Managing Credit Cards

Seen on: YouTube

The credit freeze isn't just effecting the cash flow between businesses, but also impacting individual lives. AP Personal Finance Editor Trevor Delaney offers advice on effectively managing credit card payments.

The End Is Nigh

Seen on: YouTube

Amid growing concern that a power vacuum in Washington was contributing to the global financial crisis, shares of banking giant Citigroup skidded, while legislators and corporate chieftains weighed the fate of the U.S. auto industry.

St. Louis ponders Treasury bailout

Cheap money! Come and get it, bankers. Uncle Sam is opening the vaults at the Treasury. Oh, there will be strings attached, of course. And if your bank desperately needs the money, the government won't give it to you.

Some banks taking the money are salivating at the chance to grow their loan portfolios and perhaps gobble up a few weaklings among area banks. The Treasury is offering to buy preferred stock in banks. The money counts as capital, which means that a healthy bank could, in theory, make new loans in an amount 10 times the amount of the Treasury's investment. The government will also take warrants allowing it to take stock in the company, diluting current shareholders.

>> There would be limits on golden parachutes.

More worrisome: The feds say they may add additional requirements later, and there are rumblings in Congress about lending requirements and restrictions.

Via stltoday.com/ssave

The Saudi Royal Family - Part three

Seen on: YouTube

At a time when America's relationship with Saudi Arabia is under close scrutiny because of the war against terrorism, this timely profile looks at the colorful history of Saudi Arabia's royal rulers. Discover how charismatic King Ibn-Saud went from being a desert warrior to leader of the largest oil-producing nation in the world, and how his successors have been both friends and foes of the U.S.

> The Saudi Royal Family: Part one - Part two

The Saudi Royal Family - Part two

Seen on: YouTube

At a time when America's relationship with Saudi Arabia is under close scrutiny because of the war against terrorism, this timely profile looks at the colorful history of Saudi Arabia's royal rulers. Discover how charismatic King Ibn-Saud went from being a desert warrior to leader of the largest oil-producing nation in the world, and how his successors have been both friends and foes of the U.S.

> The Saudi Royal Family: Part one - Part three

Managing Your Money

Seen on: YouTube

The credit crisis is taking a toll on the relationship between wealthy clients, those with at least $1 million, and their investment managers.

Image Day - Barack Obama

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses a policy speech in Toledo, Ohio. Obama rolled out a new plan to get the stricken US economy back on its feet as he vied to drive home his growing poll advantage over Republican rival John McCain. Obama said his proposals, including tax credits for new job creation, were urgently needed to address the crisis that is seeping beyond Wall Street.

> AFP / Getty Images

Sin Stocks

Seen on: YouTube

If smoking, drinking and gambling aren't your cup of tea, you may be missing out on one of the safest investment funds on the market.

Warren Buffett on Charlie Rose

Seen on: Charlie Rose

The world's greatest stock market investor -- lives in a house he bought for $31,500, quotes Mae West. He's worth $36 billion ... give or take a few mil.

Financial Crisis Deepens

Seen on: YouTube

The British government has announced a plan to partially nationalize eight of its largest banks. The price tag is 87 billion dollars. This move comes as Asian markets faltered in early trading on Wednesday. Stocks in Japan fell more than 9%.

"Lehman Brothers Was Falling Down"

Seen on: YouTube

Lehman chief executive Richard Fuld told lawmakers that regulators were aware of everything that was happening in the months leading to Lehman's collapse. He blamed several events for Lehman's downfall, including abusive short selling.

Deborah Lutterbeck reports for Reuters.

Google's Proposal - U.S. dependence on fossil fuels

The energy team at Google has been analyzing how to greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. Their proposal - "Clean Energy 2030" - provides a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas), and cutting oil use for cars by 38%.

On BusinessWeek: Google's Green Agenda
Google’s not spending much in absolute terms on its investments in alternative energy companies—about $45 million through its Google.org philanthropic arm. But its executives have been spending a lot of time lately pushing green energy. Why? Schmidt commissioned the $4 trillion proposal, which is intended to complement other alt-energy proposals from Al Gore and onetime oilman T. Boone Pickens, as a way to influence whatever new administration is elected.

The Official Google Blog: Saving electricity one data center at a time

Alan Greenspan on Charlie Rose

Seen on: Charlie Rose

A conversation with Alan Greenspan about his life, his 18 year tenure as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and his book, The Age of Turbulence.

"The Monster"

Seen on: YouTube

Alan Greenspan is not, we're told, happy about this 42-minute blockbuster. Watch it, and you'll understand why. This is economics and history as they are meant to be: fascinating, informative and motivating. This movie could change America.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

Warren Buffett, has announced that he will invest $3 billion in General Electric, the industrial giant that is also the nation's largest non-financial company. The move comes after he said he would invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. In both cases, Buffett has driven a hard bargain. Still, he is betting when others remain fearful.

Financial Meltdown: The Timeline

Seen on: YouTube

What began as a housing problem has mushroomed into what may be the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In September, the titans topple like dominos, then the Federal Reserve responds with a $700 billion bailout plan.

Defining the Credit Crunch

Wikipedia: Credit crunch
Credit crunch is a term used to describe a sudden reduction in the availability of loans (or "credit"), or a sudden increase in the cost of obtaining loans.

"Booming home prices gave Americans the confidence to spend more than their income but now the game is over. The micro-story is more dramatic. Record-low interest rates in 2001, 2002 and 2003 did not lead Americans to invest more - there was already excess capacity. Instead, easy money stimulated the economy by inducing households to refinance their mortgages, and to spend some of their capital. It is one thing to borrow to make an investment, which strengthens balance sheets; it is another thing to borrow to finance a vacation or a consumption binge. But this is what Alan Greenspan encouraged Americans to do." - Joseph Stiglitz

Timeline: Global credit crunch
After a two year period between 2004 and 2006 when US interest rates rose from 1% to 5.35%, the US housing market begins to suffer, with prices falling. Default rates on high risk loans to clients with poor credit histories - rise to record levels.

How the French invented subprime in 1719
Imagine the following: a collection of debts owed by a highly leveraged borrower with a bad credit record is magically transformed into marketable securities. How is this miracle performed? It is through the power of financial innovation.

It could be the story of subprime mortgages in the US; but it is not.

It is, in fact, the story of government debt in France in the early 18th century. In 1719-20, a financial whirlwind even more dramatic than anything witnessed today swept through France. Shares in the Compagnie des Indes, or the Mississippi Company, rose 1,000 per cent and then fell by 90 per cent in less than two years.

The story illuminates current events.

Facts and Figures
Banks and other financial institutions could lose $1 trillion from the credit crisis as mortgage-backed assets have lost most of their value. Underlying the financial market wobbles is a real decline in US house prices nationwide for the first time since the 1930s. Stock markets around the world - from Shanghai to London - have plunged, while in the US the Dow Jones industrial average has made big losses.

What Led to the Financial Crisis?

Seen on: YouTube

How did it happen, America's grave financial crisis? President George W. Bush offered a bunch of explanations but held Washington completely blameless.

Who is rich? He that is content.

The US Senate has passed a revised $US700 billion financial bail-out bill, bringing the rescue plan one step closer to final passage.

The vote is likely to send a positive signal to global markets that there may be some systemic relief to the crisis that has ensnarled global banking, threatening the world's economy. Any final passage of the US plan, though, will have to be agreed on by the US House of Representatives, which shocked the world days ago.

Image Day - The Business

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin speaks at a business conference in Moscow. EU and Russian policymakers urged U.S. politicians to pass a new version of a $700 billion bank rescue package as a new Senate vote on the bailout loomed.

> Reuters Pictures