US ECONOMY
THE 16 DAYS THAT SHOOCK THE US ECONOMY IN SEPTEMBER, 2008.
A shocking series of events that forever changed the financial markets.
When banks don't lend to each other and the credit system gets backed up, consumers have a hard time getting a loan to buy a
home or car, small businesses can't expand and employees are at risk of losing their jobs.
There are major investors, and we mean really big ones: countries, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, hedge funds and, of
course, banks. When credit is flowing smoothly, they send money between each other. They also loan money to corporations.
Monday, Sept. 22 - Second thoughts
On Monday morning Wall Street woke up to a new world order, and it wasn't happy. Late
Sunday night, the news emerged that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley would change
their status to bank holding companies, giving them access to Federal funds to help buoy
them, and effectively bringing to an end Wall Street as we know it.
A day after its status change, Morgan Stanley announced it agreed to sell up to a fifth of the
company to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of Japan's largest banks.
Meanwhile, news of the massive federal bailout that was greeted with relief on Friday,
sending the Dow up 369 points, began to sink in, and questions emerged. Taxpayers
were enraged that Wall Street fat cats would get a handout while ordinary citizens were left
to flounder. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle began gearing up for
Tuesday's hearing, expressing concern at the notion of handing Treasury a blank check,
and at the plan's lack of oversight.
The markets expressed their own dismay, with the Dow closing down 373 points as
investors fretted about the bailout. The dollar was crushed, posting its biggest single-day
drop in four years as traders absorbed just how diluted the bailout would leave the U.S.
currency. Meanwhile, oil surged more than $25, its biggest dollar gain ever, to $130 a
barrel before settling at $120 as big investors scrambled to fill obligations as the October
contract expired.
Wednesday, Sept. 24 - Closer to a deal
Well before the markets opened, the Fed announced that it would flood the system with
even more cash, making $30 billion available to the central banks of Australia, Denmark,
Norway and Sweden.
Back in Washington, the debate about the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion
bailout raged on, this time in front of the House Financial Services Committee, which
grilled Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
over the plan's details.
Progress was reported toward an agreement. Paulson agreed that the bill should curb
executive compensation at firms that sign up for the rescue plan, one of the Democrats'
key demands. But he remained opposed to allowing bankruptcy judges to change
mortgage terms because it's "inconsistent with what we're trying to do, which is increase
the flow of funds."
Still under discussion was whether the government should get an equity stake in
companies that participate in the plan, and whether the government will encourage
foreclosure prevention for the troubled loans it purchases.
Members of Congress demanded to know how they could justify a bailout to their enraged
constituents.
President Bush made a televised speech Wednesday night to make the case for his plan.
"We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis," he said. "Our entire economy is in
danger."
Tuesday Sept. 23 - A spirited debate
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke went
before the Senate Banking Committee to defend the Bush administration's bailout plan
in a spirited debate. The two faced strong criticism from both Democrats and
Republicans who argued that the program needed more restrictions.
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, said the
government's previous efforts to save mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as
well Bear Stearns, show the limitations on attempts to fix markets.
"You can't assure us this will work because you thought the other plans would work,"
Shelby said.
Sen. Jim Bunning, a conservative Republican from Kentucky, said that he could not
support the proposal.
"It will not help struggling homeowners pay their mortgages. It will not bring a halt to the
slide in home prices," Bunning said. "This massive bailout is not a solution. It's
financial socialism and it's un-American."
Lawmakers were also concerned about the program's risk to taxpayers. But Bernanke
stressed that most or even all of what the government spends to buy the assets would
be recovered when the assets are eventually sold.
Drafts of counterproposals emerged from both chambers, led by Chris Dodd, D-Conn.,
in the Senate and Barney Frank, D-Mass., in the House. They want the government to
get an equity stake in the companies it helps; more assistance for those at risk of
foreclosure; more oversight of the program; and curbs on compensation of executives
of participating companies.
There was also some good news. After the market close, Goldman Sachs announced
that it will raise capital by selling $5 billion of preferred stock to Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway.
Sunday, Sept. 21 - The end of an era
A week after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch put the cogs
in motion, Secretary Paulson was on the Sunday morning talk shows pitching his $700
billion bailout proposal.
"The biggest help we can give the American people is to stabilize our financial system
right now and to prevent the system from clogging up, because if it does clog up, this is
going to have an adverse effect on people's abilities to get jobs, on their budgets, on
their retirement savings, on lending for small businesses," Paulson said on ABC's
"This Week."
Still, the Democrats said the plan lacked necessary safeguards for taxpayers and
homeowners.
"We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a
better outcome," Speaker Pelosi said.
But even as the details of the bailout were being hammered out, there were yet more
staggering developments in the crisis, effectively ending an era on Wall Street.
Late in the day came the news that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the two
remaining independent Wall Street investment banks, would be converted into
traditional bank holding companies, which will increase their regulation by the federal
government.
The move was designed to prevent the storied brokerage firms from suffering the same
fate as Lehman and Bear Stearns, by giving them access to cheaper, and more stable
sources of funding from the retail banking business and from the Federal Reserve.
Saturday, Sept. 27 - Bailout breakthrough
After a late-night bargaining session, negotiators resumed talks Saturday afternoon over
the $700 billion bailout plan with fewer than a dozen "unresolved issues" remaining,
according to a senior administration official.
Signs of progress appeared early on from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers
who said they were shooting for a deal by Sunday.
But a group of House Republicans said they would not be held to any "artificial timelines."
Still, they remained confident a deal could be reached that helped the financial system but
protected taxpayers.
Negotiators had talked by phone with billionaire investor Warren Buffett for guidance, and
according to two sources, he warned if congress did not act, the nation would face the
"biggest financial meltdown in American history."
Finally after midnight, congressional leaders said they reached a tentative deal and were
aiming to craft final legislation by Sunday evening - in time for the start of financial markets
around the world.
Key points included who would oversee the program, when the money would go out,
government stakes in companies to mitigate taxpayer losses and curbs on executive
compensation.
Friday, Sept. 26 - Back to the bargaining table
Wall Street was a grim scene Friday morning. Stocks were looking at a tough session
after news of Washington Mutual's collapse the night before and fears that partisan
bickering would further delay the Bush administration's $700 billion financial rescue plan.
Capitol Hill negotiators returned to the bargaining table Friday to work on details of the
plan, while President Bush and leading lawmakers offered assurances that Congress
and the administration would hammer out a deal.
Stocks stumbled through much of the day, but they rallied toward the end of the session
on news that bailout talks has resumed, with Republicans and Democrats working
towards a compromise. Investors positioned themselves for a Monday rally, on the hopes
that a deal would be made by Sunday.
For a time, the first presidential debate that was scheduled for Friday night hung in the
balance. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that working on the bailout was more important
than campaigning, and he decided to return to Capitol Hill to help work on a plan. But Sen.
Barack Obama, D-Ill., said there was no need to cancel or postpone the debate.
In the end, the candidates decided to go ahead and face off at the University of
Mississippi, where the nation's economic crisis took center stage early on.
Thursday, Sept. 25 - Deal, or no deal
Early in the afternoon, key lawmakers announced that they had reached an agreement on
a set of principles for legislation in order to enact the Bush administration's proposal.
Markets soared as investors believed the bill would soon be signed.
The proposal would help homeowners, curb executive pay packages at participating firms
and provide oversight of Treasury's actions. The Treasury would receive the $700 billion in
installments and would also get an equity stake in the companies being helped by the
bailout.
A few hours later, when Congressional leaders and presidential nominees Barack
Obama and John McCain met with President Bush and Secretary Paulson at the White
House, the negotiations broke down, revealing a split between Democrats and House
Republicans.
House Republicans issued a statement of economic rescue principles that called for Wall
Street to fund the recovery by injecting private capital - not taxpayer dollars - into the
financial markets. The plan also called for participating firms to disclose the value of the
mortgage assets on their books, ending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's securitization of
"unsound mortgages," reviewing the performance of the credit rating agencies, having the
SEC audit failed companies to ensure their financial standing was accurately portrayed,
and creating a panel to make recommendations for reforming the financial industry by
year's end.
Late-night talks between lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson failed to end
in agreement, shattering any hopes of a clean, bipartisan legislative effort, and putting in
jeopardy chances of passing a bill by the end of the week.
Then, in another stunning event, Washington Mutual collapsed late Thursday night,
marking the biggest bank failure in history. But after the troubled thrift was seized by the
FDIC, federal regulators helped orchestrate a deal in which JPMorgan Chase paid $1.9
billion for WaMu's assets.
Sunday, Sept. 28 - Hard-won agreement
After days of intense negotiations on Capitol Hill, lawmakers unveiled the bailout's final
legislation late Sunday afternoon. The bill calls for Treasury to buy as much as $700 billion
in troubled mortgages and other assets from financial institutions, which was what
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed when he first announced the plan on Sept. 18.
But the bill, which will go to the House for a vote on Monday and to the Senate on
Wednesday, contains provisions addressing some of lawmakers' concerns about the
burden that the bailout could have on taxpayers.
The $700 billion would be disbursed in stages, with $250 billion made available
immediately for the Treasury's use. And although experts expect Treasury to be able to sell
the troubled assets for more than they bought them for, the bill says that the president
must propose legislation to recoup money from the financial industry if the rescue plan
results in net losses to taxpayers at the end of five years.
In addition, Treasury would be allowed to take ownership stakes in participating
companies. The legislation also requires the government, as the owner of mortgage
loans, to try to modify more troubled loans. There will be limits on executive compensation
for participating companies, and two oversight board established to guide the program.
As history was unfolding in Washington, there was yet more drama developing. In Europe,
Dutch-Belgian bank and insurance giant Fortis NV received a 11.2 billion euro ($16.4
billion) lifeline by authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. And on Wall
Street, a bidding war erupted for the troubled bank Wachovia between banking giants
Citigroup and Wells Fargo.
Monday, Sept. 29 - Crushing defeat
In a stunning development, the House of Representatives voted down the $700 billion
financial bailout plan by a 228-205 margin after working days to hash out an agreement.
Two-thirds of Republicans and one-third of Democrats voted against the measure.
The defeat shocked the world, following pledges by leaders of both parties to work
together to avert economic disaster. Markets in the U.S. and abroad reacted with alarm.
The Dow plunged 777 points, its largest one-day point drop ever, while Japan's Nikkei lost
4%, Australia's markets fell 4.3% and Taiwan's stocks retreated 3.6%.
It was unclear how Congress would proceed with the legislation.
Earlier in the day, Citibank agreed to buy Wachovia bank's assets for $2.2 billion in an
FDIC-arranged deal, while Lehman Brothers sold its Neuberger Berman investment
management unit to a pair of private-equity firms for $2.15 billion.
Additionally, a federal grand jury launched an investigation into accounting and disclosure
issues at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that were taken over
by the government earlier this month.

Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson appeared on ABC's
begging congress to pass
the bailout package and
asking the American public
to swallow the big 700b.
Traders crowd the post that
handles Morgan Stanley on the
floor of the New York Stock
Exchange, Monday Sept. 22,
2008.
Committee Chairman Sen.
Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., (left) and
ranking member Sen. Richard
Shelby, R-Ala., (right) listen as
Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Ben Bernanke and Chairman of the
Securities and Exchange
Commission Christopher Cox testify
on Capitol Hill.
Reporters interviewed House
Financial Services Committee
chairman Rep. Barney Frank,
D-Mass., Wednesday after
Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson and Federal Reserve
chairman Ben Bernanke were
grilled about the rescue plan.
President Bush met with
congressional leaders at the White
House Thursday, including House
Minority Leader John Boehner,
R-Ohio (left), Speaker of the
House Rep. Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., and Senate Majority
Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, to
discuss the proposed bailout.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,
squared off in the first presidential
debate Friday night, where the
economy was front and center.
Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., Secretary of
the Treasury Henry Paulson,
right, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, D-Nev., left,
announce a tentative deal on
legislation regarding the
financial crisis.
(L-R) House Financial Services
Committee Chairman Barney
Frank D-MA, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid D-NV, Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi D-CA,
and Senate Banking, Housing and
Urban Affairs Committee
Chairman Christopher Dodd D-CT,
hold a news conference at the
U.S. Captiol September 28, 2008
in Washington, DC to announce
the final bailout agreement.
A trader takes a break as the Dow
Jones Industrial Average
plummets Monday, Sept. 29,
2008, in front of the New York
Stock Exchange in New York. The
was over 700 points the worst in
decades.
KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL.COM
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Setting priorities
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LESSON 2
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LESSON 10
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FINANCE: THE BANKING AND THE AMERICAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM HISTORY, SUCCESS AND FAILURE
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