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Farewell to Dismal Year on Wall St.
Posted on December 31st, 2008 No commentsThe book has closed on the worst year for Wall Street since the Great Depression, with the Dow Jones industrials losing almost 34 percent overall in 2008. Likewise, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended the year 38.5 percent lower, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished 2008 down about 40.5 percent, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
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Wis. Ends Year With $2.5B Deficit
Posted on December 31st, 2008 No commentsThe Wisconsin state government closed its books on fiscal year 2008 with a $2.5 billion deficit, the largest in the state’s history, according to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to policy research and citizen education. Read more.
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Chicago Fed CEO, Governor to Speak
Posted on December 30th, 2008 No commentsGet a true insider’s view of Wisconsin’s current and future economic conditions from Dr. Charles Evans, president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Federal Open Market Committee Member, at the upcoming Wisconsin Economic Forecast Luncheon. Governor Jim Doyle will also speak at this event, planned for Jan. 15 at the Monona Terrace Conference Center, Madison. Read more.
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Don’t Call It a Bailout
Posted on December 30th, 2008 No commentsWisconsin’s bankers hate the word “bailout,” which many people wrongly label the offer of emergency federal capital infusion program funds. Most of the state’s banks, in fact, are very healthy, far from being in danger of being brought down by the credit crisis, writes business editor Arlen Boardman in the Appleton Post-Crescent.
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Northeast Wis. CEOs Cautious
Posted on December 29th, 2008 No commentsThe Nicolet National Bank Business Pulse poll taken Dec. 5-12 reflects the sentiments of about 600 CEOs in northeastern Wisconsin. According to the survey, 50 percent of CEOs view the current economic conditions as a threat; 47 percent have enacted additional internal expense controls; 42 percent have increased business development activities; and 42 percent have initiated a hiring freeze. Read more from the Small Business Times.
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Economy Tops Business News in ’08
Posted on December 27th, 2008 No commentsBooks will be written about what happened to the economy in 2008. The housing slump dragged on. Worries about mortgage-backed securities and other debt infected Wall Street, sending the stock market into a free fall. Mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the federal government. Weakened banks failed or merged. Read more about the top business story of the year in theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Rate Watch Service Launched
Posted on December 23rd, 2008 No commentsWaukesha-based Mid America Mortgage Services has launched a new Internet-based system designed to help homeowners take advantage of the current low mortgage rates. HomeLoanWatchDog.com monitors current rates and compares them to a customer’s existing mortgage to ensure they have the best rate, theSmall Business Times reported.
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Chicago Fed Elects New Directors
Posted on December 23rd, 2008 No commentsFederal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has finalized results for the election of seven new independent directors. Effective Jan. 1, 2009, the independent directors will join the ten current Board members representing member financial institutions in Illinois and Wisconsin. Joining the board from Wisconsin are James D. Ericson, retired chairman and CEO of Northwestern Mutual Life, Milwaukee, and Leo J. Ries, executive director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in Milwaukee. Read more.
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Executive Pay Analyzed
Posted on December 21st, 2008 No commentsBanks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals. The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue.Read the Associated Press story.
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Economic Uncertainty Plagues State
Posted on December 20th, 2008 No commentsEven though the state’s financial industry has fared better than that of the rest of the nation, Wisconsin banks saw profits dip 72 percent in the most recent quarter. Yet some are continuing to thrive in spite of the tougher climate. Park Bank of Madison saw its profits rise by 12.8 percent last quarter and has applied for a possible sale of between $7 million and $21 million in stock to the Treasury to keep making new loans here, President and CEO Jim Hegenbarth said in the Wisconsin State Journal.