Postcards
Power Point: Restore faith
February 10, 2009: 6:22 PM ET"Our challenge is much greater today because the American people have lost faith in the leaders of our financial institutions and are skeptical that their government has – to this point – used taxpayers' money in ways that will benefit them. This has to change."
-- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a speech introducing the Financial Stability Plan. Geithner said that the government will "require banking institutions to go through a carefully designed comprehensive stress test, to use the medical term. We want their balance sheets cleaner, and stronger."
He added, "We will have to try things we've never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse and progress is uneven or interrupted." But, echoing President Obama's urgent pleas to Congress to pass the stimulus package, Geithner stressed the need to act: "There is more risk and greater cost in gradualism than in aggressive action."
The market wasn't convinced. The Dow dropped 382 points, or 4.6%, closing at its lowest level since Nov. 20. Many experts had believed that Nov. 20 was the low of the bear market. Maybe not, after all. -- Jessica Shambora
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Power Point: Fight for the little guy
"There are some people in the Republican Party who resent the idea of helping others. But the market is broken right now, and unless we intervene, these people and the economy won't be helped."
-- FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair in today's New York Times. The voice in Washington for millions of homeowners facing foreclosure, Bair insists that economic recovery depends on their rescue, financed by billions in taxpayer dollars. As the MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Dec 11, 2008 5:18 PM ETPosted in: banks, FDIC, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, loans, mortgages, politics, Postcards, Power Point, Sheila Bair, Treasury, Washington, White House -
Power Point: Buffett on 0% interest rates
Warren Buffett emailed this note to the directors of his company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tuesday after he heard that the U.S. Treasury sold $32 billion in 4-week bills at a yield of 0%:
"This should be bullish for Berkshire. With great foresight, I long ago entered the mattress business in a big way through our furniture operation. Now mattresses have become fully competitive as a place to put your money, and sales MORE
Patricia Sellers - Dec 9, 2008 7:28 PM ETPosted in: berkshire hathaway, BRK.B, CEOs, investing, Postcards, Power Point, Treasury, Warren Buffett, Washington -
Summers a controversial choice for Treasury
Barack Obama has been close to naming Larry Summers as the next Secretary of the Treasury, but the appointment is being held up by opposition to the brilliant but controversial economist. Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer said in his column Thursday that Summers, who headed Treasury under President Bill Clinton, is the lead candidate for the post in the new administration. Treasury officials have been led to believe that Summers MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 7, 2008 1:29 PM ETPosted in: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bob Rubin, Caroline Kennedy, CEOs, chuck hagel, Colin Powell, Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, Google, jon corzine, Larry Summers, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Paul Volcker, politics, Postcards, Power Shift, Robert Gates, Secretary of the Treasury, Sheryl Sandberg, Tim Geithner, Treasury, Wall Street -
Power Point: Regulate!
"The regulatory system in the U.S. is hopelessly outdated, outmoded. It's not just a matter of too little regulation. It's a matter of the wrong regulation. The big parts of the mortgage origination industry weren't even regulated to any great extent. It was state regulation and very inadequate. The power to look across the financial system and deal with systemic risk, no one had that."
-- U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Oct 22, 2008 6:54 PM ET
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In her first public interview since taking on the CEO gig at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer outlines her priorities both in and out of the company. Watch
Brenda Barnes famously quit a big job to be with her kids. Years later, a massive stroke nearly killed her--and her daughter returned the favor. Watch
Fortune senior editor at large Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo," "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), and "Remodeling Martha" (Martha Stewart). She has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" package every year since its launch in 1998. Pattie is Executive Director of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business and beyond. She oversees MPW programs that enable women leaders to extend their influence and empower the next generation—such as Fortune MPW Entrepreneurs and the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. Beyond her Fortune duties, she is also developing Live Content across Time Inc. Pattie grew up in Allentown, PA, graduated from the University of Virginia, and started at Fortune in 1984. Her blog, Postcards, is about how power players lead, manage others, and navigate their careers.
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The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership brings rising-star women from countries around the world to the U.S. for three-week mentorships with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them Ursula Burns of Xerox, Laura Lang of Time Inc., Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, and Tory Burch.
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