Businessweek - Top News October 30, 2008, 12:01AM EST

Banks may be required to offer interest rate relief for strapped homeowners. But it’s unclear who will qualify and if the plan would put a dent in foreclosures

By Moira Herbst

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Treasury Dept. are working on a major program to prevent widespread foreclosures that would include government guarantees of home mortgages.

The plan would use $50 billion from the recently passed bailout package to provide as much as $500 billion to $600 billion in government guarantees on up to 3 million at-risk mortgages. It might require banks and savings and loans to offer loans with lower interest rates for a five-year period, while shifting to the government any risk if the home doesn’t recover its full mortgage value within that time.

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CNNMoney - Special Report Issue #1: America’s Money - Every day on CNN, Last Updated: October 27, 2008: 11:17 AM ET

Three years after the passing of new legislation aimed at reducing personal bankruptcies, 2008 filings approach the one-million mark.

courtesy of safety4all.ca

By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — In 2005, Congress passed a bill aimed at reducing the number of personal bankruptcy filings. But that was before a housing meltdown, a credit crunch and a global economic downturn.

In the midst of the financial crisis, more and more Americans are filing for bankruptcy. And experts say the numbers are likely to get worse.

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CNNMoney - Ask the Expert Retirement questions answered, October 10, 2008 5:18 pm

Question: I have $100,000 in an annuity with AIG that my mom and I depend on for income to live. Should I cash it out even though I would suffer a loss, or do you think I should hold onto it? It’s so hard to know what to do. —Kitty Schwartz, Plano, Texas

Answer: Most people buy an annuity at least in part because they see it as a refuge, an investment they can count even if the financial markets are spiraling downward. But that faith has been tested in recent weeks.

By Walter Updegrave, Money Magazine senior editor

The government needed to step in to cover the debts of AIG, the nation’s largest insurer, and the health of many other major insurers has been called into question.

So it’s no surprise that I have been inundated with questions from people worried about the security of money they have in annuities.

I would love to be able to give a simple reassurance.

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Newsweek - PERSONAL FINANCE,  Sep 23, 2008

Five things you should know about your insurance company.

By Gwen Moran | Newsweek Web Exclusive

The constants of the financial world are not quite as permanent as we all thought. Storied Wall Street institutions like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns are going or gone. And last week the insurance giant American International Group (AIG) needed an $85 billion bailout to prevent it from sliding into a bankruptcy that might have ripped through the Fortune 500—most of which have policies with AIG. That raises the question: just how healthy is the insurance industry? Can you be confident that your insurance carrier will be there when you need them most?

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Posted Saturday, September 20, 2008 12:26 PM

Jane Bryant Quinn

If you’re scared, you have reason. We’re BATTLING a financial collapse in the teeth of a spreading recession, not only in the United States but in the other industrialized countries, too. The risks fall especially hard on workers in their 50s and 60s who are hoping to retire (or fearing it, if their companies are pushing them out). But anyone trying to defend a paycheck or personal investments will be facing tougher times. Amid the rubble, only a few things are safe.
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CNNMoney - Last Updated: August 17, 2008: 8:08 AM EDT

Before Money’s veteran stock picker departs for academe, he shares his insights on investing.

By Michael Sivy, Money Magazine editor-at-large

(Money Magazine) — I’m retiring and will soon be headed to Oxford University to begin my second act. So this will be my last column for Money. At a time like this, it’s only natural to look back at one’s career. So I’ve been reviewing my articles of the past 23 years to see where I’ve been right and where I’ve been wrong - and why.

I’ve come to a simple conclusion: There are certain things that you can know as an investor and other things that you can’t. For example, I wrote in 1987 that stocks - based on the market’s price/earnings ratio and other benchmarks - were 20% over-valued and vulnerable to a steep decline. My July 1987 column was right on target: Three months afterward, stocks were crushed by the 1987 crash.

A decade later I wrote that equities were again overvalued by 20% and warned readers to trim their stockholdings. But my August 1997 cover story wasn’t as timely. My sell recommendation came more than two years before the tech bubble burst in early 2000.

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CNNMoney - Last Updated: August 18, 2008: 5:41 PM EDT

Wall Street sinks amid renewed concern about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the dollar’s drop against other major currencies.

By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks tumbled Monday, as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plunged, amid renewed concerns about the financial sector and a weaker dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost about 180 points, or 1.6%. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 (SPX) index lost 1.5% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 1.4%.

Stocks had been under pressure throughout the session as the dollar slid and oil prices fluctuated amid worries about a tropical storm approaching the Gulf Coast. But the stock selloff accelerated in the afternoon, led by the financial sector.

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