Clem’s Chronicles: Geithner Plan—They Like Me, They Really Like Me/Latest on Montana Plane Crash/Lance Armstrong

Howdy. Clem Lane here again with another ABC NEWS Evening Editorial Note. I wasn’t sent any hyperlink info tonight folks so hopefully some nice abc news techie will slot them in after i’m gone.

here’s what’s going on

UP, UP (AND HOPEFULLY) AWAY FROM THE BOTTOM/GREAT DAY ON WALL STREET-Maybe the past six months have been all a dream….if you consider a living nightmare to be a dream. Today it all changed for one day. Rainbows appeared, little forest creatures gathered in awe as the Treasury Department finally released details of how to deal with the so-called “toxic assets” that have been hanging around investors’ necks like a 500 pound stone. And you know what? Wall Streeters didn’t recoil in dread as the information became public. They actually seemed to like the plan (cue Sally Field playing Tim Geithner) which the Administration is calling the Public-Private investment program. We’ll get to the Wall Street numbers in a moment, but let’s hear from Jake Tapper on the plan, who filed tonight for WORLD NEWS—“Here’s how the President hopes the public-private investment program will work. The government will entice big investors-private equity firms and hedge funds, for example-to buy up from banks those so-called toxic assets—the home loans/car loans and others that have been going bad at such a fast rate.” Okay but why would I as a private investor want to participate? Tapper: “Because investors only have to put in 7%, the rest is either invested or loaned by the government.” Tapper notes that the Treasury committed $100 billion from the TARP monies with other government agencies maybe kicking in another trillion. The goal, Tapper says, “when the banks get rid of those troubled assets, banks will start lending again. The long credit freeze will end.” Wow-sounds great. Now let’s get back to the juicy upside our friends on Wall Street created today.

WALL STREET NUMBERS-How much did Wall Street love Tim Geithner’s plan? Enough to send the market soaring skyward. The Dow Jones gained almost 500 points (497.48) while the NASDAQ added almost a hundred points (98.50). That’s nearly a 7% point gain in one day. Leading the way-bank stocks. An enthusiastic vote of confidence then for Tim Geithner’s plan, Betsy Stark noted in her WORLD NEWS open, “but if this is going to work, both the banks selling their toxic assets and private investment companies buying them are going to have to be convinced they can make money”.  Stark notes that PIMCO, “one of the country’s biggest investment firms and possibly one of the biggest buyers of toxic assets from the nation’s banks, called the program a win/win.” Bill Gross the co-CEO of the company was quoted in Stark’s piece as saying “I think an investor can earn double digits on these types of assets.” But Stark adds that “most potential buyers were tentative” and the sellers? “Wary as well,” said Stark. “When ABC NEWS asked 27 of the country’s largest banks whether they will use the plan to sell their toxic mortgage assets” the responses were measured. Stark: “Wells Fargo told us ‘it’s premature to comment’. Bank of America ‘supports the concept’ but is ‘studying the details.’ Citigroup called it too ‘early to speculate’.” But why focus on the negatives? Stark says “for the first time in a long time, there are optimists who say today’s bank plan, along with Washington’s other medicine is starting to work. There was news today that home sales are finally picking up and mortgage rates are heading down.” Alright then, how about a little CNBC porn? Charles Herman put together the following facts and figures on the market:
–Dow Jones—
Up seven of the last 10 sessions.
Biggest point gain since November 13, 2008.
Fifth biggest point gain in its history and fourth biggest since December 31, 2007.
Biggest percentage gain since October 28, 2008.
Highest close since February 13.
The market capitalization of the DJIA rose $167.4B today.
Up 18.77% from its 12-year close low of 6547.05 hit on March 9.
 
WILL IT WORK?-As you heard in Betsy Stark’s piece, there seemed to be some reticence on the part of both buyers and sellers to the plan. On WORLD NEWS, Charles Gibson asked George Stephanopoulos his assessment on whether the program will work and when we’ll know that. Stephanopoulos: “That is the big question Charlie and we’re probably not going to know for several weeks, sometime in April when those first bids go out and we find out whether the buyers or the sellers can agree on a price and get those assets moving through the books. Another key test for the Administration’s financial plan also comes in April. That’s when those stress tests will be done on the nation’s big banks and we’ll find out how much more capital if any those banks will need from the federal government.”

MT PLANE CRASH UPDATE:  The National Transportation Safety Board said today the small plane that crashed in a Butte, Montana cemetery Sunday afternoon may have been overloaded.  There were 14 people onboard the Pilanis PC-12, which aviation officials say normally carries 10 passengers.  All fourteen people on board – seven children and seven adults – were killed in the accident.  Investigators are working to determine exactly why the crash occurred, but advised today that finding answers will be difficult and long coming – there are no survivors, the plane did not have flight data recorders, and the pilot did not send out a distress signal before the plane went down.  More information on the families traveling on board was released today.  From Lisa Fletcher’s WORLD NEWS report:  “The families on board were longtime friends from California on a ski trip.  Brent and Kristin Ching along with their 2 children…also the Jacobsens – Aaron, Amy and their three toddlers…the owner of the plane was not on board, but he lost two daughters and five grandchildren in the crash.”  The NTSB said it hopes to recover all of the plane wreckage by the end of the week. (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)
   
LANCE ARMSTRONG INJURED:  “I’m alive! Broken clavicle (right). Hurts like hell for now. Surgery in a couple of days. Thanks for all the well wishes.”  That’s Lance Armstrong’s Twitter “tweet” on his condition after getting injured during the first leg of the Vuelta of Castilla in Spain.  Armstrong was about 12 miles from the finish line when two bikes collided ahead of him, causing a large pile up and tossing Armstrong off his bike.  “Tonight Armstrong is headed for the U.S. He says he’ll undergo surgery,” Miguel Marquez reported on WORLD NEWS.  “Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor, has never had a serious accident in 17 years as a professional rider.  A spokesman for the team was upbeat, saying Armstrong could be riding again in a month.” (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)

AIG BONUSES RETURNED:  Top executives from American Insurance Group have agreed to return at least $50 million in bonuses from the $165 million the company gave out last week.  Rich Esposito reports: [New York State Attorney General Andrew] Cuomo said that AIG today began to cooperate with his office and ‘at the end of the day’ his office estimates it can ‘recoup’ about $80  million…From among the top earners, $30 million, Cuomo said, came from 15 of the top 20 bonus earners who each agreed to give back their total bonus. He said others had not yet been contacted, were considering whether or not to give back and only a few had outright refused. ‘It’s a difficult decision,’ Cuomo said.  In addition, Cuomo said that nine of the top ten earners had agreed to give back their bonus.”  AIG faced a firestorm of criticism after it announced it planned to dole out $165 million in bonuses after receiving a $173 billion government bailout. (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry as well)
   
PLAN B LIMITS OVERTURNED BY JUDGE-A New York judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to let 17-year-old girls use emergency contraception without a prescription. Federal Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn says the FDA had played politics in its decisions over the past few years regarding the contraceptive known as Plan B. Reaction? Joanna Schaffhausen of the ABC NEWS Medical Unit reports that “Women’s health experts and pharmacists generally support the court’s decision to reject the FDA’s limiting of emergency Plan B contraception to women age 18 and older.  A few pharmacists have replied that either they do not offer plan B – to anyone – or do not support contraception in general due to religious beliefs. “

$2000 CAR—Mumbai, India-based Tata Motors will soon start selling the world’s cheapest car. The pint-sized Nano will retail for about $2000. It goes on sale in India next month. The car company’s chief pledges that a safer, cleaner and still cheap version is in the works for Europe and America. So how’s the car?  As Charles Gibson noted on WORLD NEWS “our reporter in India, Karen Russo, took it for a spin and likened it to a cross between her 1996 Honda Civic and a lawn mower.”
 
OTHER STUFF-
–GAS/OIL PRICES—Dan Arnall reports that gasoline prices have gone up a nickel across the country since last week. The national average price is now $1.96. Arnall notes that the price is still a whole heck of a lot better than the $3.26 average of last year. As for oil prices, benchmark crude for May delivery rose $1.73 to settle at $53.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, continuing its upward momentum. Prices climbed as high as $54.05. On Friday, oil ended the week above $50 a barrel for the first time this year, and prices have risen more than 30 percent this month.
–AIG NAME CHANGE—Better pay attention if you want to keep hating AIG. They’re changing their name to AIU Holdings Ltd. First order of business-changing the sign outside its property-casualty offices in downtown Manhattan to "distinguish these well-capitalized businesses from AIG”, a company spokesman told Reuters.
–CATCH A MEXICAN DRUG LORD, GET $2 MILLION IN RETURN–The Mexican government announced today that it will offer $2 million for each of 24 Mexican drug lords. More than 8 thousand people have been killed in the past two years thanks to gang violence in the country. 
–SPACE SHUTTLE—Gina Sunseri reports that “Discovery will unlock from the space station on Wednesday for a landing on Saturday.”
–SUPREME COURT DECISIONS—Tomorrow and Wednesday says Jan Crawford-Greenburg.
–ROBIN WILLIAMS-The comedian and actor Robin Williams successfully underwent heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Friday March 13th. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery in the next eight weeks.