Treasury Department: We Buy Banks (credit, debt, interest, financial)

[pinetreecity]

White House considers ownership stakes in banks - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081009/ap_on_bi_ge/meltdown_paulson - broken link)

"The Bush administration is considering taking ownership stakes in certain U.S. banks as an option for dealing with a severe global credit crisis.

An administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and get ownership shares in return."

Note that the banks have to ask for a cash injection first.

If you're tempted by investing in some beaten-up bank shares, keep this in mind.

[Barkingowl]

That's the last thing we need.

[HappyTexan]

Nationalization of the banks..nice. Then we just take on the debt for free folks.

I hope everyone is paying attention to what is going on with US democracy.

[Lulu101]

Their just going to take a 10% interest stake -- it's not really owning.

[StoneOne]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

That's the last thing we need.

If the U.S. taxpayer is going to take on the debt, I sure hope it has a stake in the part of the business that has remained profitable.

I have a philosophical disagreement with the entire direction this country has taken economically for the last few generations, but any bailout should have made government ownership stakes a priority from DAY 1.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Lulu101

Their just going to take a 10% interest stake -- it's not really owning.

That's what they say today. If it doesn't pan out..will it increase to 20-30-50% ?

What the government has done so far with monetary intervention would have been unthinkable even 3-4 years ago.