Weekly Review Quiz as of 2010-11-11
Finance
Fed to Let Banks Increase Dividends
by Deborah Solomon
11/05/2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805704575594650694019436.html
1. For the first time since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve is poised to allow healthy banks to
a) reduce loan-loss reserves
* b) increase dividend payments
c) reduce capital requirements
d) increase mortgage lending
e) increase the interest rates they pay on deposits
Security Fears Kill Chinese Bid in U.S.
by Joann S. Lublin and Shayndi Raice
11/06/2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704353504575596611547810220.html
2. Sprint Nextel Corp. is excluding Chinese telecommunications-equipment makers Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp. from a contract worth billions of dollars largely because
a) of rapidly rising shipping costs
* b) of national security concerns in Washington
c) of Chinese demands that Sprint Nextel share unrelated technologies with Huawei Technologies
d) the Chinese government would require Sprint Nextel to include a chip that would trace calls made with the phones
e) the falling dollar has made Chinese imports more expensive
Citi Debt Funds Probed by SEC
by Randall Smith
11/08/2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303738504575568411913835550.html
3. A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of soured Citigroup Inc. debt funds has subpoenaed former in-house brokers, some of whom contend the bank misled investors about
a) how liquid the funds were
b) the tax status of returns earned by the funds investors
c) the expected return on the funds
* d) how risky the funds were
e) when the funds would mature
Fed Global Backlash Grows
by Jonathan Weisman
11/09/2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602820114533804.html
4. Officials from which of the following countries have made statements critical of the Federal Reserve’s decision to pump billions of dollars into the U.S. economy?
a) Brazil
b) Russia
c) Germany
d) China
* e) all of the above
Mortgage Lenders Set Back in Courts
by Ruth Simon, Robin Sidel and Nick Timiraos
11/10/2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635704575604991661646962.html
5. The push by mortgage companies to accelerate the snarled foreclosure process is running into resistance from
a) the Federal Reserve who is pushing banks to modify loans
* b) judges who are cracking down on sloppy paperwork
c) the FDIC who wants to maximize the value of mortgages it acquired in bank seizures
d) Fannie Mae who wants to minimize losses on insured mortgages
e) all of the above