Patrice Hill

GOP demands at heart of auto deal

The Bush administration's auto bailout package largely follows the playbook laid down by Senate Republicans in requiring General Motors and Chrysler to try to achieve drastic reductions in their debt and labor costs as part of a total restructuring.

December 20, 2008

ANALYSIS: Bush plan seeks to achieve Senate GOP’s goals

ANALYSIS: The Bush administration's auto bailout package largely follows the playbook laid down by Senate Republicans in requiring General Motors and Chrysler to try to achieve drastic reductions in their debt and labor costs as part of a total restructuring.

December 19, 2008

Bush weighs major auto restructuring

DEVELOPING: President Bush will announce the White House's plan for the automakers at 9 a.m. EST.

December 19, 2008

Chrysler puts brakes on production

Chrysler LLC announced Wednesday a 30-day halt in production, preserving cash and giving itself some time to adjust to the bewildering economic crosscurrents that are buffeting the U.S. auto industry.

December 18, 2008

Oil plunge despite record OPEC cuts

The OPEC oil cartel is struggling to put a floor under plummeting oil prices, but even its largest production cut in history Wednesday failed to prevent prices from falling to a four-year low near $40 a barrel.

December 18, 2008

Fed reduces rates as far as they can go

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to nearly zero Tuesday in its strenuous effort to revive the economy from the deepest recession in a generation.

December 17, 2008

Fed moves aggressively to revive economy

UPDATED: The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to nearly zero Tuesday in its latest strenuous attempt to revive the economy from the deepest recession in a generation.

December 16, 2008

Fed cuts key interest rate to near zero

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to near zero Tuesday afternoon in a strenuous attempt to revive the economy from the deepest recession in a generation.

December 16, 2008

U.S. automakers face consolidation

Washington is crafting a political solution for Detroit that avoids picking winners and losers and seeks to prevent a bankruptcy by any of the three U.S. automakers, but the reality is at least one of the companies may need to fold.

December 14, 2008

Dollar regains luster in crisis

Amid the worst recession and financial crisis in a generation, the U.S. Treasury and the dollar lately have reasserted their status as safe havens in a world of storms.

November 30, 2008

Bush expected to bail out more banks

The Bush administration expects to bail out more big banks like Citigroup before leaving office, and is considering asking Congress for the remaining $350 billion of Treasury bank-rescue funds to make sure it has money to do so.

November 25, 2008

Stocks rally on Citigroup bailout news

UPDATED: The government plan to bail out colossal Citigroup with $306 billion in guarantees rallied U.S. stock markets broadly in the biggest two-day jump in 21 years Monday.

November 24, 2008

Government moves to rescue Citigroup

The Treasury and Federal Reserve Sunday were moving to stabilize Citigroup to prevent the giant New York bank from being the latest to succumb to a death spiral in financial markets, according to a source familiar with the plan.

November 23, 2008

Citigroup, other banks in new trouble

UPDATED--The deepening downturn in the economy created new trouble for Citigroup and other big banks and sent stocks into another tailspin that left one major stock index fluctuating around its lowest level in 11 years Friday.

November 21, 2008

Deflation worries send Dow below 8,000

A record 1 percent drop in consumer prices last month -- the biggest in at least 61 years -- raised worries Wednesday on Wall Street that the economy may be engulfed in a destructive bout of deflation.

November 20, 2008

Inflation falls by record 1% last month

Consumer prices plunged by 1 percent last month -- the biggest drop on record -- thanks to a gigantic drop in the price of gasoline, the Labor Department reported Wednesday morning.

November 19, 2008

Fed, Treasury resist funds for homes, Detroit

The fight over how to use the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue fund went into another round on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with top administration officials testifying that about $60 billion of uncommitted funds should be reserved for potential financial disasters -- including another possible big bank failure -- rather than bailing out homeowners or the auto industry.

November 19, 2008

Bernanke: Credit crunch still a worry

The fight over how to use the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue fund went into another round on Capitol Hill Tuesday, with top administration officials testifying that the money should be reserved for potential financial disasters -- including another possible big bank failure -- rather than auto or homeowner bailouts.

November 18, 2008

World leaders take on economic crisis

UPDATED -- World leaders battling a historic economic crisis agreed Saturday to flag risky investing and regulatory weak spots in hopes of avoiding future financial meltdowns.

November 15, 2008

G-20 to weigh global banking oversight

One of the biggest questions to be resolved in the Group of 20 summit is what to do about the giant global banks like Lehman Brothers and Citigroup that are the main players in the world financial crisis.

November 14, 2008