February 2009

EMac will be out of the office for the next week and a half or so. Citigroup got a jump on the government's onerous stress test of the capital cushions for 19 banks, those with $100 bn or more in assets, by getting the government to convert a massive slug of its preferred stake into common shares, the third time the government has come to the aid of Citigroup. The move gives the US taxpayer ... read more

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain to tell him the names of who exactly got the $3.6 bn in bonuses at a time when Merrill was in trouble. Guess who got the money? The controversy reignites embarrassing headlines about Thain's management practices-and his alleged favoritism toward certain workers. Thain was ousted by Bank of ... read more

Citigroup is in talks with federal officials that could result in the US government owning 40% of the bank, after shares in the distressed bank dropped to 17-year lows to $1.61 in trading Friday.    Shares in both Citi (C) and Bank of America (BAC) plunged to lows not seen since 1991 and 1984, respectively, after Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) commented that the government may have to ... read more

More than 100 members of Congress-past and present-as well as congressional campaign committees and both national parties benefited from $2.4 mn in political donations from the political action committee or employees of the Stanford Financial Group since 2000, says the Center for Responsive Politics. So Fox Business's David Asman and I want elected officials to answer this question: "Since ... read more

FBI agents from the bureau's Richmond, VA offices have served accused fraudster Robert Allen Stanford, chairman of the Stanford Financial Group, with papers in the Fredericksburg, Va., area. FBI agents served Stanford with court orders related to the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil case against him and his three companies "without incident," a bureau official says. Stanford ... read more