Plans

News of the $700 billion rescue package intended to bail out the country's floundering financial system was greeted with both cheer and fear by Wall Street's fraternity of market-watchers. The cheer stems from a belief that the rescue plan is a much-needed confidence builder. The fear reflects the awareness that, Washington's life preserver notwithstanding, there is no overnight cure for the bevy of ills that have plagued markets since last October, stripping it of more than $3 trillion of market value and in excess of 3,000 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. "The market danger is still substantial," a former investment strategist at Goldman Sachs, Fred Dickson, says. In particular, he points to a worsening liquidity squeeze in the banking system as corporate treasurers draw down their lines of credit and pull money out of the weaker banks. Equally disturbing, he points out, many banks are aggravating the crisis by refusing to lend to other banks. A number of other worrisome … [Read more...] about Rescue Plan May Not Rescue Wall Street

Bradford & Bingley Plc, Britain's biggest lender to landlords, may be taken over by another bank or nationalized today under a British government-backed plan to protect $39 billion of customer deposits. The chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, will announce details of the plan before 8 a.m. today, his office said late yesterday. Treasury officials worked through the night on a partial government takeover, acquisition by a rival bank or a break-up and purchase of assets by several buyers. "The government is stepping in," the chief secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper, said yesterday in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. "Depositors and ordinary savers must be properly protected, and they will be as part of the arrangements we'll set out." Banco Santander SA, Spain's biggest bank, is likely to buy Bradford & Bingley's retail deposits, a person familiar with the situation said. The Santander, Spain-based bank is also likely to take on Bradford & … [Read more...] about Britain Plans To Take Over Biggest Lender

Brad Pitt, the star of "Fight Club" and "Ocean's 11" who professes a passion for architecture, will be a design consultant for an 800-room hotel and resort Zabeel Properties plans to build in Dubai, the developer said Monday. Zabeel, based in Dubai, hired architecture firm Graft LLC to design an America-themed hotel in the United Arab Emirates city, the developer said in a statement. The Los Angeles-based Graft, which has worked with Mr. Pitt on rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, will include the 44-year-old actor on its Dubai design team, Zabeel said. "Acting is my career; architecture is my passion," Mr. Pitt said in the statement. As "my first major construction project," the Dubai hotel will feature "environmentally friendly architecture, but also embrace my career in entertainment." Detailed plans for the hotel and resort will be made public in the next few months, Zabeel said. The developer didn't give the project's exact location, or say how much it would cost to build. … [Read more...] about Pitt Plans Dubai Hotel

Before the season, Jets fans looked at the first three games on the schedule and figured the team could start 1-2 and still be in good shape. After all, with the New England Patriots coming to town in Week 2 and a trip to San Diego to play the Chargers in Week 3, the Jets had to play both of the participants in last year's AFC Championship Game. There's no shame in losing to those teams. But now the first three games have been played and the Jets are, in fact, 1-2, and all of a sudden a 1-2 record doesn't look so acceptable. Not when the loss to the Patriots came in New England's first game without Tom Brady at quarterback, and not when the Jets weren't even competitive against a Chargers team that entered Monday night's game with an 0-2 record. And with this Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals looking like a tougher test than most people figured it would be before the season, the Jets are suddenly staring at the strong possibility that they'll go into their Week 5 bye with a … [Read more...] about At Ugly 1-2, Jets Must Rethink Their Flight Plan

The city is reviving plans to build a world-class public golf course at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, entering into negotiations with a developer, Sanford Golf Design, to complete the long-troubled project. The parks department in 2000 awarded a $22 million contract to Ferry Point Partners LLC to create an 18-hole course at the park, a former landfill, but the plan went out of bounds in 2006 after the city had poured more than $14.8 million into the project with little to show for six years of work. Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday in a statement that the choice of Sanford moves the city closer to "eventually creating another world-class amenity for New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy." City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., a likely candidate for mayor in 2009, also hailed the new deal as a positive step. Last year, Mr. Thompson criticized the city's handling of the deal after an audit by his office found that the parks department had overpaid the site's developer by millions of dollars … [Read more...] about City Drives Forward on Plans For New Golf Course in Bronx