ND’s Credit News

Wall St closes out worst year since Depression
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression on Wednesday after an unstoppable credit crisis and a dreadful economic outlook left investors questioning their faith in stock markets.

New threats to credit scores
A revised FICO formula will kick in soon, and the balances you carry will matter more than ever. Luckily, little missteps will count less. Plus: How you can protect yourself.

World Business Briefing | Europe: Switzerland: Credit Suisse to Sell Stake
The Swiss bank agreed to sell a stake in its global investors business to Aberdeen Asset Management for 250 million British pounds ($361 million) in stock after losses at the unit.

snoopy :: Jan.05.2009 :: General :: No Comments »

The New Year is soon upon us - what will it bring for currencies?
A study of recent years shows that the last trading day of the old year and especially the first trading day of the new one are often volatile. HEADLINES US Oct. S&P/CaseShiller Composite-20 House Price Index fell -18.04% vs. -17.9% expected US Dec. Chicago PMI out at 34.1 vs. 33.0 expected US Dec. Consumer Confidence out at record low of 38.0 vs. 45.5 expected US Weekly ABC Consumer Confidence out at -49 vs. -48 the previous week Australia Nov. Private Credit Growth rose 8.2% YoY vs. 8.5%

Doing Away With $23,100 in Credit Card Debt
The Bathiche Family Age: Tarek and Evibeth, both 25. Background: The Bathiches are stationed at Fort Meade, Md. Evibeth is an Army sergeant, and Tarek is an Army staff sergeant. They earn $67,000 a year. They have two children: Anthony, 3, and Sophia, 7 months. Where they started: When the Colo…

snoopy :: Jan.04.2009 :: General :: No Comments »

8 Ways to Boost Your Income
With credit drying up and the economy taking a dive, more Americans are leaning on their savings to make ends meet — even after slashing their spending — according to a survey by Country Financial. And the group that is relying the most heavily on its savings is young adults, with 58% of us…

New threats to credit scores
A revised FICO formula will kick in soon, and the balances you carry will matter more than ever. Luckily, little missteps will count less. Plus: How you can protect yourself.

snoopy :: Jan.03.2009 :: General :: No Comments »

Canadian Markets: Second-half rout punishes TSX; year ends with 35% loss
Canadian stocks Wednesday got a late-afternoon lift from surging oil prices, putting a positive finish on a year bruised by the commodity sell-off and credit crunch.

New threats to credit scores
A revised FICO formula will kick in soon, and the balances you carry will matter more than ever. Luckily, little missteps will count less. Plus: How you can protect yourself.

Credit markets keep improving
Credit markets showed small signs of improvement again Tuesday, with a short-term lending rate falling to its lowest level on record again.

snoopy :: Jan.02.2009 :: General :: No Comments »

Fed Could Remake Credit Card Regulations
The Federal Reserve on Thursday will vote on sweeping reform of the credit card industry that would ban practices such as retroactively increasing interest rates at will and charging late fees when consumers are not given a reasonable amount of time to make payments.

Do Your Part To Get Credit Under Control
The New Year is a good time to begin new practices, especially concerning money management.

Credit markets keep improving
Credit markets showed small signs of improvement again Tuesday, with a short-term lending rate falling to its lowest level on record again.

snoopy :: Jan.01.2009 :: General :: No Comments »

SEC Moves to Bring Transparency To Market for Credit-Default Swaps
The Securities and Exchange Commission took a step yesterday toward a new system of central clearinghouses for credit-default swaps, complex investments traded globally that have been partly blamed for the financial crisis.

snoopy :: Dec.31.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

8 Ways to Boost Your Income
With credit drying up and the economy taking a dive, more Americans are leaning on their savings to make ends meet — even after slashing their spending — according to a survey by Country Financial. And the group that is relying the most heavily on its savings is young adults, with 58% of us…

snoopy :: Dec.30.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

SEC Moves to Bring Transparency To Market for Credit-Default Swaps
The Securities and Exchange Commission took a step yesterday toward a new system of central clearinghouses for credit-default swaps, complex investments traded globally that have been partly blamed for the financial crisis.

8 Ways to Boost Your Income
With credit drying up and the economy taking a dive, more Americans are leaning on their savings to make ends meet — even after slashing their spending — according to a survey by Country Financial. And the group that is relying the most heavily on its savings is young adults, with 58% of us…

snoopy :: Dec.29.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Credit markets loosen some more
Credit markets showed modest signs of improvement Friday, but even as government debt prices dipped, they remained near record highs, indicating that investors were still very fearful.

snoopy :: Dec.28.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Lending rate ticks lower
Credit markets showed more signs of improvement Monday as one short-term bank-to-bank lending rate fell to a record low.

Credit markets keep improving
Credit markets showed small signs of improvement again Tuesday, with a short-term lending rate falling to its lowest level on record again.

AIG clears some credit default swap obligations

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — American International Group Inc. said Wednesday it has cleared some of its obligations involving credit default swap derivatives. AIG said that Maiden Lane III has purchased $16 billion in par amount of multi-sector collateralized debt obligations. As a result, the associated credit default swap contracts and similar instruments written by AIG Financial Products Corp. have been terminated. To date, ML III has bought about $62.1 billion in par amount of CDOs and the associated notional amounts of AIG Financial Products CDS connected to these deals have been canceled. The latest purchase was funded by a net payment of about $6.7 billion, and the surrender by AIG Financial Products of approximately $9.2 billion in collateral previously posted to counterparties.

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snoopy :: Dec.27.2008 :: General :: No Comments »