Business and Finance news

The Federal Reserve argued yesterday that identifying the financial institutions that benefited from its emergency loans would harm the companies and render the central bank’s planned appeal of a court ruling moot.
The Fed’s board of governors asked Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska to delay enforcement of her Aug. 24 decision that […]

Spain needs the rest of Europe to recover and pull the nation out of the recession as officials try to retool an economy reeling from the worst slump since World War II, Deputy Finance Minister Jose Manuel Campa said.
“This is the crisis of my generation, this is going to identify us as a […]

Another global financial crisis triggered by a loss of confidence in the dollar may be inevitable unless the U.S. saves more, said Yu Yongding, a former Chinese central bank adviser.
It’s “very natural” for the world to be concerned about the U.S. government’s spending and planned record fiscal deficit, Yu said in e-mailed comments […]

Confidence among U.S. consumers probably gained in May for a third straight month and business activity shrank the least since September, analysts said before reports today.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment climbed to 68, the highest in eight months, according to the median estimate of 52 economists in a Bloomberg […]

The latest spectacle in the AIG circus is a supposedly tough federal rule on executive compensation that has drawn no blood.
The troubled insurer has provoked another round of outrage by paying out $165 million in bonuses — to the employees of a subsidiary that caused AIG’s (AIG, Fortune 500) near collapse, no less. […]

Malaysia may unveil tax cuts, public spending and other measures totaling more than 30 billion ringgit ($8 billion) tomorrow, more than four times an earlier plan, as it seeks to avoid a recession this year.
Malaysia needs a second stimulus of at least 33 billion ringgit, according to AmResearch Sdn. economist Manokaran Mottain. Deputy […]

Bernard Madoff, accused mastermind of a $50 billion investment fraud, is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges next week, three months after his arrest shocked his customers worldwide.
A court document signed on Friday by prosecutors and Madoff’s lead attorney indicated the once-respected Wall Street trader and investment manager would waive an indictment and […]

China’s producer prices tumbled by the most in almost seven years and inflation cooled to the weakest pace since 2006 as the government struggled to revive growth in the world’s third-biggest economy.
Consumer prices rose 1 percent in January from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today, after gaining 1.2 percent in December. […]

Investors who bought products sold by Santander’s Madoff-hit unit Optimal, have asked a U.S. judge to halt the bank’s plan to compensate investors with new shares, El Mundo reported, citing a court writ.
Investors had served papers in a South Florida court demanding the issue of shares be stopped until the question of whether Santander […]

Japan plans to use public money to help the companies hardest hit by the financial crisis, while newly confirmed U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed to act swiftly to rescue the U.S. economy.
Japan, like many other nations, has already committed funds to help banks and spur lending to cash-starved businesses and consumers, but the […]