Banks' profits stumble to 4-year low
By Times staff and wires
Published November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON - Third-quarter profits at federally insured banks and thrifts plunged to a four-year low as large institutions set aside billions to cover losses from bad mortgages, data released Wednesday show. The quarterly banking industry statistics, made public by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., highlighted a dramatic deterioration in the third-quarter as the slumping housing and mortgage markets dragged down banks' results. Profits at the 8,560 FDIC-insured institutions dropped $9.4-billion, or 24.7 percent, to $28.7-billion, hampered by soaring loan defaults and provisions for loan losses, the FDIC said.
FCC plan exists for Tribune Co. waiver
WASHINGTON - Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Wednesday that he has circulated a plan that would grant Tribune Co. waivers that would allow the company to own a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market until the commission votes on a permanent rule on such combinations. Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, nine other dailies and 23 television stations, is the subject of a $8.2-billion buyout that would take the company private.
Bush names new economic leader
WASHINGTON - President Bush announced on Wednesday that Keith Hennessey will become director of the National Economic Council, replacing Al Hubbard, who is joining a growing line of top presidential advisers exiting the White House as the Bush administration heads into its final year.
Ailing Bear Stearns shedding 650 jobs
NEW YORK - Battered by the subprime mortgage crisis, Bear Stearns Cos. on Wednesday cut 4 percent of its staff, or 650 jobs. The nation's fifth-biggest investment bank will cut jobs in all departments from its staff of about 15,500.
Ford settles suits over Explorers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday agreed to settle class-action lawsuits covering plaintiffs in four states who claimed its Explorer sport utility vehicles were prone to rollovers, the company and an attorney for the plaintiffs said. The settlement applies to about 1-million people in California, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas, said Kevin P. Roddy, a New Jersey attorney and co-counsel for those who brought the lawsuit. It will allow vehicle owners to apply for $500 vouchers to buy new Explorers or $300 vouchers to buy other Ford or Lincoln Mercury products, Roddy said.
Raymond James names new director
ST. PETERSBURG - Raymond James Financial bumped up its quarterly dividend to 11 cents a share from 10 cents Wednesday and named a new director. Since Alex Sink left the board after being elected the state's chief financial officer last year, the financial services company has had only one female director, Angela Biever. That didn't change with Wednesday's appointment. The newest board member is Robert Saltzman of Scottsdale, Ariz., former president and CEO of Jackson National Life Insurance Co.