Financial Markets

For stressed-out investors, this is not a time for the faint of heart. The Federal Reserve's plan to buy massive amounts of short-term commercial paper is just the latest extraordinary response to jittery investors who have left the financial markets high and dry as Wall Street's woes spill onto Main Street. Such bold government intervention is meant to allay fears and make it easier for businesses to borrow money. But the negative fallout from the credit crisis seems to have lost little momentum worldwide despite recent government bailouts and the Fed's stabilizing action yesterday.

The purpose of this letter is to express my strong objection to Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's proposal to float a $250 million Pension Obligation Bond (POB). Words make it difficult to accurately express my opposition. I believe that it is a fiscally irresponsible and risky proposal to fix a problem. In my opinion, it represents an extreme amount of risk for the taxpayers of Baltimore County. You cannot borrow your way out of debt! Supporters of this financial gimmick generally hype the proposed benefits and rarely take into consideration the risk/reward consequences.

Financial markets are closed today for the Fourth of July. Normal operations resume tomorrow.

A report that theU.S. Department of Justicehas opened criminal investigations into allegations that Wall Street's biggest banks conspired to rig interest rates tied to trillions of dollars in investments should hearten Baltimore City officials who have filed a related civil suit. It's still too early to know whether Baltimore can force Wall Street to repay the millions of dollars in losses it claims to have suffered, but as the lead plaintiff in a case involving hundreds of investors who believe there were bilked by the alleged scheme, the city is right to make every effort to hold the perpetrators accountable.

U.S. financial markets will be closed today for Christmas.

Because financial markets were closed yesterday in observance of Thanksgiving, no tables appear in today's editions.

Because U.S. financial markets were closed yesterday for Thanksgiving, no market data appear in today's editions.

Because U.S. financial markets were closed yesterday for the Labor Day holiday, there are no market listings in today's editions.

When the economy is at its worst, it's generally those who were in need to begin with who suffer the most. During times like these, the agencies they rely on to help them get by are similarly struggling to make ends meet. Just like the department stores, nonprofits look forward to the holidays as the time when a goodly portion of their annual income arrives. But with wages stagnating and unemployment lingering at 9 percent, donations don't come in at the same clip they did before the recession of 2008.

Peter Morici writes that "Democrats deserve to lose Congress" (Oct. 19)? Please, Mr. Morici, your column contains too many startling oversimplifications. China entered the World Trade Organization while Bill Clinton was president, but with support — or pressure — from many large corporations that then outsourced thousands of jobs to lower paid workers. Their loyalty was to profits, not American workers. Deregulation of the financial markets and an unnecessary war that was fought on credit are the main causes of our current predicament.

Fueled by a steady recovery in the financial markets and increasing investor confidence, T. Rowe Price Group reported Thursday sharp increases in revenue and profit for last year's fourth quarter. The Baltimore money manager had revenue of $542.6 million in the quarter - a 30 percent increase over the $415.9 million it posted in the same quarter in 2008. Net income climbed to $152.5 million, or 57 cents per share, up from $24.3 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter - an amount that reflected a one-time charge of $88 million related to the firm's investments in sponsored mutual funds.

Fueled by a steady recovery in the financial markets and increasing investor confidence, T. Rowe Price Group on Thursday reported sharp increases in revenue and profit for last year's fourth quarter. The Baltimore money manager had revenue of $542.6 million in the quarter — a 30 percent increase over the $415.9 million it posted in the same quarter in 2008. Net income climbed to $152.5 million, or 57 cents per share, up from $24.3 million, or 9 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter — an amount that at the time reflected a one-time charge of $88 million that detracted from greater profitability.

WASHINGTON -The White House raised the prospect yesterday that the price tag for bailing out the nation's financial system could more than double to nearly $1.5 trillion. President Barack Obama's 2010 budget outline, released yesterday, warns that, should economic conditions worsen, an additional $750 billion could be required on top of the $700 billion financial rescue fund authorized by Congress last fall. "We hope that it will not be necessary," Peter R. Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said of doubling the fund.

For stressed-out investors, this is not a time for the faint of heart. The Federal Reserve's plan to buy massive amounts of short-term commercial paper is just the latest extraordinary response to jittery investors who have left the financial markets high and dry as Wall Street's woes spill onto Main Street. Such bold government intervention is meant to allay fears and make it easier for businesses to borrow money. But the negative fallout from the credit crisis seems to have lost little momentum worldwide despite recent government bailouts and the Fed's stabilizing action yesterday.

Despite a tumultuous weekend of bipartisan negotiations to rework the Bush administration's $700 billion proposal to resolve the U.S. financial crisis, House Republicans revolted yesterday and led a stunning rout of the president's plan. They blamed partisan politics for their vote against the package, but that was pure political grandstanding. And it won't help the country overcome the grave financial crisis threatening it. These are many of the same Republicans who supported an unfettered free market economy with few regulations and limited government oversight - the very scenario that experts say led to the kind of creative financing in the mortgage industry underlying the current financial meltdown.

T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based global investment management company, offered its view on the financial market crisis in a perspective issued last week. Here is an excerpt: Investors have been rattled by the extraordinarily rapid chain of events rocking U.S. financial markets and reverberating through world markets. This financial crisis mirrors familiar elements of past crises in which credit stopped flowing. At the same time, U.S. government intervention in financial markets is at its highest since the 1930s.