Welcome to one of the most exciting beats in business—at least at the moment. We've asked Heather Landy, editor in chief of American Banker Magazine, to help explain the beat's basics.
From breaking the news about Barclays buying Lehman Brothers’ investment bank to being a commentator in The End of Wall Street, Heidi N. Moore has been in the thick of it during the highs and lows of the world financial crisis. And while Moore has spent over a decade covering mergers, acquisitions, and banks for [...]
With the stock market posting its best first-quarter gain in more than a decade, many of the 100 million or so households that didn’t win the Mega Millions jackpot last week may be getting up the nerve to take a fresh look at their retirement account statements. And people without much to spare for long-term [...]
After analyzing 20 years of Small Business Administration loan data, Bryant Ruiz Switzky of the Washington Business Journal found the number of business loans to African Americans dropped 87 percent between 2007 and 2011. That figure became part of a package of stories called Impossible Dreams. The stories explore the reasons behind the decline as [...]
Those bulky envelopes hitting investor mailboxes nationwide mean it’s once again proxy season, the dissemination of corporate financial reports ahead of annual meetings. For business geeks, perusing those deceptively generic-looking little booklets is always an exhilarating rite; from executive compensation to share performance vs. peer groups. Perhaps my favorite, related party transactions – where companies [...]
Karen Rivedal of the Wisconsin State Journal writes about how banks are offering cash incentives to delinquent borrowers to encourage short sales where homes sell for less than the mortgage due. Her article starts with the story of one woman who received $20,000. She then writes: “Cash incentives to short-sale sellers from the major national [...]
Ignites, a Financial Times publication, is looking for an experienced reporter to cover the retirement and insurance industries. This reporter will cover the key players and developments in the 401(k) and variable annuity markets. Ignites is looking for someone with some experience covering financial services, but editors say they will consider journalists with a demonstrated [...]
I realize journalists tend to roll eyes at “National Whatever Week,” often with good reason – though even the most self-serving of industry observances can sometimes lead to interesting news nuggets. Where would be be, after all, without National Farm Safety and Health Week, or New York City Restaurant Week? One of the more worthwhile [...]
With the Dow Jones industrial average bouncing off the 13,000 mark last week, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index hitting its highest level since June 2008, according to MarketWatch, stocks are making headlines again and consumers are trying to make sense of those headlines. So, you might want to weigh in with either a [...]
As the clock ticks on an expected second bailout for Greece — this one amounting to more than $170 billion dollars, according to MarketWatch, the headlines are a good opportunity to catch up with local stories about exposure to European markets — financial, consumer and wholesale, among others — among your area’s companies, investors and [...]
