White House considers bank ownership stakes
The new boss?
MSN-The Bush administration is considering taking ownership stakes in a number of U.S. banks as one option it might use to deal with a serious credit crisis, an administration official said Wednesday.
This official, who spoke to The Associated Press late Wednesday on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and get ownership shares in return.
This official said that all the new powers granted in the legislation were being considered as the administration seeks to deal with a serious credit crisis that has already caused the biggest upheavals on Wall Street in seven decades.
FYI
World markets tumble after huge U.S. losses
Japan’s Nikkei plunges 9.6
percent; U.K.’s FTSE 100 slumps in early trading
AP-European stock markets slumped in early trading Friday following massive sell-offs on Wall Street and Asia as lending rates between banks continue to rise despite this week’s efforts by central banks to break the logjam in credit markets.
At mid-morning London time, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 233.84, or 5.4 percent, at 4,079.96, having fallen below the 4,000 mark earlier for the first time in five years. Germany’s DAX was 383.70, or 7.9 percent, at 4,503.30, and France’s CAC-40 was 209.67, or 6.1 percent lower at 3,233.03.
In Vienna, the stock exchange has been suspended until midday after stocks tumbled 10 percent at the opening bell, and in Russia representatives of the MICEX and RTS exchanges said they suspended regular trading until further notice under orders from financial regulators.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27107914