New York, NY —

Jerry Storch, CEO of Toys R Us, on weathering the recession.

New York, NY —

How New York Publishers are coping with the financial turmoil.

New York, NY —

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the self-appointed cop of troubled insurer AIG, announced today that Edward Liddy, AIG's chief executive, is taking a pay cut. He'll make $1 a year henceforth, and other executives will have their salaries frozen. US taxpayers own a more than 80 percent stake in AIG.

Today the Dow gained 36 points, to finish up four tenths of a percent.

Also today, the Federal government announced an $800 billion package aimed at thawing the consumer debt markets. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had this to say:

PAULSON: The Federal Reserve facility will enable a broad range of institutions to step up their lending, enabling borrowers to have access to lower cost consumer finance and small business loans.

REPORTER: Under the plan, The Federal Reserve will lend as much as $200 billion to the owners of securities backed by assets like credit card loans, student loans, and car loans.

The idea is to entice consumers to make big purchases again. But some news organizations have been warning of a resurgence of predatory debt restructurers targeting people who are already in a lot of debt. If you're looking for a reputable advisor on restructuring your consumer debt, you may want to contact the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

New York, NY —

The next Treasury secretary was there when Bear Stearns was rescued, and Lehman Brothers drowned. What should senators ask him before they give him the keys to the Treasury?

New York, NY —

US stocks rallied today on word that president-elect Barack Obama has picked Tim Geitner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to be treasury chief.

But more ominous signs from Citigroup are keeping the financial mood sour, certainly here in New York. Greg David, editorial director of Crains New York Business, joined us to discuss the financial news of the day.

New York, NY —

Stocks dropped through the floor today as Democrats chose to delay action on bailing out the auto industry. The Dow sunk even further below 8,000, down 445 point to 7552, a 5.5 percent drop. The Nasdaq also fell more than 5 percent down 70 points to 1316. The S & P 500 was the biggest loser today down nearly seven percent, a loss of 54 points to 752. James Kwak, one of the authors of the blog "Baseline Scenario," recaps the financial news of the day.

New York, NY —

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says one reason he's abandoned plans to buy up toxic mortgage securities is that they are just too hard to put a concrete value on, since no one else is interested in buying them.

But that hasn't stopped his colleagues at the Federal Reserve from making emergency loans to banks, totaling $2 trillion so far this year, and taking bad assets as collateral.

Put another way, the Fed has already lent out about seven times as much money as the Treasury has spent. It's attracted a lot less media attention and we the taxpayers can't independently assess how risky those bets are.

Bloomberg News has been trying to get to the bottom of the story. They've filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Federal Reserve.

But as Bloomberg News editor in chief Matt Winkler told Brooke Gladstone recently on On The Media, so far, they've been unable to get even the most basic facts.

New York, NY —

Should Albany raise taxes on the very richest New Yorkers in order to plug the budget hole?

New York, NY —

Real estate moguls huddled in the Waldorf-Astoria yesterday, and WNYC’s Lisa Chow was there.

New York, NY —

President Bush warns against too much oversight of Wall Street, but Michael Greenber of the University of Maryland thinks differently.