Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Get a Life: Citigroup is encouraging junior investment bankers to take weekends off and mandating they take vacation time, joining other Wall Street firms that are trying to avoid burning out their young'uns. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Dealbreaker
SOTU, Day Two: Obama's brief mention of housing finance reform in Tuesday's State of the Union address "provided a glimmer of hope for those looking for action" on the Hill, the Times reports. The "MyRA" retirement vehicle the president described during the speech is greatly scaled back from the more ambitious savings proposals he's floated in the past, notes a news article in the Post. Like those earlier plans, MyRA is clearly influenced by Obama adviser Cass Suntein's "nudge" philosophy, "which pushes people by default into the choices that make most sense for them," the paper's WonkBlog observes. Who gets to decide "the choices that make most sense" for others? That's a great question to debate
over the weekend.
The Taper Soldiers On: The Federal Open Market Committee voted to continue paring back the central bank's bond purchases in the last major decision under departing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. The decision was unanimous, despite worrisome economic signals, like the turmoil in emerging market currencies.
Big Hack Attack: The investigation into the Target breach has found that the hackers broke into the retailer's systems using electronic credentials stolen from a vendor. Oddly, "the systems the hacker accessed and the payment systems appeared to have no relation to each other, but the perpetrator was still somehow able to gain access to Target's point-of-sale devices," an anonymous source tells the Journal. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder vowed to Congress that the Justice Department will find the perpetrators.
New York Times
"Wall Street's New Housing Bonanza" is securitizations of foreclosed homes that have been converted to rental properties. Policymakers worry this could lead to another unsustainable debt-fueled boom, followed by another flood of homes on the market.
"Law Enforcement Strikes Back in Bitcoin Hearing" Prosecutors tell New York Financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky the Bitcoin network's public ledger is not sufficient for them to track down criminals, rebutting arguments he'd heard from virtual currency supporters.
