Sunday, May 10, 2009

Financial Crisis Timeline: April 2009

April 2nd 2009: Jobless claims at 26 year high
According to the Labor Department, new applications for insurance jobless insurance benefit rose 12% to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 in the week ended March 28th. The number of laid off workers receiving unemployment benefits also jumped to a record high.

April 2nd 2009: G20 to triple IMF and World Bank aid
G-20 leaders have pledged to triple IMF and World Bank aid to $1.1 trillion US

April 2nd 2009: KPMG UK faces $1 billion suit
A liquidation trust made up of the debtors of New Century have accused KPMG of covering up serious problems which led to the collapse of the company. The suit demands KPMG of at least 41 billion in damages.

April 3rd 2009: US unemployment rate rises 8.5%
US unemployment rate rose to 8.5% in March, a 0.4% point rise on the loss of 663,000 jobs in a month, according to US Labor Department. Since recession set in December 2007, the US has lost 5.1 million jobs.

April 7th 2009: Foreclosures spur scams in United States
According to FTC it found 71 companies running suspicious advertisements regarding foreclosure help in print or online and has filed law suits against five of those companies.

April 7th 2009: New Zealand business confidence slips 35 year low
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has said that 65% of companies surveyed last quarter expect the economy will worsen in the next 6 months, the most since 1974.

April 7th 2009: Australia now officially in recession
The Reserve Bank governor announced that the Australian economy is now in recession and lowered the key interest rate from 3.25% to 3%. The interest rates are already 50 year low.

April 8th 2009: US economy expected to expand slowly in 2010
According to the minutes of a Federal Reserve meeting, US economy is expected to ease this year and will “expand slowly” next year.

April 9th 2009: Barclays to sell iShares
Barclays has agreed to sell its iShares asset management business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for 3 billion pounds ($4.4 billion), but kept the right to hunt for a better deal for two months.

April 9th 2009: Number of Americans receiving unemployment insurance at record high
According to the Labor Department, jobless claims fell to seasonally adjusted 654,000 last week. Moreoever, total number of un-employed Americans receiving unemployment insurance increased to 5.84 million from 5.75 million, setting a record 10th straight week and the most since 1967.

April 15th 2009: US recession deepens
According to the Federal Reserve, industrial output slumped to a decade low in March and annual inflation fell for the first time in 54 years.

April 24th 2009: Microsoft sales drop for the first time in 23 years
Microsoft quarterly revenue fell by 6% to $13.7 billion for the first time in 23 years.

April 24th 2009: Unemployment in Spain Rose to 17.4%
The Spanish unemployment rose to 17.4% in the last quarter of 2008, or more than twice of the European Union average.

April 24th 2009: Ford does not need money for now
Ford announced it does not need more government funding at the moment and can do with the $21.3 billion it currently has in cash. On the other hand, bankruptcy looms over its rivals GM and Chrysler.

April 24th 2009: GM receives another $2 billion
General Motors have received $2 billion of additional funding from Obama administration as fresh working capital. The Treasury Department has set a deadline of June 1st for the automaker to restructure. GM and Chrysler have so far received $20 billion of government soft loans that have helped them to carry on business.

April 24th 2009: Lawsuit filed against JPMorgan Chase in connection with Madoff
Victims of Madoff’s ponzy scheme have filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase stating that the bank continued to maintain his checking accounts and trading with his brokerage firm long after it realized Madoff was running a fraud scheme.

April 26th 2009: US GDP shrinks again
According to estimates by economists, the US GDP shrank by 4.7% in the first quarter of 2009. It had shrunk 6.3% in the last quarter of 2008.

April 26th 2009: IMF: Recession and housing slump to continue in UK
According to IMF, recession will go well into 2010 in UK, while there will be a prolonged housing slump.

April 26th 2009: IMF considering issuing bonds
IMF is considering issuing bonds to some developing countries like China and Brazil to raise funds to combat global economic slump.
April 30th 2009: Chrysler files for bankruptcy
US automaker Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy and will join forces with Italian Fiat to form a new global company.

5 comments:

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