A spin-off group from Occupy Wall Street, called Occupy Our Homes, has formed to reverse and stop foreclosures. Lately, the group has been using creative tactics to raise awareness about the banking practices that led to the housing bubble.
The theme for Thursday is big players adjusting to a changing world: Citigroup is shutting down a major hedge fund it used for soon-to-be-banned proprietary trading, Goldman has been subpoenaed over its role in the subprime mortgage crisis, and OPEC is thinking that it might need to pump more oil.
When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asserted that his next big leak would involve documents from a major unnamed bank, investors in Bank of America got nervous and the stock has been on bumpy ride. The question now is: Have the WikiLeaks worries made BofA shares a better buy?
Some of Wall Street's financial titans are facing lawsuits from equally formidable foes: Billionaire Len Blavatnick is suing JPMorgan Chase for losing $100 million of his money in subprime mortgages, and Norway is suing Citigroup for misrepresenting its financial condition to boost its stock price.
Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide Financial, must face trial on charges he misled investors about the risks associated with subprime lending, a judge in Los Angeles ruled. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter denied requests from Mozilo and two other former Countrywide executives for a ruling that there were no genuine issues to be tried, Bloomberg News said.
Hedge funds are doubling down on inflation by buying gold. Institutions are buying corporate bonds -- a wager on deflation. Should you follow them? And if so, which way?
Getting out of subprime mortgage lending makes economic sense for banking giant Wells Fargo. But its questionable record of lending practices in black and Hispanic communities is another good reason to quit the business.
Despite getting an additional $3.8 billion last week in federal aid and a year-end rebound in car sales, GMAC still expects to post a $5 billion loss for fourth quarter 2009. Most of it stems from write-downs in residential real estate.