Bank bailouts

Last week, Bank of America ignited a firestorm of controversy by choosing to charge its customers $5 a month to use their debit cards. Now, an angry consumer group has called for a federal investigation. Is this overkill or a smart response to what could be a budding disaster for the bank -- and taxpayers?

The number of government-aided U.S. banks in danger of failing has grown about 15% in the past six months, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The economy has continued to batter many struggling institutions, with 98 bailed-out banks -- up from 86 in the second quarter -- now at risk.

Bankers worldwide are expecting smaller bonuses this year. Still, they will be hard pressed to find much sympathy as their base salaries were boosted -- in some cases doubled -- this year to compensate for the lower year-end bonuses.

The Citigroup bailout is officially over: The U.S. Treasury has sold the last of its shares of the bank. Overall, the U.S. government netted $12 billion in profit from the $45 billion bailout.

The U.S. Treasury Department is offering up its remaining Citigroup shares, a move that marks the end of one of the federal government's largest bank bailouts. But the Treasury says it will hold out for an "acceptable price" for the 2.4 billion shares.

Investors received another sign Friday that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal: The 2010 U.S. budget deficit came in at a smaller-than-predicted $1.29 trillion. Though it was still the second-highest deficit on record, the numbers reflect growth in tax revenues, and thus in the economy.

There's a particularly juicy rumor gaining steam that the Obama Administration plans to tax banks to recoup taxpayer-funded bailouts of banks and more. "I think it's a perfectly reasonable idea," Douglas Elliott, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank, told WalletPop. "Clearly there...

Banks that have received TARP money have already run into problems with Congress and the public. Most of these have been due to what has been viewed as excessive executive pay and perks. The way that the firms operate day-to-day has not been a big issue, at least so far. The implied "contract"...

Bank of America is one of the worst companies on the planet, making the Medellin Cartel look like Trader Joe's by comparison. Yet for some reason the United States taxpayer has been told that he must send in cash to be poured into the company's coffers to help it pay its dividend and avoid a...