“Men Who Cook event set at Grand River Center - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

Men Who Cook event set at Grand River Center - Dubuque Telegraph Herald
Bernanke pushes for consumer protections - MSN Money
Stocks start new quarter in sell mode - CNN Money
Northern Trust Announces Management Changes in Dallas - Biloxi Sun Herald
Bernanke, in Nod to Critics, Suggests Board of Regulators - New York Times

Men Who Cook event set at Grand River Center - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:53 AM PDT

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Bernanke pushes for consumer protections - MSN Money

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 08:36 AM PDT

Ben Bernanke © Larry Downing/Reuters/Landov Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is on Capitol Hill this morning, talking about consumer protection.

Bernanke reiterated his position that consumer protection is "vitally important," but the Fed chief did not talk about the idea of a new independent agency to handle consumer protection issues.

Bing: Read more about Ben Bernanke

"Policymakers should ensure that consumers are protected from unfair and deceptive practices in their financial dealings," Bernanke said to a House Financial Services Committee.

Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has started work on creating an independent agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, that would pull consumer-protection supervision and enforcement responsibility away from the Fed and other bank regulators. It would be responsible for overseeing consumer protection regarding mortgages and credit cards.

Bernanke has said that he would back such an agency but does not want any responsibilities taken from the Fed. The Fed and other regulators have been criticized by Frank and other lawmakers for failing to protect consumers from subprime and other problem loans.

Read Bernanke's testimony

"To further encourage a more comprehensive and holistic approach to financial oversight, all federal financial supervisors and regulators -- not just the Federal Reserve -- should be directed and empowered to take account of risks to the broader financial system," Bernanke said.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has said he is in favor of consolidating the regulators.

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Stocks start new quarter in sell mode - CNN Money

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 08:08 AM PDT

NEW YORK(CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Thursday after a bigger-than-expected rise in weekly jobless claims and a weaker-than-expected reading on manufacturing sparked worries about the pace of the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 141 points, or 1.5%, more than 90 minutes into the session. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 19 points, or 1.8%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) shed 47 points, or 2.2%.

Stocks slipped Wednesday at the end of an otherwise strong third quarter, in which the major gauges all gained around 15%. The selloff continued Thursday as investors sorted through a heavy batch of economic news.

A recent spate of weaker-than-consensus economic reports have raised concerns about the strength of the economic recovery, sending stocks lower. That trend continued Thursday.

"We're getting a sense that while things have bottomed, we are not getting a significant snap back," said Haag Sherman, managing director at Salient Partners. "We're going through a process where corporate profits will be robust, but the economic recovery will be spotty."

Economy: The Institute for Supply Management's September ISM index fell to 52.6 from 52.9 in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 54.

Also on the downside, weekly jobless claims jumped more than expected last week. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment increased to 551,000 from 534,000 the previous week. Economists thought it would rise to 535,000.

On the upside, the index of pending home sales rose 6.4% in August versus forecasts for a rise of 1%. The index, from the National Association of Realtors, increased 3.2% in the previous month.

Personal income and spending both rose more than had been anticipated in August, according to a Commerce Department report released Thursday. Personal income rose 0.2% after rising 0.2% in the previous month. Economists thought it would rise 0.1%. Spending rose 1.3% after rising 0.3% in the previous month. Economists thought it would rise 1.1%

Another government report showed construction spending edged up 0.8% in August after falling 1.1% in July. Economists thought it would fall 0.1%.

Bernanke: Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is testifying at a House Financial Services hearing on the central bank's perspective on proposed reforms to the financial regulatory system.

Bernanke backed most of Obama's plan for overhauling the regulatory system, with the exception of a consumer agency.

Companies: Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) has disputed reports that it is in talks to buy part of General Electric (GE, Fortune 500)'s NBC Universal. Comcast shares fell nearly 6% in morning trading, while GE shares fell 1.3%.

Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) said it is buying Norway's Tandberg ASA, a video conferencing hardware maker, for $3 billion in cash.

Late Wednesday, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) said that CEO and president Ken Lewis is retiring on Dec. 31 after 40 years with the company. BofA did not name a successor.

Also late Wednesday, General Motors said it is shutting down its Saturn division after a deal to sell it to Penske Automotive Group (PAG, Fortune 500) fell apart.

World markets: Global markets tumbled. In Europe, London's FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX all slipped in afternoon trading. Asian markets ended lower.

Currency and commodities: The dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for October delivery rose 23 cents to $70.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the government reported a surprise drop in inventories.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $5.70 to $1003.60 an ounce. Gold closed at a record high of $1,020.20 two weeks ago.

Bonds: Treasury prices slumped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.24% from 3.30% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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Northern Trust Announces Management Changes in Dallas - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:18 AM PDT

"We are thrilled to announce Pat's new leadership role in the Dallas market, a vital part of Northern Trust's Southwest region," said MacLellan. "With 30 years of experience in wealth management, Pat will undoubtedly enhance our local presence as we continue to grow throughout Dallas."

Dewain Hill will assume expanded responsibility for Northern Trust's banking and lending operations in Texas, Arizona and Colorado as new Southwest Region Chief Credit and Banking Officer. Previously responsible for Northern Trust's banking and lending activities throughout Texas, Hill will remain in Dallas where he has more than 30 years of banking experience.

Additionally, Senior Investment Manager Cliff Demarest has been named Managing Director of Wealth Advisory Services in Dallas. Serving the Dallas market for four years, Demarest has advised numerous local endowment, foundation, and high net worth clients.

"In his more than 10 years with Northern Trust, Dewain has demonstrated a strong commitment to client service. The Arizona and Colorado markets will benefit from his focus on the complex banking needs of affluent individuals and families," said MacLellan. "Additionally, Cliff's experience providing comprehensive wealth management solutions will further our ability to provide customized advice and objective solutions through our sophisticated wealth advisory platform."

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, banking solutions and fiduciary services for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has offices in 18 U.S. states and 16 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of June 30, 2009, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$3.2 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$558.9 billion. For 120 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining exceptional service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit www.northerntrust.com.

SOURCE Northern Trust

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Bernanke, in Nod to Critics, Suggests Board of Regulators - New York Times

Posted: 01 Oct 2009 08:15 AM PDT

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke told skeptical lawmakers on Thursday that the Fed should be put in charge of regulating the nation's biggest financial institutions.

But in a nod to critics who have expressed alarm about the Fed's immense power during the financial crisis, Mr. Bernanke said responsibility for monitoring broader risks in the financial system should go to a council of regulators.

"We should seek to marshal the collective expertise and information of all financial supervisors to identify and respond to developments that threaten the stability of the system as a whole," he said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

A council of regulators, Mr. Bernanke said, including the agencies that now exert narrow authority over various types of financial companies, would be able to monitor risks that ripple across the financial sector as pension and hedge funds, investment banks, commercial and mortgage lenders, and others do business with one another and invent products and services that are especially difficult to monitor.

Mr. Bernanke asked Congress, which is working on legislation to overhaul the financial regulatory system, to "support a reorientation of individual agency mandates to include not only the responsibility to oversee the individual firms or markets within each agency's scope of authority, but also the responsibility to try to identify and respond to the risks those entities may pose, either individually or through their interactions with other firms or markets, to the financial system more broadly."

He said the Fed's existing powers and experience make it well suited to act as the "consolidated supervisor" for the largest and most complex institutions — the ones whose health is important to the whole financial system.

Working with other regulators, he said, the Fed is developing new capital standards and other regulations for these institutions, including requiring them to hold more capital than current regulations demand, or to maintain more capital in the form of common equity or its equivalent in order to better absorb the shock of unexpected losses.

Mr. Bernanke went so far as to argue that the government should penalize companies, through higher capital requirements, for becoming "too big to fail."

He said the stiffer capital requirements would "reduce the incentives for financial firms to become very large in order to be perceived as too big to fail."

But both Democratic and Republicans lawmakers made it clear they wanted to reduce some of the Fed's power.

"I am not alone in my concern about the Fed as a systemic regulator," said Representative E. Scott Garrett, Republican of New Jersey. Republicans have proposed restricting the central bank's power to setting monetary policy.

Democrats would strip the Fed of its authority over consumer protection issues on mortgages, credit cards and other loans. They would put those into a new consumer financial protection agency — a move the banking industry is fighting.

They would also limit the Fed's sweeping power to bail out firms and take other emergency actions under "unusual and exigent circumstances."

Mr. Bernanke stayed out of the battle over a consumer protection agency, though he did say the Fed now believes there are some financial products that ought to be prohibited.