Automobile-finance companies pushed hard to get in on the government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan. Now, with the industry’s troubles expected to deepen, they are exploring further moves, including help from the Federal Reserve.
The plan outlined by the U.S. central bank Tuesday to effectively lend to companies to fund day-to-day operations will likely not include [...]

The rate of borrowing by Americans declined for the first time in 10 years during August, a sign of building stress on household finances.
Consumer credit outstanding decreased $7.9 billion in August to $2.577 trillion, according to a Tuesday report from the U.S. Federal Reserve. That follows a $5.2 billion consumer credit increase in July, which [...]

So Congress finally approved a bailout plan. Over the coming days, pundits and economists will debate the virtues and pitfalls of the $700 billion package.
 
George Soros (Reuters)

For comparison, I thought I’d serve up some of the alternative plans offered by a few concerned billionaires. The nation’s billionaires could have solved this far more quickly on [...]

Following Iceland’s banking meltdown, international financial markets have identified Hungary as another country potentially at risk of a crisis. Hungarian central bank governor András Simor spoke to Journal reporter Marcus Walker about why he thinks the market’s fears about Hungary are wrong.
WSJ: How vulnerable is Hungary to the global financial turmoil?
SIMOR: This crisis has led [...]

Mayor Mike has soared to the No. 8 spot on the Forbes list of richest Americans.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, and artist Olafur Eliasson, tour one of Mr. Eliasson’s waterfall projects, center, at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

According to Forbes, Michael Bloomberg had the biggest wealth gain of anyone on the list this year, with [...]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson said he and his Group of Seven counterparts had agreed to an “aggressive” plan to deal with a financial turmoil that has quickly ballooned into a “global event.” While the U.S. has come up with its own bank rescue plan, Paulson said other countries are considering options appropriate to their own [...]

Wall Street Journal reporters Marcus Walker and Joellen Perry spoke with German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück about the financial crisis, its fallout in Europe, and calls for a pan-European solution. 

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, left, and Economics Minister Michael Glos take part in the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin. (Reuters)

WSJ: What do you think of [...]

The luxury economy doesn’t rely on just a few investment banks. And even Manhattan has proven fairly resilient to the shocks on Wall Street in the past year.
But the fall of Lehman Brothers Holdings and the inevitable cuts at Merrill Lynch, which has agreed to be bought by Bank of America, could be the big [...]

In honor of the Beijing Olympics, Shanghai’s #1 fag hag scoured the city for info on gay sports. Everyone knows a large gay contingent can be found daily at our most popular gyms. However, did you realize Shanghai also hosts gay swimming (we’re sure Michael Phelps or Zhang Lin are welcome), badminton, table tennis, volleyball [...]