you can see BP's live video feed of cleanup efforts here.)
The sub-prime mortgage crash of two years ago was not about mortgages and it was not about complexity of derivatives and the cross-betting lunacy of credit default swap insurance voodoo. It was about the simplest thing in economics: price. If you can’t find a price, there is no sale, no market, no value, no money. In that instance, everything seizes up and you see what happened yesterday, for a while, on Wall Street.
Newsweek columnist, Dan Gross, tells us how the European Leaders' agreement to give Greece some debt relief may affect the U.S. markets. Among other things, Gross says it might be good news for Americans traveling overseas.
As European nations in the Iberian Peninsula fall deeper into debt, the U.S. markets came tumbling down on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing just above 10,000 points. All this comes hours before new jobless numbers are released.
Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the symbolic threshold of 10,000. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story says the news is interesting, but it doesn't say much about the overall health of the economy. Something that might: the banking sector. Also joining the conversation is New York Times economics correponsdent Edmund Andrews with a look at how the U.S. Treasury wants some bailed-out banks to start paying back their loans.
All this week, we are looking back at the events that triggered the financial meltdown, one year ago. Today, we focus on the housing market, then and now. We talk to economist Robert Shiller, of the Case-Shiller home-price index, who was among the few experts to warn of the coming housing crisis. We also speak to New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Schack, who has a penchant for halting the bank foreclosures that come before his bench. (Read his profile in the New York Times, "A ‘Little Judge’ Who Rejects Foreclosures, Brooklyn Style") And we also talk to Pamela Zombeck, who is struggling to hold on to her home in Salem, Massachusetts.
Listen to more housing stories in this series.
"A lot of the paperwork I find from banks, is insufficient, it's not accurate, there's sloppiness so I believe there has to be a level playing field for homeowners as well as banks."
—Judge Arthur Schack, New York State Supreme Court judge on one of the reasons why he's thrown out 46 of the 102 foreclosure motions that have come before him.
Louise Story, finance reporter for the New York Times, joins The Takeaway to help parse the latest economic data. The Consumer Price Index remained flat in July, making for an annual decline of 2.1 percent — the largest in 60 years. Industrial production, however, rose in July for only the second time since the recession officially began in December 2007. Story says that the minimal change in inflation is a good sign, which will allow the Fed to keep on its current monetary strategy.
Bank of America and Citigroup have released their quarterly earnings reports and both have beaten the forecasts by financial analysts. Bank of America reported $2.42 billion in profits, and Citigroup earned $3.1 billion. Bank of America received $45 billion in bailout funds as part of the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial rescue package, but it has yet to repay the government loan. These earnings reports come on the heels of both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase also posting high profits. How are the banks faring so well despite the gloomy economic climate? The Takeaway talks to Marshall Eckblad, banking reporter for the Dow Jones Newswire Service.
This morning, JP Morgan Chase posted a quarterly profit of $2.7 billion. That's a 36 percent jump from a year ago. It comes just two days after Goldman Sachs announced a quarterly profit of over $3 billion. As the two banks weather a harsh economic climate, they have managed to pay back the huge government loans they took last year and proceed to earn record profits. Joining us to discuss Chase's earnings is Eric Dash, banking reporter for The New York Times.
Yesterday, Goldman Sachs made headlines with their record quarterly earnings, taking in $3.44 billion in just four months. That may be a sign of a strenthening economy. And yet unemployment has continued rising: nationally 9.5 percent, the highest rate in 26 years. Which of those two numbers tells us where the economy is headed, and which just tells us where its been? Here to help us figure that out is Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI), a company that forecasts recessions and recoveries.
"By April it was clear the recession would be over this summer. I don't think the man on the street will feel that until the fall when they're looking in the rear view mirror. Because really your gut feel is the rear view mirror feel."
—Lakshman Achuthan on lagging economic indicators
Analysts were expecting Goldman Sachs to post around $2 billion in profit in their second quarter. But when the numbers were released they surprised everyone with a profit of $3.4 billion. If Goldman Sachs is doing so well, does this mean America is on its way out of the recession? Dan Gross, columnist for Newsweek and Slate, and author of Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation
Goldman Sachs has just released their earnings report showing that they made a jaw-dropping $3.4 billion profit from March through June. How are they doing it while the rest of the nation is facing bleak economic times? And what do record profits mean for the employees of Goldman? Graham Bowley, financial reporter for The New York Times, joins us for a closer look at the numbers.
The financial markets were in a frenzy yesterday after rumors started circulating about Goldman Sachs' earnings. Most analysts were expecting a record $2 billion in second quarter profits from the investment bank. Now the numbers are out and Goldman's profits are even bigger than expected: $3.44 billion dollars profit from March through June. Ed Welsch, a markets reporter for the Dow Jones Newswire, joins The Takeaway with more on this story.
Today, Goldman Sachs announced massive profits from the second quarter— $3.4 billion dollars. But as they announced the good news, they had to brace themselves to deal with some inevitable public outrage. How can Goldman avoid a public relations nightmare? The Takeaway is joined by Jonathan Bernstein, President of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.
"It's a choice: does Goldman Sachs want to be known as successful and arrogant about it or successful and humble? Humble is a lot smarter because their continued success is not guaranteed, and their former arrogance can come back and bite them."
—Jonathan Bernstein, professional crisis manager, on how the banking giant should behave in the face of its record profit
While much of America remains mired in a recession, Goldman Sachs is booming. The investment bank just paid back the $10 billion loan it took from the federal government last year and today Goldman is expected to announce a $2 billion dollar profit in its second quarter earnings report. How did Goldman go from bust to boom so quickly? Joining The Takeaway with their analysis are Matt Taibbi, a contributing editor to Rolling Stone, who wrote a scathing article on Goldman's practices, and Graham Bowley, a financial reporter for The New York Times. Graham's article on Goldman's expected earnings set off a market buying frenzy.
For more, read Matt Taibbi's article Inside the Great American Bubble Machine, in Rolling Stone. Also, read Graham Bowley's article, For Goldman, a Swift Return to Lofty Profits, in The New York Times.
"The entire Wall Street knows that this bank isn't going to go under because the government just isn't going to allow it."
—Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone on the high earnings of Goldman Sachs
Oil prices rose above $61 a barrel in Asian trading this morning, recouping some losses after tumbling 17 percent last week. But gasoline reserves in the U.S. are growing, showing continuing low demand for crude. In Economics 101, you learn that when demand drops, so does price, so why are oil prices rising? Joining The Takeaway to analyze the turbulent oil market is BBC Business Correspondent Mark Gregory.
The Takeaway is a national morning news program produced in partnership with The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston. More »
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