Loans

THE Greens leader Bob Brown was quick to kiss and make up with the US after the election of President Barack Obama, according to a confidential diplomatic cable.

View full post on All Stories

New York, New York, United States (AHN) – The American International Group announced Wednesday it will repay the U.S. Federal Reserve $21 billion credit line. AIG will fund the repayment from the sales of two life insurers from outside the U.S.

After paying back what AIG borrowed from the regulator in 2008 at the onset of the financial crisis, the insurance giant will focus on retiring its obligations to the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury invested $48 billion in AIG and owns 80 percent of the company.

The Treasury said it plans to convert its AIG preferred shares into 1.66 billion shares of common stock by March 15.

The Treasury, according to reports, is planning to sell up to 20 percent of its AIG shares in the first quarter of 2011 as part of its unloading its stake in the insurance giant.

The stock offering is expected to raise at least $15 billion. The securities will be sold to private investors, similar to what the Treasury did with its Citigroup and General Motors holdings.

Since January, AIG shares gained 41 percent on the New York Stock Exchange to $42.22. If the Treasury sells its AIG stocks at $29 per share, finance experts said the Treasury will break even on its investment.

A Treasury official said the AIG action dovetails with Washington’s strategy to exit investments in private companies as soon as practical, while protecting taxpayers’ money.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Massmart shares have slumped after Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said it may only launch a “partial” offer for the local group.

View full post on Finance Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Months after the United States signed a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan, the military-to-military relations between Washington and Beijing have nonetheless improved. Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan also confirmed that relations are now back on track.

Lapan’s comments came after Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Security Michael Schiffer and Director of the foreign affairs office in China’s Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Qian Lihua held a two-day meeting in Beijing.

The meeting ended with a pledge to hold military maritime talks on October 14 in Hawaii. Representatives of Beijing and Washington also agreed to start defense talks in Washington later this year, Lapan added.

“Both sides agreed that dialogue is essential to build mutual trust and reduce the chances of misunderstanding and miscalculation,” Lapan explained.

When the U.S. ignored China’s protests against arms sales to Taiwan, Beijing had warned the move could severely hamper Sino-American military relations.

Lapan said that Washington achieved success in convincing China to resume military contacts, which had been cut since earlier this year, through Schiffer’s Beijing visit. “The relationship is back where we want it to be. Which is resuming the mil-to-mil (military-to-military) contacts and relationship,” Lapan said and expressed future optimism.

Meanwhile, a senior American diplomat handling East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said that the revival of militaries would help them achieve the goal of forming greater trust between the Pacific powers.

“We want the resumption of a strong, robust and well-designed military-to-military relationship between our two countries. I think that has been missing and it’s very important for it to move forward,” Campbell told a forum.

View full post on Politics Stories

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The specter of European sovereign debt returned to Wall Street as Moody’s downgrade of troubled Anglo Irish Bank hit financial stocks and sent the benchmarks falling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 48 points or 0.4 percent to close at 10,812. Bank of America led 24 decliners.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 6.51 points or 0.6 percent to end at 1,142. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 11 points of 0.5 percent to end at 2,370.

Crude oil for November delivery rose 3 cents and settled at $76.52 per barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery settled at $1,298.60 an ounce.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Being a student can be very tough. The long hours you have to spend studying and cramming just to get by for your final exam can be very exhausting. Being successful is school can be a mental game if you happen to have a lot of projects at hand.

Sometimes you might find yourself cramming additional units every semester just so that you can graduate on time. The last thing you need to be worrying about is how you can get a loan for school. For most people being able to go back to school and qualify for a loan that they need can be the dealbreaker.

You have several options when it comes to getting back to school loans. One option is to opt for a private loan and your other option is to apply for a federal loan. If you’re deciding to sign up for a federal loan there is no need to get a cosigner.

But if you’re interested in getting a private back to school loan you might need a cosigner if your credit isn’t the best. Usually federal loans will not cover the full cost of your tuition expenses. When you end of coming up short you have the option of getting a private loan or possibly a scholarship award.

In most cases, students end up signing up for scholarships. Scholarships are free sign-up for and they are relatively easy to qualify for. It takes only about five minutes to fill out the required information for a scholarship application.