Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has decided to bring the hammer of his authority crashing down on the executive pay packages of the seven firms receiving the most federal aid. According to media reports, Feinberg and the government will limit the pay of the twenty five highest-paid executives at these companies, with salaries taking the biggest cuts.
In all, salaries are expected to plummet 90 percent on average and total compensation will most likely fall by about 50 percent, marking a huge decrease in the amount that many executives will be receiving as compensation this year. The executives of AIG’s financial products …read more

Small businesses are all but starving for cash after the financial crisis has left many of the largest banks unwilling to lend money. President Obama hopes to reverse this trend by introducing a series of initiatives that will hopefully increase bank lending to small businesses, the cornerstone of the American economy.
Among the programs that Obama plans to incorporate is a program that would increase the maximum amount of money that businesses can borrow through the Small Business Administration’s main loan program, which currently stands at $2 million.
The Federal Reserve will also allow wider access to the TARP program, which will …read more

Do you feel that the government that is in place now, has transparency when it comes to social media? Currently and in times past, do you feel that the Presidential environment openly use social media to communicate with the masses? No longer are the masses OK with a message that is watered down.
The masses are wanting the government to have openiness when it comes to using social media as one of the ways that they have chosen to communicate. Some of the ways that the current government is using social media are:

YouTube channel – White House
Twitter – White House
Twitter – …read more

As a leader, making sure that your team members connect is one of important responsibilities that you may have. A team that is connect means that if an issue arises, then the team works together to solve the issue. One example of a connected team that we have from recent history is The Obama Presidential Election team. I would call it the “Obama Connection” because they used Web 3.0 strategies to connect with supports to not only raise money but also votes.
In reviewing the “Obama Connection”, you can see that they used social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter …read more

Is your bank stressed? The tests are in and 10 out of 19 banks tested did not pass. Here’s some of the opinion swirling around the stress tests.
Douglas McIntyre at Daily Finance broke down the three categories of stressed (or not so stressed) banks, and how they will proceed from here.
Based on the leaked information and how the banks stocks have traded over the last week, Wall Street believes that most banks are in relatively good shape. What should concern investors is that, if the economy does not get better soon, then the “stress tests” were not rigorous enough and …read more

Earlier today, the Obama administration announced plans to expand the help available for those affected by the housing crisis. During the housing boom, many mortgage lenders offered second loans to potential homebuyers so that they’d be able to purchase real estate even without a down payment. Obama’s new plan would offer incentives to lenders to help consumers dealing with these piggyback loans.
Second loans are affecting about half of all homeowners struggling with ther mortgages. Unfortunately, homeowners who are trying to refinance for a lower monthly payment need permission from the company holding the second mortgage, and this a roadblock for …read more

Yesterday the Obama Administration revealed their three-part Public-Private Investment Program to clean up so-called toxic assets off bank books. Here’s the plan.
Part 1 – Bundling Whole Mortgages
Under one component of the plan, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will provide oversight for a program of bundled mortgages. Banks will group whole mortgages together to sell to private investors. The FDIC will then auction these off. Making the investment attractive is the fact that the government would lend up to 85% of the purchase price for each portfolio of mortgages. (See my post on leverage from last week.)
Part 2 – Pooled Mortgages
While the bundling …read more

What happened this week in the money?

Games Industry Biz reported on a Tiga study that reveals UK video game industry seeks financing options and tax relief similar to what the Brits have done for film.
Bruce Watson at Daily Finance weighed in on Obama’s controversial endorsement of the stock market.
peHub reported on the sale of tuition micro-financer TuitionU.comto GreenNote Inc., a micro finance and social networking company. What’s micro-financing and what’s it got to do with social networking? Find out on GreenNote.
Carter Dougherty at the New York Time wrote about governments’ efforts to revive private finance markets, specifically  Japan’s move to …read more

U.S. President Barack Obama formally nominated former Washington Governor Gary Locke for commerce secretary on Wednesday. Locke was Obama’s third choice for the job.
His first nomination was New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Richardson withdrew his name amidst fearing a federal investigation would delay the process. Obama’s second choice was Republican Senator Judd Gregg (New Hampshire). Nine days after the President announced his nomination, Gregg also withdrew, citing policy differences. He went on to vote against the stimulus bill.
Locke hopes to concentrate on technology and expanding markets for U.S. goods, creating jobs and increasing entrepreneurship.
“The Department of Commerce can and will …read more

Yesterday, Publishers Weekly announced that Barnes and Nobel had canceled their 10,000 book order of Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency. The book, written by Robert Kuttner and published by Chelsea Green is scheduled to be officially launched at the Democratic Convention which starts on August 25.
The reason Barnes and Nobel canceled the order, according to PW, because Chelsea Green has signed an early exclusive agreement with Amazon. The sense is that Amazon’s attempt to get a lock on print-on-demand is costing independent bookstores and authors significant money.
Hut Landon, executive director of the …read more