“Financial services” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shutter the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Burger King Holdings Inc. soared 15 percent Wednesday after published reports said the fast food chain was in talks to be acquired by a private equity firm. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — The 10 banks that received the most bailout aid during the financial crisis spent over $16 million on lobbying efforts in the first half of 2010, as the debate over financial regulatory reform reached its height. (more)

The parents of six deceased U.S. soldiers are suing Prudential Financial, saying it paid paltry interest on military life insurance benefits while keeping more generous interest earnings for itself. (more)

CHICAGO (AP) — A sideways stock market has investors searching for other places to make a decent return on their money. And junk bonds, for better or worse, are starting to look like gems to many. (more)

The “reality” show megahit “Jersey Shore” returns to the airwaves Thursday evening and the media hype machine is in full swing. As part of the promotional buildup, the cast of the show rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning and they drew the biggest trading floor crowd since Abbie Hoffman rained dollar bills down from the visitor’s gallery in 1967. This season the cast members, almost exclusively comprised of New Yorkers (only Sammi Sweetheart actually hails from the Garden State), will be shown adjusting to a new scene while they spend an extended sojourn in Miami’s swanky South Beach district. The “fish out of water” scenario should make for compelling television. Sort of the “Masterpiece Theatre” of bad taste. (more)

Peter Orszag, the president’s outgoing Director of the Office of Management and Budget, released the annual mid-year update to the administration’s budget projections at 3 pm last Friday afternoon in a conference call with reporters. That was a dead giveaway that the administration was hoping not to make much news with its latest budget projections, or at least not make news in a way that anyone would notice. (more)

Remember postindustrialism?  Not long ago, this catchphrase was supposed to define America’s future: no more grubby hard industries, just a clean bright world of services and high technology.  Its most succinct formulation is as follows: (more)

LONDON (AP) — Ninety-one banks. Twenty countries. One exam. So who’s going to flunk the European stress test? (more)

DUBLIN (AP) — The Moody’s agency cut Ireland’s credit rating Monday, citing the country’s swelling national debt, the unpredictable cost of its bank-bailout plans and its weak growth prospects for the next three to five years. (more)

July 16 (Bloomberg) — The imminent reshaping of U.S. banking regulation creates a new center of gravity in Washington, a consumer czar with thousands of employees, a $400 million budget and power to impose federal rules on mortgages, credit cards and lay-away plans. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the end, it’s only a beginning. (more)

The limitations imposed by the role of the states in the U.S. unemployment insurance system are the reason why a majority of workers are not protected and why even insured workers receive inadequate protection. Steven Attewell writes: “Our reconstruction of the unemployment insurance system should start from three basic principles. First, unemployment is a national problem for our single, national economy, and requires a nation-wide system to respond to it. Second, in order to protect the entire workforce from the sudden shock of wage loss and the economy from the sudden shock of consumer spending collapse, all workers need to be inside the system, contributing and protected. Third, unemployment benefits should be set at a sufficient level to keep individuals and families from falling into poverty and should be automatically extended in periods of economic decline in job losses, when normal expectations that people can find new jobs no longer apply.” (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — To the list of economic woes squeezing small banks, add another one: government bailouts. (more)

The Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, ostensibly aimed at reforming Wall Street and preventing a future financial crisis, will impose racial and gender quotas on financial institutions if passed, according to economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth. (more)

For decades, government employees at every level have received steadily increasing compensation—including salary, pensions, and health care benefits—thanks to the political clout of public employee unions. Yet that era may be coming to a close. Years of profligacy have led to the vast majority of public pensions now being significantly underfunded. State and local governments can no longer avoid the problem. For that reason, 2010 may be remembered as a turning point for government employee compensation. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first stage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is expected to provide coverage to about 1 million uninsured Americans by next year, according to government estimates. (more)

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday tightened restrictions against “pay-to-play” practices in the municipal securities market. (more)

Employment is rising at financial-services companies in New York, with bankers and insurance professionals among the most desirable of candidates in an industry still recovering from heavy losses two years ago. (more)

The president’s debt commission is facing plenty of challenges. Washington’s supercharged partisan atmosphere is going to make it hard to find common ground, and the bruising battle over health care has left both parties wary of another full-on confrontation. But the debt commission may also suffer from an unusual problem for a blue-ribbon panel: a lack of credibility. (more)