Wall Street Roundup: Bank conspirators. Pension probe.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

New mortgage measures. In the face of a new wave of foreclosures, President Obama on Friday will unveil a new effort to help people struggling to make mortgage payments. The measures will give a temporary break to unemployed homeowners and will also encourage banks to reduce the principals on mortgages.

Pension crimes. Justice Department investigators are looking at whether some of the controversial recent investment activity at the California pension fund CalPERS could be criminal, according to the Wall Street Journal. The investigation follows a broader pay-to-play scandal at CalPERS involving payments made for CalPERS investments.

Bank conspirators. Court documents have labeled most of the big Wall Street banks as co-conspirators in a bid-rigging scheme involving municipal bonds, Bloomberg reports. The Justice Department is said in the documents to have labeled JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup as co-conspirators in a case involving a Los Angeles investment firm, CDR.

Treasury troubles. The weak demand for Treasury bonds over the last week has raised concerns about whether Europe’s issues with sovereign debt may be coming to the United States next.

-- Nathaniel Popper