Bank Bailout Ii Lands With A Thud

摘要

We waited weeks for this? That summed up Wall Street sentiment on Feb. 10 as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the latest plan for bailing out the banks. Investors aghast at the lack of detail drove the Dow down 382 points, or 4.6%. It's true that the sheer size of the rescue effort, now dubbed the Financial Stability Plan, is impressive. It includes more capital injections in banks, but under more stringent terms; up to $1 trillion for a public-private partnership to buy bad real estate assets; as much as $1 trillion to support student, auto, consumer, small business, and commercial-mortgage lending; and a new bid to stave off zillions of home foreclosures. Senate Banking Committee members grilled Geithner skeptically, and the next day eight big-bank CEOs got knocked around by House members while insisting they're doing their patriotic duty by lending as fast as they can.