Novelty-products firm BigMouth falls silent after years of hype
The firm, which had big growth plans, owes $23 million on a loan that is in default and is winding down operations.
Banking & Finance
Articles
Stocks soar as investors look past civil unrest to economic high notes
Wall Street absorbed better-than-expected economic data: Private payrolls shed 2.76 million jobs in May, ADP reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a drop of 8.75 million.
Powell: Fed to soon begin ‘challenging’ Main Street lending program
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Friday that the Fed faces a major challenge with the launch in the coming days of a program that will lend to companies other than banks for the first time since the Great Depression.
Late-session spurt lifts Dow above 25,000 for the first time since early March
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 553 points Wednesday, about 2.2 percent. Financial stocks and beaten-up industrials helped power the blue chips—a comeback that signals confidence in the recovery.
Wall Street climbs as recovery hopes overshadow virus worries
Stocks surged on Wall Street in morning trading Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its highest level in nearly three months.
KAR raises $550M to help it emerge from pandemic shutdown
KAR Auction shares rose more than 9% Tuesday morning after the company announced the investment by London-based Apax Partners, a global private equity advisory firm, with participation by New York City-based Periphas Capital L.P.
Homeowners stopped paying mortgages in record numbers in April
Record unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic led to the largest one-month increase in mortgage delinquencies ever recorded.
Fed’s Powell says new lending programs to launch by June 1
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that while the Fed has received a “good deal of interest” in its lending programs, if not enough companies or state and local governments seek to borrow, the Fed would consider expanding their eligibility.
Ravaged Indy hotels in danger of delinquencies, defaults
Experts say hotels of all sizes are under tremendous stress as revenue for many falls below the levels needed for debt payments.
Finance vets angle for control of Protective Insurance
The business—formerly Baldwin & Lyons Insurance—is one of central Indiana’s oldest public companies.
Indiana credit unions pursue growth by buying banks
The banking industry, which argues that credit unions’ tax-exempt status gives them an unfair edge, objects to the trend.
Risk of reopening U.S. economy too fast: A W-shaped recovery
Now, as President Donald Trump and many Republicans press to reopen the economy, some experts see an ominous risk: That a too-hasty relaxation of social distancing could ignite a resurgence of COVID-19 cases by fall, sending the economy back into lockdown.
Record-low interest rates have sparked a refinancing free-for-all
A borrower who took out a 30-year, $200,000 mortgage in 2018 at an interest rate of 4.55% would have a monthly payment of $1,019. By refinancing into a 30-year mortgage with a 3.46% interest rate, the monthly payment would drop to $865.
Survey: Oil, mining, manufacturing businesses had best luck with pandemic loans
Utilities fared the worst of all sectors, with less than a quarter of small businesses in that sector getting loans, according to the survey.
HKW buys maker of PPE for $36M
Indianapolis-based private equity firm Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. Inc. has acquired a majority interest in Infab LLC, a California-based maker of personal protective equipment for health care.
Lockdown disrupts the part of finance that hasn’t gone digital
Consumers have flooded social media with tales and images of lengthy lines and boisterous crowds seeking to pick up funds sent by friends and family abroad.
Paycheck Protection Program approving smaller loans this time around
The federal Paycheck Protection Program, which offers COVID-19 relief to small businesses, was criticized for allowing larger companies to secure multimillion-dollar loans early on.
Indiana banks sock away extra money for COVID-19-related loan losses
Amid the widespread economic disruption caused by the pandemic, banks have already granted payment deferrals of up to six months to a significant number of commercial and individual borrowers.
Steak n Shake outlook goes from bad to much worse
Rating agencies, which already ranked Steak n Shake on the lowest rungs of their creditworthiness ladders, further sounded the alarm bells in recent weeks after Steak n Shake paid off some of its debt at a discount—something a lender never would agree to if it thought it was going to be paid in full.
Small business loan program restarts, runs into snags
Lenders complained Monday that they couldn’t get their applications into the SBA system known as ETran that processes and approves loans.