Speaking at the European Central Bank Central Banking Conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said central banks are prepared to continue to work together and do more to help the global economy during the current credit crisis. In his speech, he noted, "The continuing volatility of markets and recent indicators of economic performance confirm that challenges remain. For this reason, policymakers will remain in close contact, monitor developments closely, and stand ready to take additional......

Credit card company American Express was approved to be a bank holding company, allowing it to access government funds, yesterday. The Federal Reserver released a statement saying it waived the usual 30-day waiting period due to "the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets." AmEx said it's taking almost twice as long for credit-card holders to repay loans--D.A. Davidson & Co.'s chief market strategist Frederic Dickson told Bloomberg News, "That business has totally dried......

NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy released a report (PDF) analyzing federal lending data, noting that mortgages in the city dropped 14% between 2006 and 2007 while they dropped 25% nationally. And statistics along racial lines are interesting, too: There were 44% less loans to black NYC residents and 34% less loans to Hispanics, while it was mostly unchanged for whites and Asian borrowers grew by 6%. The center's co-director Ingrid Gould......

Photograph of a computerized display showing the FTSE 100 index in London today by Akira Suemori/AP Stock markets around the world fell today, hours after the U.S.'s Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 668 points to end yesterday under 8,600. The NY Times says the "Global Markets Dive in a Relentless Selloff"--and a German equity strategist explained, "We are fighting really dire fundamentals. It will require restoring trust and confidence before a sustained rebound will......

Photograph of the board at the New York Stock Exchange at yesterday's close by Richard Drew/AP After stocks continued to slide yesterday amid worries over the credit crisis, the Treasury Department is thinking about buying stakes in U.S. banks to restore confidence. According to the NY Times, "Treasury officials say the just-passed $700 billion bailout bill gives them the authority to inject cash directly into banks that request it." Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said......

Today, it's expected that Citigroup will start firing around 10% of its investment banking group, which has 65,000 employees. It's probably that entire trading desks in New York and other cities will be eliminated. Dealbook explains the bank is moving "aggressively to complete the 2,000 layoffs that it announced last March," and these 2,000 layoffs are "on top of about 4,200 announced in January." The Wall Street Journal offered this fact: "Citigroup, which has more......