Archive for January, 2009

Oh great. How long will it take to notify all the card holders involved in this one?

A New Jersey credit-card processor disclosed a data breach that analysts said may rank among the biggest ever reported.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. said Tuesday that cyber criminals compromised its computer network, gaining access to customer information associated with the 100 million card transactions it handles each month.

The company said it couldn’t estimate how many customer records may have been improperly accessed, but said the data compromised include the information on a card’s magnetic strip — card number, expiration date and some internal bank codes — that could be used to duplicate a card.

The last time they discovered a breach somewhere I got three different debit cards in 2 months.

After hearing President Obama’s speech, I guess the bankers realized things weren’t as hopeful as they thought.

Wall Street ushered in the Barack Obama presidency with a record Inauguration Day drop on Tuesday amid fresh signs the global bank crisis was far from over.

High expectations for details on how the new administration would address the growing banking crisis and faltering economy were dampened after the inauguration speech concluded with little new information to digest.

If they thought things were tough before, wait until they get that change he spoke about on the campaign trail.

Authorities are still looking for Mr. Nadel.

Around the same time he mysteriously vanished, hedge fund manager Arthur G. Nadel owed a $50 million payout to some of the investors who had entrusted their life savings to him, an accountant said Monday.

Instead, they learned their money was gone — and now they’re left asking if it was all a bad investment, or if they were scammed.

Have they checked Mr. Madoff’s penthouse yet?

It’s nice to know that the government in California has their priorities straight.

California’s fiscal future lurched yet another step toward oblivion on Friday as state Controller John Chiang announced he could no longer make payments for services to disabled and blind people who need the money to pay for rent and food.

Chiang said payments would most likely have to be stopped by Feb. 1.

When the bailouts started I said it was the beginning of creating a centralized bank in America.

Two weeks after closing its purchase of Merrill Lynch at the urging of U.S. regulators, the government cemented a deal at midnight Thursday to supply Bank of America with a fresh $20 billion capital injection and absorb as much as $98.2 billion in losses on toxic assets, according to people involved in the transaction.

…

The second lifeline brings the government’s total stake in Bank of America to $45 billion and makes it the bank’s largest shareholder, with a stake of about 6 percent.

It seems we’re almost there. Bank Of America will soon be The Bank Of America.

It appears that Circuit City was unable to find a sucker someone to buy their remaining assets.

Circuit City Stores Inc. says it has reached an agreement with liquidators to sell the merchandise in its 567 U.S. stores after failing to find a buyer or a refinancing deal.

The second-biggest electronics retailer in the nation says in court papers it has appointed Great American Group LLC, Hudson Capital Partners LLC, SB Capital Group LLC and Tiger Capital Group LLC as liquidators.

Too bad our local store already closed, I might have been able to get a good deal there.

Will JPMorgan need help too?

JPMorgan Chase & Co’s fourth-quarter profit plunged 76 percent as it wrote down bad loans, signaling that even the bank that has avoided the worst of the credit crunch is struggling with the recession.

The bank turned a profit only because of special items; and after Moody’s Investors Service cut the bank’s debt rating one notch to AA3, its shares dropped as much as 4.5 percent before recovering.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they show up at the White House door with their own little tin cup.

Thank you. May I have another?

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, may get more aid from the government to help absorb losses tied to this month’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., three people familiar with the matter said.

Details are likely to be disclosed on Jan. 20, the people said. That’s when Bank of America may post its first quarterly loss in 17 years as it digests the purchases of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial Corp. The combined company has already received $25 billion from the U.S.

When will this madness end? Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?

Is this a sign that things are much worse than we thought?

Goody’s LLC, a privately held family apparel retailer that emerged from bankruptcy in October, has filed for Chapter 11 protection again, and said it plans to liquidate its remaining 282 stores.

A “significant downturn in the national economy caused severe and unexpected financial pressures,” and led to “unexpectedly poor” sales in the holiday season, Goody’s said in a Tuesday filing with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Several retailers have filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months, including Boscov’s Inc, Circuit City Stores Inc (CCTYQ.PK) and KB Toys Inc.

I don’t think so. It probably means that the company was weak after emerging from bankruptcy in October and probably should have closed then.

WaMu was dying. WaMu was bleeding cash. JPMorgan Chase steps in and saves WaMu. How do they choose to spend their money? By wasting $375 million to rebrand some of their branches.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Tuesday that it will rebrand Washington Mutual’s California branches with the Chase name on March 30.

The overhaul of WaMu’s 708 bank branches will cost $300 million, and another $75 million will be spent opening 20 more Chase branches in California this year.

Genius. Next thing you know JPMorgan Chase will be asking for a bailout.