Finance Globe

American International Group, bailed out four times with up to $170 billion and now almost 80% government-owned, is under fire for paying executive bonuses last week to the very division responsible for the credit default swaps that nearly brought the company down.AIG argues that the bonuses were promised before the taxpayer bailouts to the insurance giant, and that the bonuses are part of a legal, binding contract.President Obama said on Monday, "This is a corporation that...

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday alerted consumers that the agency has received complaints about companies who claim to give consumers a free credit report.The credit reports these companies offer aren't truly free - the consumer gets stuck with fees that are hidden in the fine print, or they are enrolled in memberships for unwanted services.We've all seen that often-run commercial with the catchy jingle about how this guitar-toting man's life is a mess because of...

In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama talked about the condition of the economy and steps the government is taking to turn it all around.Obama reminded us that 651,000 jobs were lost in February, for a total of 4.4 million jobs lost since the start of the recession. He mentioned that the unemployment rate has surpassed 8%, the highest in a quarter century.The President said, "These aren't just statistics, but hardships experienced personally by millions...

Scam artists are quick to exploit the ongoing economic crisis - by tricking taxpayers into believing the recently passed stimulus package has something in it for them. The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday put out a warning about a number of internet scams claiming that individuals can claim government grants being paid out from the economic stimulus package. This is a lie, the stimulus package does not include money for individual financial gain. Some of the...

We've heard plenty about the various methods identity thieves use to steal people's private information. Some go dumpster diving, some come up with a ploy to trick consumers out of their private information, some steal wallets and mail.And some actually buy the consumer's information directly from a consumer credit reporting agency.The Federal Trade Commission reported on Thursday that it has charged Minnesota-based Rental Research Services, Inc. and owner Lee Mikkelson with violating the Fair Credit Reporting...

The New and Improved First Time Homebuyer CreditWhen last year's $7500 first time homebuyer credit - which was actually a loan that had to be paid back to the government - didn't do enough to stimulate the housing market, the American Recover and Reinvestment Act 2009 made the deal even sweeter.First of all, though there was talk of it, the new credit is not for $15,000. Congress had to cut some expenses when writing up the...

The U.S. Treasury Department today unveiled the details of the "Making Home Affordable" loan modification program."Only two weeks after the President unveiled his plan to help promote homeowner affordability, we are moving forward today with these guidelines to implement that plan," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said. "This step forward represents a tremendous coordinated effort between major government and regulatory agencies to help bring relief to America's housing market and homeowners. This plan will help make home...

The first month of the year saw a decline in pending home sales, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors.The pending home sales index for January at 80.4 fell 7.7% from a downwardly revised reading of 87.1 in December. The index is also 6.4% below January 2008 when it was 85.9. The index is at the lowest level since the NAR began tracking pending home sales in 2001 when the index...

Citigroup announced on Tuesday that the company has introduced the Citi Homeowner Unemployment Assist program. This is the latest program offered under Citi Homeowner Assistance, a multi-faceted program to help people avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes."Citi understands that unemployment is a major concern facing the American economy right now, and it especially worries mortgage holders," the company said in a statement. The program is designed to help recently unemployed homeowners who are currently delinquent...

The Federal Trade Commission - the nation's consumer protection agency against fraud - reported on Thursday that identity theft was the number one consumer complaint for the ninth year in a row.Of the 1,223,370 complaints in 2008 to the FTC, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other agencies, 313,982 - or 26% - were related to identity theft.The next most frequent complaints were debt collection practices at 9%, fraud relating to shop...