Results tagged “debt”

For some reason, spending billions on skyscrapers and man-made palm-shaped island leads to...debt! So far, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have fallen at least 1% (even up to 2% as soon as the markets opened today), due to, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "fears...about the potential fallout of debt prolems at Dubai World, the city-state's largest corporate entity, which asked creditors for a six-month stay on repayment of its $60 billion in debts." UBS actually estimates that Dubai's overall debt may be over $80 billion.

Apparently news that Goldman Sachs employees would help out at the Salvation Army's Thanksgiving meals isn't good enough for the NY Times editorial board! The Times published an opinion piece slamming Goldman Sachs for its "non-apology." Noting that CEO Lloyd Blankfein said, "Certainly, our industry is responsible for things. We’re a leader in our industry, and we participated in things that were clearly wrong and we have reasons to regret and apologize for," the Times thinks the investment firm should try a lot harder:

It is widely and correctly understood that Wall Street, with Goldman as a leader and with regulators in thrall, helped to inflate and profited from a credit bubble that burst and cost tens of millions of Americans their jobs, incomes, savings and home equity. American taxpayers continue to stand behind the bailouts and other government interventions that have stabilized the financial system, including Goldman, enabling the firm to post blowout profits in 2009 and to set aside $16.7 billion for bonuses so far this year...

Continue reading "NY Times Not Happy With Goldman Sachs"

So it looks like detectives' theory that an ex-cop's bank robbery "appears to be economically motivated" is right on the money. Retired NYPD sergeant Thomas Feeney, who was arrested just minutes after robbing a Long Island bank at gunpoint Tuesday, is in major debt because of an ambitious landscaping project on the grounds of his Smithtown, LI, home, which included a new lining for his swimming pool. A neighbor tells the Post, in an article headlined "Poolhardy Choices By Heist Cop," that the pool upgrade was "a luxury item, so it didn't look like he was having any money problems." But an associate of Feeney blames his financial woes on his ex-wife, saying she "cleaned him out" after their divorce. And now she's going to try and get full custody of their daughters, which sucks for them, because their dad was probably just about to open the pool for the summer. Suffolk County Detective Sgt. Robert Doyle says Feeney's credit card debt is "well over $100,000."

Yesterday, court papers revealed that medical student Philip Markoff is in $130,000 debt from student loans and therefore needs a court-appointed defense attorney. Markoff is suspected of killing NYC resident Julissa Brisman in a Boston hotel room; Brisman was meeting a massage client (via Craigslist). The Boston Globe observes that while Markoff was living off student loans, he was "living in a $1,400-a-month one-bedroom apartment in a luxury high-rise in Quincy." Markoff's fiancee Megan McAllister released a new statement, “In the past two short weeks, my life and what I hoped my life to be has dramatically changed. I also love my fiance and I will continue to support him throughout this legal process. My heart goes out to all of those afflicted by these events. It is my intent to fully cooperate with my fiance’s attorney as well as the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office ... I can only tell them what I know and what is the truth... What has been portrayed and leaked to the media is not the Philip Markoff that I know... My fiance’s fate should not rest in the court of public opinion, but rather in a court of law."

The fire that claimed two lives in a Bayside apartment building yesterday may have been set on purpose. The victims were a couple, Sun-he Kim, 45, and her husband, Yong-ho Kim, 51 and authorities are investigating whether it was a murder-suicide. Accelerant was reportedly found in the bedroom; the Daily News reports, "Investigators believe Sun He Kim was already dead when the fire started, but it was not immediately known how she was killed... It was not immediately clear if [Yong-ho Kimg] had planned to die or was overcome by choking smoke while trying to escape, the sources said." The couple was apparently in debt—their 20-year-old daughter's boyfriend told the Post that debt collectors were hounding them. The boyfriend added she received two calls from her father, "The last call was at 5 a.m. He left a voice mail saying, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.'"

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, who was recommended for confirmation by the Senate Finance Committee (vote: 18-5), has strong words for China. The written statement read, "President Obama — backed by the conclusions of a broad range of economists — believes that China is manipulating its currency." The NY Times points out, "The Bush administration purposely did not use the term 'currency manipulator' to avoid antagonizing the Chinese, even when it was criticizing China’s trade policies." A China-U.S. relations expert tells Reuters "China is going to be extremely unhappy, to say the least. For administration officials, I do not think any one has ever pointed a finger so strongly at China," and a former U.S. Trade official said to Bloomberg, "It opens a Pandora’s box. We need the Chinese to hold onto their Treasury and agency debt." However, Rep. Charles Rangel was on board: "What they can’t work out diplomatically we can work out legislatively. The [Ways & Means] committee has been saying for years [that China has manipulated the yuan’s value.]" China has about $1 trillion of U.S. debt.

The New York State Legislature finally passed a budget two weeks ago, which it balanced by taking on extra debt without the approval of voters to fund a 6% increase in spending as revenues continue to shrink. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says New York is heading for trouble, especially since revenue projections are so uncertain and vulnerable to further economic downturn.