Geithner: Economy is growing fast

April 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the economy is growing faster than the Obama administration expected.

He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the country is on the way to sustained job creation. But he acknowledged that unemployment may remain high, close to 10 percent.

Geithner said there’s more confidence in the business world, and he said the private sector is growing. He also said people are spending more.

He said he sees encouraging signs that should make Americans confident the country will emerge stronger.

Investors expect stocks to rise

NEW YORK

Goldman Sachs & Co. reminded investors that the stock market can still go down.

The government charged the bank with civil fraud Friday, and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 126 points, its biggest slide in more than two and a half months. The Goldman Sachs news gave a dose of reality to investors who were used to seeing the market climb almost relentlessly on signs of a recovering economy.

But there are signs investors are already shaking off the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges that Goldman Sachs failed to tell clients about conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold. Stocks ended off their lows Friday. That’s a sign that investors are still making predictions that stocks will bounce higher.

The problem is that stocks haven’t had a break, and that makes the market more vulnerable to a big drop.

Obama to promote financial overhaul

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama is preparing to travel outside Washington in the coming weeks to sell his proposal for financial regulatory reform to the country.

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage announced the trip Sunday as Obama steps up his lobbying efforts in support of new rules for Wall Street. A showdown with Republicans on legislation in the Senate is expected later this month.

Obama has been casting the issue as a choice for lawmakers between siding with American people and what he calls special interests. Getting the public on his side could help pressure Republicans who are lining up against the bill.

Bailout-plan talks in Greece postponed

ATHENS, Greece

Greece’s Finance Ministry says that international talks on a bailout package for the heavily indebted country have been postponed because of the volcanic ash that has closed many airports in Europe.

The talks were to start in Athens today and involve the government, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The ministry says the talks will now take place Wednesday “if conditions permit.”

The parties are to discuss a “three-year economic policies package” and the fact that euro zone countries and the IMF will provide financial aid only if Greece requests it.

Associated Press