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The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s latest Survey of Professional Forecasters reported that the U.S. economy fell into recession last spring and will contract sharply this quarter as more than 200,000 workers per month are added to the rolls of the unemployed. The survey removed some of the glow from an earlier report showing industrial output rebounded… Continue reading Fed Survey Says US in Recession Since Last Spring

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) said on Friday that it is terminating 14 voluntary deferred compensation programs involving 5,600 employees and independent agents and representatives. Approximately $500 million in earned but deferred pay will be distributed in the first quarter of 2009. This deferred compensation is all pay that an individual earned but volunteered to… Continue reading AIG to End Voluntary Deferred Compensation Programs

Property/casualty insurer Hartford Financial Services Group Inc, concerned over capital levels, announced on Friday that it agreed to buy a small savings and loan, making it eligible to raise up to $3.4 billion from the U.S. government’s bank bailout plan.    An infusion may alleviate investor concerns about capital at Hartford, which suffered a $2.63… Continue reading Hartford to Buy S&L, Tap Into TARP

Fire crews battling three stubborn blazes in Southern California that forced thousands of residents to flee and burned hundreds of homes are starting to get some help as winds taper off.      “It’s [the winds] much better now, they’ve settled down to a light breeze that greatly helps firefighting efforts,” said Michael Pigott, a meteorologist… Continue reading SoCal Fires Force Residents to Evacuate, Destroy Hundreds of Homes

Citigroup has announced plans for about 52,000 new job cuts, on top of 23,000 cuts already made this year.    Citigroup said the 75,000 job cuts represented a reduction of about 20% of its staff, leaving it with 300,000 jobs worldwide “in the near term”.    The cuts will come from redundancies, the sale of… Continue reading CitiGroup Plans to Cut Another 52,000 Jobs, Total to Hit 75,000

According to the Wall Street Journal, Citigroup Inc is cutting at least 10,000 jobs in its investment bank and other divisions throughout the world.    Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and his deputies have instructed managers to slash their budgets for employee compensation by at least 25 percent, said the WSJ.     “We will… Continue reading Citi to Cut Another 10,000 Jobs

Signaling the economy may be in its worst slump in decades, retail sales and prices of goods imported to the U.S. dropped by the most on record. Purchases fell 2.8 percent in October, the fourth straight decline, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Labor Department figures showed import prices dropped 4.7 percent, pointing to… Continue reading Retail Sales Dropped 2.8 Percent in October in Fourth Straight Decline

Freddie Mac, the second-largest provider of U.S. home loan funding, has been forced to draw on a $100 billion Treasury Department lifeline, after reporting a $25.3 billion quarterly loss on Friday as the housing slump worsened.    The company attributed much of the record loss to a write down of tax-related assets, essentially conceding it… Continue reading Freddie Mac to Tap Treasury’s Lifeline After Huge Quarterly Loss

EU figures showed that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter, putting the eurozone officially in a recession. This follows a 0.2% contraction in the 15-nation area in the previous quarter from April to June. Two quarters of negative growth define a technical recession.    The news was widely anticipated and follows data… Continue reading Eurozone Officially In Recession

According to the report, “Evaluating Liquidity Triggers In Insurance Enterprises,” published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, in a confidence-sensitive industry, many insurers have seen their financial strength acutely affected by market perception of their credit quality.        “Ratings are based on fundamental analysis; however, when assessing creditworthiness, the speed with which confidence can be… Continue reading S&P: Insurer Ratings Affected by Market Perception of Credit Quality