Monday, Jan. 12, 2009
President Bush had said he would not ask Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion in TARP funds unless President-elect Obama asked him to do so. Well, Obama finally did request this of Bush, and he obliged. But to avoid a second round of intense TARP battles, Obama’s economic team and Democratic leaders in Congress worked together ahead of time.
Meanwhile, the incoming President was also busy pushing his economic stimulus plan, bumping up the number of jobs it could save or create from three million to four million.
FOX Business began reporting Friday that Citigroup (C) is in pretty bad shape and the picture became grimmer and grimmer Monday. Insiders were saying Citi may be posting the worst quarter in its history, with a loss of over $10 billion. There was also talk that the company could be broken up. And this was all in addition to news that Citi could be selling Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley(MS).
Prosecutors had argued that Bernie Madoff, under house arrest for running an alleged Ponzi scheme that has devastated many people, violated his bail terms when he mailed $1 million in jewelry and other items to his family and friends. Well, a federal judge decided that he didn't, after delaying the decision from last Friday. However, more restrictions were placed on him and his wife to make sure this didn’t happen again.
Think we’ve seen enough layoffs already? Turns out we’ve still got another 2 million to go this year, according to a Conference Board report. We’ve already lost 2.6 million in 2008.
Even with all the negative economic news and the auto bailout, Detroit is still pushing out new automobiles and finally had a chance to show off some of these new models at the Detroit Auto Show. Among the American brands, the Ford (F) F-150 was named the North American Truck of the Year. This model, which was significantly updated in 2009, has been the best-selling truck in the country for 32 years. It also won Truck of the Year last year.
But while the auto show might have been a bit of happy news, Wall Street was still slammed by earnings scares and Citigroup worries. The index fell 125 points, closing at 8474 when just the week before it was close to the 9000 mark again.
Citi's Pandit Under Pressure
FOXBusiness.com’s Year in Review 2008
Nashville is spared Office Depot closings
Automakers will take new bailout tack
