Treasury says about $110B left in bailout fund

On Tuesday April 21st, the United States Treasury Department reported that only 109.6 Billion dollars in resources remain in the government’s 700 billion dollar financial rescue fund. So far the United States Government has committed more then 117 Billion dollars to insurance giant AIG, banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America, and auto companies such as General Motors and Chrysler.
An additional 218 billion dollars has also been committed to banks to bolster their capital reserves. The federal stimulus package has also allocated more then 200 billion dollars to more then 500 banks nationwide, with even more banks continually applying for additional federal funding.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_bailout_fund;_ylt=AnpXU9ubyY7DA5.t5SzMBg2yBhIF

Obama says he'll cut wasteful programs

President Obama announced that he would eliminate dozens of wasteful and ineffective as part of an effort to restore fiscal accountability to the federal budget. Obama’s plan is to cut funds from unnecessary programs and have the government take more of a responsibility for their actions.
"As surely as our future depends on building a new energy economy, controlling healthcare costs and ensuring that our kids are once again the best educated in the world, it also depends on restoring a sense of responsibility and accountability to our federal budget," Obama said.
Due to two large bailout packages, and other subsequent expenditures, the United States has posted a $956.8 billion budget deficit for the first half of the fiscal year. That is three times larger then at this time last year. Obama has made cutting spending one of his top priorities and promises that the spending he has done in the first three months of his Presidency will not continue for the rest of it. "If we're to going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we do business in Washington," Obama said. "We need to restore the American people's confidence in their government - that it is on their side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families' needs."

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/18/news/economy/obama_address.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009041813

Banking Industry Showing Signs of a Recovery

A little over three months ago, many of the top banks in the United States were on life support. However, over the last couple days many of these same banks are beginning to recover. Recently, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have all announced that they had huge profits in the first quarter this year. Citi Bank and Bank of America also have been reporting that their profits are up, and that the worst of the recession is over.
Low federal interest rates have caused many citizens to refinance their houses at these better rates, and thus increasing consumer activity. Many analysts are now reporting that the outlook of the housing market is improving, but that we are not out of the woods yet concerning our economic problems.
“We are in the eye of the storm,” Gerard Cassidy, a banking analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “The worst is behind us for housing. For commercial real estate and corporate lending, there is still a big dark cloud.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/business/17bank.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Fed officials suggest worst of recession is over

Today, top U.S. officials offered reassurances that the worst of the economic downturn is now likely over, helped by an unprecedented effort to keep credit flowing. These same officials still however say that the recovery will be slow. When the financial crisis began in 2007, federal interest rates were at 5.25%, those rates have now been slashed down to as low as 0.25% or 0%.
An economic recovery is still reliant on the turnaround of the housing market, which has been pretty bad over the last 16-18 months. The United States and the rest of the world are by no means out of the woods yet, but will recover, it is just a matter of when.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090418/bs_nm/us_usa_fed;_ylt=AnTo.j_Manu1be4Uktoz642yBhIF

Stocks end mostly higher ahead of earnings reports

Stocks on Monday finished marginally ahead of the much anticipated first quarter earning reports that will determine whether the United States Economy is actually improving, and if so how much. Early signs have been promising so far as both Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. both posted very large but unexpected profits. Over the next week quarterly reports from Citigroup and JP Morgan will be released, those two financial companies have been hit the hardest by the recession, but also have helped lead the rally over the last month.One company that continues to struggle is General Motors, who is lining up for a June 1st bankruptcy.
"If you get a couple earnings reports that are better than the worst that people expected then that might help," said Denis Amato, chief investment officer at Ancora Advisors.
If all goes as well as predicted the Stock Market could experience a large rally over the next week, as many of the previously struggling companies post surprising profits after the first quarter. Hopefully, General Motors, with the help of the United States Government, will be able to crawl themselves out of this hole soon.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090414/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street;_ylt=AoXH33K1tcS6AzzCbltf3mmyBhIF

Obama says stimulus projects under budget

On Monday April 13th, President Barack Obama said that thousands of major infrastructure projects being undertaken as part of the economic stimulus package are currently ahead of schedule and under budget. President Obama has said that as many as 2,000 new road construction projects have been approved since February.
"By the end of next year our investment in highway projects alone will create or save 150,000 jobs, most of them in the private sector," Obama said during an appearance at the Transportation Department to plug his plan.
News like this regarding new construction projects is very good new for the state of the economy as new projects require more employees to be hired. In President Obama’s speech on Tuesday night he will be addressing the economy, and hopefully more news about its slow continual recovery.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090413/ts_nm/us_obama_infrastructure;_ylt=AkIeV0pBCa5gYNzmTx3G_qjv5rEF

Surging Wall Street faces earnings season test

After four consecutive weeks of growth by the Dow Jones, this next week will provide the next test determining the overall health of the U.S. economy. Even with less then stellar news coming out lately regarding record job losses and troublesome news about GM and Chrysler, the stock market has remained relatively stable and actually seen some growth. This has actually caused many economic experts to say that the worst is over, but that remains to be seen. The next key test will be when the first quarter earnings reports are released over the nest couple days.
According to economic experts, unemployment will be the last thing to recover, as sales must increase and business owners will increase hours of current employees before they start hiring again. That is why everyone keeps saying that unemployment will continue to rise even with a slight increase in sales.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090404/bs_afp/stocksusweekly;_ylt=Av90ajZP.weD5iO1SBbQ5lWyBhIF

Empty Tables Threaten Some Restaurant Chains

As a direct result of the struggling economy, people are cutting back on their expenditures including going out to eat. Restaurants all over the United States are struggling, even the well-known family restaurants including Applebee’s, Red Lobster, and Outback Steakhouse. One of the main contributors to these companies’ struggles include basically the building of too many restaurants. Since 1990, the number of restaurants and bars in the United States has increased 49%, from 361,000 to 537,000. The United States’ population has grown just 23% during that same period of time.
After 16 consecutive years of economic growth, companies now have to face the consequences of their decisions to quickly expand and acquire more assets. Larger chain restaurants including Outback Steakhouse have been forced to make numerous menu changes including offering an increased amount of entrees at new low rates to lure customers and increase sales in order to decrease their more then 300 million dollars worth of debt. However, not all restaurants are struggling as a result of the economy. Fast food chains including McDonalds and Taco Bell have been thriving as a result of their dollar menu items and by offering combo meals at less then five dollars. There is not a doubt that the effect the economy is having is causing a ripple effect felt throughout the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/business/04restaurant.html?_r=1&ref=business

Unemployment soars to 8.5 pct.; 13 million jobless

Unemployment in the United States has now reached 8.5%, the highest in more then 25 years. That 8.5% percent translates into about 13 million Americans that are now without a job. Even with the economy beginning to experience slight improvements, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke beliefs that the recession may end as early as this fall, the jobless rate is expected to reach more then 10%. However, not all news is bad currently, because the Dow Jones rose for the fourth consecutive week and is now above 8,000 for the first time in more then two months.
Even Americans that have been lucky enough to hold onto their job have not been unaffected by the recession. The average work week for the month of March dropped to 33.2 hours, a record low. Surprisingly, with so many people losing their jobs as a result of the economic climate there has not been one individual industry that is being hit the hardest. Construction companies, factories, retailers and even the federal government cut thousands of jobs. The Federal Government has taken many steps to help curtail this poor economy by slashing interest rates, budget cuts, and the 787 billion dollar stimulus package.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Unemployment-soars-to-85-pct-apf-14850511.html