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This news "came home to Americans on Main St. from tainted Chinese products to the fact that practically every toy sold in America comes from Red China. [sic] Boston seniors on group tours of the great capitals of Europe were humbled to discover that their greenbacks had shriveled in value to 60 per cent of the local currency....[C]ascading defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages had so weakened the balance sheets of leading financial institutions...that the likes of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch had sought bailouts from state-owned investment funds in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates." Canadians felt the shifting balance of power, too, "in a 15-percent gain against the greenback." .
Wells Fargo to absorb $1.4B provision in 4Q for losses on loans
Wells Fargo & Co. is absorbing $1.4 billion in losses on home equity loans that borrowers have stopped repaying amid a deepening real estate slump that's turned into a financial sinkhole. Until Wells Fargo disclosed its projected losses late Tuesday, the San Francisco-based bank had suffered relatively little damage in a mortgage meltdown that had already battered other major U.S. lenders. "Clearly, this is a disappointment because (Wells) had been seen as better managers of credit than many other big banks," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Morford. "But now they have a big blemish on them, too." After gaining 34 cents to finish at $29.83 in Tuesday's regular session, Wells Fargo shares plunged $1.40, or 4.7 percent, in the extended trading that followed a Securities and Exchange Commission filing outlining the bank's home equity loan losses.
Alliance Bancorp sets 6-cent dividend, will buy back 10 percent of ...
The Broomall, Pa.-based company also said that its board of directors approved the buyback of 325,125 shares, or 10 percent of the common stock. The buyback will begin Jan. 30, the one-year anniversary of a stock reorganization. "The company's strong capital position and profitability continue to afford the board the ability to enhance shareholder value through stock repurchases as well as an increase in the company's regular quarterly cash dividend," President and Chief Executive Dennis Cirucci said in a release. The stock rose 22 cents, or 2.8 percent, to close Friday at $8.17. .
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