| Enterprise Products Boosts Credit Limit
Natural gas processor Enterprise Products Partners L.P. said Monday its operating partnership increased and extended the terms of its existing credit line. Enterprise Products Operating LLC raised the limit on the credit facility to $1.75 billion from $1.25 billion, and extended the length to Nov. 19, 2012. The partnership has the option of further boosting the limit to $2.25 billion under certain conditions. Wachovia Bank N.A. is the administrative agent, and Citibank N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. are co-syndication agents. Wachovia Capital Markets LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. were the joint lead arrangers. Shares rose 3 cents to close earlier at $31.95. .
Economist: $2 trillion lending crunch may be ahead
The mortgage wipeout could result in a $2 trillion cutback in lending and have dramatic implications for the U.S. economy, according to Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs. The housing slump is expected to end up costing banks, hedge funds and other lenders an estimated $400 billion as defaults on home loans rise, according to Goldman economist Jan Hatzius. .
Wall St prince dethroned
CITIGROUP boss Charles Prince has become the second Wall Street heavyweight in a week to fall victim to the credit crisis. He has quit the bank after it lost billions and the share price slumped to a four-year low. The banking giant -- the biggest in the US -- revealed Mr Prince's widely expected departure yesterday after an emergency meeting of its board. And Citi, which took a $US6.5 billion ($A7.06 billion) hit from asset writedowns and other credit-related losses in the third quarter, said it would take an additional $US8 billion to $US11 billion in writedowns. Citi Europe's chairman, Sir Win Bischoff, will act as interim chief and Bill Clinton's former chief economic adviser and Treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, will become chairman.
Careful monitoring best response to leak
I work for a large company that recently notified me of a privacy breach in which some of my personal information -- including my name, Social Security number, address, bank account number and birth date -- may have been exposed. The company offered free credit monitoring for two years, which I signed up for, and identity theft insurance. Do you recommend that I take any additional measures to safeguard my identity, such as closing and reopening bank accounts and credit card accounts under new numbers? Though this would be a tremendous hassle, I'm sure it doesn't compare to the havoc of having my identity stolen. Privacy breaches turn out to be nonevents for the vast majority of people whose information has been exposed. Sometimes the criminals are after something other than information, such as when laptops are stolen for their resale value rather than the sensitive data they contain.
'One in ten uses credit card daily'
A tenth of credit card holders use their plastic to buy something every day, a survey has shown. Around 34 million Britons now have a credit card and more than three million of these people say they use it on a daily basis, according to high street bank Abbey. At the same time, 54% of people use their credit card at least once a week, but 35% of cardholders claim they use their plastic just once a month, with younger people most likely to fall into this category. The most popular reason for using a credit card is to shop online, with 61% of cardholders saying they regularly use their plastic to make purchases over the internet. People also regularly use their cards to buy things on the high street at 55%, while 50% use them for big ticket items.
Sub-prime-hit German bank IKB could unveil more losses: report
FRANKFURT : German bank IKB, saved from the brink of bankruptcy three months ago, could announce more losses from the US sub-prime crisis, a press report said Friday. The new losses could total 300 million euros (440 million dollars), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) daily said, citing financial sources. "Negative developments in the market are having an impact on the credit line" extended to IKB by the state-owned banking group KfW, a spokeswoman for the latter told AFP later, without elaborating. She did confirm that a meeting of banks that had helped bail out IKB had taken place recently, without revealing the nature of the discussions. IKB, which specialises in loans to small and medium sized enterprises, found itself in dire straits in late July after investing in securities linked to the US market for high-risk mortgages.
Time Warner earnings meet expectations
Weak results from AOL tempered an otherwise strong quarter at Time Warner Inc. as gains from cable TV and the latest Harry Potter movie helped the media conglomerate meet Wall Street expectations. The company, which also owns HBO, Warner Bros., CNN and Time magazine, earned $1.09 billion in the three months ended in September, down 53 percent from the same period a year ago, when results were lifted by investment gains and tax benefits. Per-share earnings fell to 29 cents from 57 cents. Revenue rose 9 percent to $11.68 billion. Excluding one-time gains and discontinued operations, earnings rose to 24 cents per share, in line with estimates of analysts. Time Warner's shares slipped 53 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $17.80 amid an overall decline in the market. Associated Press SEC investigating Merrill Lynch's deals Embattled investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co.
Bank employee targeted in Valley home invasion
The incident is similar to two recent home invasions in Chandler, the second of which ended with what authorities are calling the largest bank heist in Arizona history. Today's incident took place at the Queenland Manor community, near Ellsworth and Rittenhouse roads, Sheriff's Capt. Paul Chagolla said. He had no further details. After the incident, patrol cars from the sheriff's office and Gilbert police descended on a Wells Fargo Bank at 8454 S. Power Road in Gilbert. Chagolla said the officers were performing a “welfare check" on the bank. Authorities also locked down the Queen Creek Unified School District's office, Queen Creek Middle School at 10435 S. Ellsworth Road and Jack Barnes Elementary at 20750 S. 214th St. Last Friday, a Tempe branch of a Wells Fargo Bank was robbed of $400,000.
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