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San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday citing more than $1 billion of debts and making it the third California city to seek protection from creditors. The city of about 210,000 residents 65 miles east of Los Angeles declared a fiscal crisis last month after a report said local government had tapped out its reserves and projected spending would top revenue by $45 million in the fiscal year that began on July 1. The filing, made in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Central California District, states that the city has "more than $1 billion" in liabilities, and estimated that...

Homeowners facing foreclosure can now tap into a $1 billion program of emergency loans to help tide them over a temporary financial crisis, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced. Beginning today, homeowners in 27 states can file preliminary applications for the Emergency Homeowner's Loan Program (EHLP). Eligible homeowners can obtain interest-free loans of up to $50,000 to help cover mortgage expenses for up to two years. The program is available to homeowners who have seen their incomes fall and who could lose their homes to foreclosure due to circumstances beyond their control, including involuntary unemployment, underemployment,...

Deutsche Bank likely to reveal losses of $1 billion Fri, Dec 12, 2008 Deutsche Bank AG, shaken last quarter by a $1.68 billion loss trading or the firm’ account, is reeling again, this time from about $1 billion of bad bets in a unit led by credit-trader Boaz Weinstein in New York, people familiar with the matter said. The magnitude of the group’s loss, and its impact on the firm’s fourth-quarter results, remain uncertain as the value of some stakes gyrate with the markets and the Frankfurt-based bank seeks to unwind positions, according to the people, who declined to be...

Senator Clinton waxed philosophical on the problems faced by holders of sub-prime mortgages. She looked into the abyss and the abyss gave her yet another chance to pander. Thus spake Caligula Rodham Clinton."Today, we have a choice. We can look at the statistics, wring our hands, and continue to do nothing, or we can do what America has always done in times of difficulty: acknowledge that we face a real challenge, and confront it head-on with real solutions," said Clinton. "I think the choice is clear. I think we need to act now, with smart, practical solutions to strengthen our...

56 schools now in $1 billion club The number of U.S. colleges with endowments topping $1 billion has jumped to 56, a new study says, with nine schools joining the elite club in what was an average year for university investments overall. Harvard remained the richest, with $25.5 billion, followed by Yale with $15.2 billion. For comparison, the University of Florida, the state's largest public institution, boasts an endowment of about $836 million. The wealthiest per student was Rockefeller University in New York, which has no undergraduates, followed by Olin College, a small engineering school in Massachusetts that opened in...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Calpine Corp. said Wednesday it would sell all its remaining oil and gas properties to an indirect subsidiary for about $1.05 billion. Under the terms of the deal Rosetta Resources Inc., wholly owned by Calpine, will issue 45.3 million shares worth $725 million in a private placement. The proceeds, together with a $325 million in a new credit facility, will be used to buys all of Calpine's domestic oil and gas exploration and production assets. Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Calpine (CPN: news, chart, profile) rose 5.83% in pre-opening trade Wednesday to $3.81. Calpine said the...

MORE THAN 1 Billion CATHOLICS AROUND THE WORLD PRAY FOR POPE JOHN PAUL II    

Teresa Heinz Kerry, through a network of investments in blue-chip corporations, venture capital funds and municipal bonds, controls a family fortune worth an estimated $1 billion, an analysis of public records shows. The $1 billion figure is double the estimates of her wealth that are widely cited in news stories about her husband, Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The couple would rank as the wealthiest to occupy the White House, far surpassing such storied presidential fortunes as the Kennedys'. Their assets are so vast and far-reaching that they mirror the U.S. economy and will probably...

The city of Houston's main pension program has a billion-dollar funding shortfall because benefits have been boosted so high that many employees will earn more in retirement than they received while working, according to a report obtained by the Chronicle. A few will retire as millionaires. To properly reduce the shortfall, taxpayers would have to put nearly $100 million extra into the fund next year, according to an analysis prepared for the pension's board. Further, the city cannot reduce the benefits for any employee who already has worked five years, thanks to a Texas constitutional amendment passed by voters last...

US weapons hunter won't return to Iraq: report David Kay, the chief United States weapons hunter in Iraq, has told the CIA he will not return to his post, a US government source said today. "He has told the DCI (Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet) that he doesn't want to go back, they have been trying to get him to stay," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether the CIA had had any success in persuading Mr Kay, who came back to the United States for the Christmas holidays, to stay on the job,...

The Philippines and China have signed a $1-billion bilateral currency swap that would enable the Philippines to avail up to 10 percent of the facility under the Chang Mai Initiative. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the People’s Bank of China formally signed the agreement after months of negotiations, giving the Philippines access to draw from the facility should it need to do so. According to BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura, the agreement was a one-way swap where the Philippines would exchange the peso equivalent that China would convert to renminbi (its currency) and then into dollars. The Chang Mai...

Members of the '70's Swedish Band Abba say they won't get back together--not even for 1 Billion dollars.An American-British consortium offered them that amount to reunite for 100 concerts, but they refused.'It is a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us.' Benny Andersson tells the Swedish tabloid Aftenbladet.ABBA disbanded 17 years ago, but their hit songs are curently experiencing an international revival.Part of the credit goes to the teen group A-Teens, whose covers of 'Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and 'Mamma Mia' have risen up the charts.And the musical 'Mamma Mia,' based...