Q: Hey Steve
Foreclosed homes, failed banks, and toxic assets produced during the current recession might look like a mountain of garbage to most people. But to billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, they are "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating whether a hedge fund operator who lost big in the Bernard Madoff scandal misled schools and charities about how he invested their money.
Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression Wednesday
Stocks showed more signs of stability Tuesday as investors shook off a record low reading on consumer confidence and placed some moderate bets in the last days of a brutal 2008.
GMAC said Tuesday it will begin providing auto financing for more consumers, after announcing late Monday that it received $5 billion from the government, selling that much in warrants to the Department of Treasury through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.
Stocks ended the week with a moderate advance Friday in light post-holiday trading after the government threw a lifeline to General Motors' finance arm. But while the market did manage an advance, dreary holiday spending readings are dimming the chances for a big year-end rally.
The Federal Reserve has granted a request by the financing arm of General Motors to become a bank holding company, allowing it to petition for money from the government's $700 billion rescue program.
Facing a growing chorus of angry investors, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff lost his right to leave his home Friday and was ordered to hire private around-the-clock security guards to protect him.
A federal judge has signed an order saying investors who may have been duped in one of Wall Street's biggest frauds need the protection of the Securities Investor Protection Act.
