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Climate cash up in smoke
MORE than $5.5 billion has been spent by federal governments during the past decade on climate change programs that are delivering only small reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

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Gillard won’t help War Memorial
THEY’VE wasted billions on bungled schemes but the governments can’t find just $5 million for the Australian War Memorial.

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Fannie, Freddie reforms could threaten rental market
It is easy to find critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant lending agencies that became wards of the nation after enormous losses in the single-family housing market.

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Investors File Suit Against Georgia-Based Bank
ATLANTA—Feb. 14, 2011— Partners in Shi Investments One LLC today announced it has named Park Ave Bank of Valdosta, Ga., high on the FDIC’s ‘Watch List’ as another possible Georgia community bank failure, in a bank fraud lawsuit as a co-conspirator in colluding with Atlanta real estate developer and political operative “Shi” Shailendra to defraud real estate investors.

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Asian Markets End In Positive Territory
All the markets across the Asia/Pacific region ended the trading session on Monday in positive territory with moderate gains, led by easing geopolitical concerns in Egypt, return or normalcy to trade across the Suez Canal and increasing optimism about global economic recovery. Positive closing on Wall Street on Friday and higher commodity prices in the international market also lifted market …

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Cuts, Deficit Highlight 2012 Budget Blueprint, But Battles Loom in Washington
Listen to the Audio GWEN IFILL: President Obama kicked off what is shaping up to be a pitched battle over the budget today. But emboldened Republicans are kicking back. Ray Suarez begins our coverage. RAY SUAREZ: The president’s annual budget blueprint arrived on Capitol Hill this morning, the price tag $3.73 trillion, and a record $1.6 trillion deficit, the highest dollar amount ever. Mr. Obama …

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Owner occupied housing finance up 2.1%
The ABS announces Australian housing finance commitments for owner-occupied housing for December.

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Afghan bankers accused in fake check scheme
Nine employees of Afghanistan’s Central Bank and of a troubled private bank have been accused of stealing $1.5 million through a fake check scheme, officials said Monday.

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Downey Man Could Receive 15 Years Prison For Running Ponzi Scheme
Prosecutors are expected to ask a judge today to send a man to prison for 15 years for running a Ponzi scheme that took in about $30 million as well as a scam that preyed on homeowners facing foreclosure.

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Afghan bankers accused in fake check scheme
Nine employees of Afghanistan’s Central Bank and of a troubled private bank have been accused of stealing $1.5 million through a fake check scheme, officials said Monday.

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Painful cuts in Obama’s $3.7 trillion budget
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — President Obama on Monday will unveil a $3.7 trillion budget request for 2012 that proposes painful cuts in many government programs but fails to address the largest drivers of the country’s long-term debt: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

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FOCUS-Banks scramble to save costs as interest rates soar
* IOB, REC, IDBI Bank to raise cheaper funds overseas

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Nordic American Tanker Shipping’s 4Q10 Report; The Company Remains Highly Committed to Its Dividend Policy and …
HAMILTON, BERMUDA–(Marketwire – 02/14/11) – Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT – News ) Link to the complete 4Q10 dividend report: http://hugin.info/201/R/1488489/423906.pdf Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (“NAT” or “the Company”) announced today that the Company has declared a dividend of $0.25 per share for 4Q10, the same dividend as for 4Q09. The …

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UK govt. offers to replace debt advice
The British government says it will keep free debt advice alive after scrapping former debt advice service, the Financial Inclusion Fund, last week.

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Obama Budget Proposal: Cuts To Target Working Poor, Middle Class & Students (LIVE UPDATES)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, less than two months after signing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans into law, is poised to propose a budget to congress that attacks programs that assist the working poor, help the needy heat their homes, expand access to graduate-level education and undermine that type of community-based organizations that gave the president his start in Chicago.

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Politics and upcoming election will determine stock market performance
Politics is far more important than interest rates where the Thai stock market is concerned, because people are waiting for the exact date of the general elections to be announced, Christopher Wood, managing director and global equity strategist at Hong Kong-based CLSA Research, explained.

Read more on The Nation – Thailand’s English news

Personal bankruptcy filings in Colorado rose 17.2% last year
A rising number of people filed for bankruptcy protection last year in Colorado, even as the number of businesses doing so declined for the first time in four years.

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Find cheap or free means to file taxes
If you are a low- to moderate-income taxpayer and you shell out any money to have your taxes done, you’re likely paying too much. Nowadays, with all sorts of avenues for filers of modest means to get their taxes done for free, paying someone to do the job is an unnecessary expense.

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Financially Speaking: Know rules on borrowing from a life insurance policy
One of the basic components of a comprehensive personal financial plan is an analysis of risk exposure.

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Quicken says it doesn’t owe OT as trial opens
(AP:DETROIT) Quicken Loans employees were highly trained sales agents who deserve overtime after “pounding the phones” 60 to 70 hours per week at the online mortgage giant, a lawyer told jurors Tuesday.

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Obama budget to cut $1.1 trillion in deficits
President Obama on Monday will propose a 2012 federal budget that the White House says will cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over 10 years.

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White House wants less gov’t in mortgage system
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants to shrink the government’s role in the mortgage system – a proposal that would remake decades of federal policy aimed at getting Americans to buy homes and would probably make home loans more expensive across the board.

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Obama budget to cut $1.1 trillion in deficits
President Obama on Monday will propose a 2012 federal budget that the White House says will cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over 10 years.

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White House wants less government in mortgage system
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants to shrink the government’s role in the mortgage system — a proposal that would remake decades of federal policy aimed at getting Americans to buy homes and would probably make home loans more expensive across the board.

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Regulators Shut Banks in 4 States
Banks Close in Fla., Mich., Wis. and Calif., Lifting Number of Bank Failures this Year to 18

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Get Help Applying For College Financial Aid
College Tuition can be a huge expense for any family, but now there’s an opportunity to get help applying for financial aid

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PAL, PALEA mull partial settlement of labor issues
MANILA, Philippines – The ground crew union and management of local carrier Philippine Airilnes (PAL) have agreed to consider a partial settlement of their disputes before the Office of the President hands down its decision over the year-long labor row.

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SEC charges ex-IndyMac execs with fraud
A former chief executive of failed mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp and two former chief financial officers were accused of securities fraud for concealing the bank’s financial condition, U.S. securities regulators said on Friday.

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Leadership race in housing loan mkt exposes SBI to RBI strictures
Early this year, the State Bank of India went public with its plea to the Reserve Bank of India not to charge a higher provisioning cost for its ‘teaser’ housing loans. The bank felt it was like a slap on the wrist, for crimes it did not commit.

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Phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Here’s White House’s plan.
What to do about the mortgage market may be the largest unaddressed question from the economic downturn. The mortgage market is still heavily reliant on loan guarantees from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant corporations brought under government conservatorship in 2008 in a costly taxpayer bailout.

Read more on The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News

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