Finance Globe

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 was passed by the House and Senate last Friday and President Obama will sign the legislation into law on Tuesday in Denver, Colorado.Governor Ritter said, "The decision by President Obama to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act here in Colorado is a history-making honor and privilege for our state. It is a testament to the President's belief that this package will help people in states all across America."Lawmakers'...

Just like many other holidays, Valentine's Day can be a source of stress for people who want to find the perfect way to show their loved one how much they really care. And it can be especially stressful for those who have to limit their spending in the process. But there's no reason to give in to the commercialism, the old cliches of candy and roses, or even the belief that diamonds are a girl's best...

The Federal Trade Commission reported on Wednesday that they've charged a mortgage foreclosure "rescue" operation with violating the FTC Act by falsely claiming that they would stop foreclosure or fully refund the consumer's money.A federal court ordered a halt to the alleged practices and froze the defendants’ assets pending trial. Many people who paid the company ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure, and others avoided foreclosure only through their own efforts. The FTC seeks to prohibit...

The House and the Senate reached a compromise this afternoon on the much anticipated American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Lawmakers found a middle ground to settle the differences in the Senate's version of the bill with a $838 billion price tag passed just yesterday, and the House version calling for $819 billion that was passed on January 28.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "The difference between the bills were really quite similar and I'm pleased to...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday unveiled the government's plan to attack the ongoing credit crisis and stabilizing the nation's banking system. But before outlining the Financial Stability Plan, he explained how economic growth was dependant on the flow of credit, and how access to credit was essential for people to own a home, buy a car, or pay for higher education. "Without credit, economies cannot grow at their potential, and right now, critical parts of...

As consumers continue to limit their spending, increase their savings rate, and decrease their credit balances to protect themselves from the unknowns in the economy, businesses across nearly all industry sectors continue to cut jobs.The government reported today that the U.S. economy lost another 598,000 jobs in January, the biggest monthly decline since December 1974.The overwhelming number of lost jobs brings the national employment rate to 7.6%, up from December's 7.2%. Analysts had predicted a rate...

The Labor Department reported today that the estimated number of recently unemployed workers claiming benefits for the first time increased to 626,000 for the week of January 31, 2009, up by 35,000 from the previous week. Analysts had expected about 583,000 for that week.It's estimated that there were nearly 4.8 million insured unemployed for the week ending January 24. This number doesn't include the 1.7 million persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation. EUC was signed into law...

President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act last night, which renews the health care plan known as SCHIP (state children's health insurance program) for 7 million children and opens it up to 4 million more.Obama said before signing the legislation, "In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiations, and health care for our children is one of those obligations." "But, as I think everybody here...

Today President Barack Obama and the U.S. Treasury Department announced new restrictions on executive pay for institutions that receive government aid from TARP funds. "These measures are designed to ensure that public funds are directed only toward the public interest in strengthening our economy by stabilizing our financial system and not toward inappropriate private gain," said the Treasury. The new rules come just a week after President Barack Obama sharply criticized Wall Street bankers for giving...

The U.S. housing market is starting to show some signs of improvement as homebuyers begin to take advantage of more affordable home prices and historically low mortgage interest rates.According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, the pending home sales index increased by 6.3% in December to 87.7 - 2.1% higher than December 2007 when it was 85.9. (An index of 100 reflects the average level of contract activity in 2001 - the first...