Marketplace

Search

June 2009 Archives

Goldman strikes back

The other day, I pointed out an article in Rolling Stone magazine that’s getting a lot of attention. It’s called “The Great American Bubble Machine,” and in it, writer Matt Taibbi goes to town on Goldman Sachs. I quote: “The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” Well, Goldman thinks this is hysterical.

Continue reading Goldman strikes back

A generic drug that makes me smile

I called my pharmacist today to get a prescription refilled, and he said: “Mr. Jagow, did you know there’s a new generic version of your drug available?” No, I did not. This is a maintenance drug I have to refill every month. It ain’t cheap. $75 a bottle, after insurance. So, I felt like I had just won the lottery when he told me how much the generic was.

Continue reading A generic drug that makes me smile

Return to Love Canal

You can bury something that’s toxic, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get you eventually. As I thought about the toxic bank assets, something else came to mind, something with a personal connection. It’s one of the worst environmental tragedies the country has ever seen.

Continue reading Return to Love Canal

Morning Reading

Among the things I’ve been reading this morning — there is such a thing as free, lots of writing about Bernie, why America and Michael Jackson have a lot in common and why oil companies are licking their chops. Here’s my highlight reel:

Continue reading Morning Reading

So, you wanna be a journalist, huh?

I don’t mean as a career. Who would want to do that? I mean, be a citizen journalist, the new buzz phrase that describes the people “formerly known as the audience,” as journalism professor Jay Rosen puts it. Today, YouTube launched a project to teach people how to report, using video instruction from well-known journalists. Some of it is weird.

Continue reading So, you wanna be a journalist, huh?

A debit card is not a credit card

I know that seems like a duh statement. But my point is that those new credit card reforms just passed by Congress don’t apply to debit cards. Perhaps you can see where this is going.

Continue reading A debit card is not a credit card

Death sells, and that's okay

I feel like Harry Burns. You know, from When Harry Met Sally. I spend hours, I spend days…. thinking about death. Maybe that’s because I’m on the Internet a lot, and that’s all anyone’s talking about.

Continue reading Death sells, and that's okay

Flying by the seat of your...

I’m guessing passengers on Air New Zealand flights this morning didn’t just keep reading their newspapers when the in-flight safety video started playing. I mean, would you, if the flight crew was naked?

Continue reading Flying by the seat of your...

Morning Reading

Lions and tigers and cheetahs — oh my — they’re on the kitchen table. Plus, it’ judgment day for Bernie Madoff. He’s asking for 12 years in prison because somehow his lawyers have figured out that Madoff only has 13 years to live. Those stories and more in today’s edition of Morning Reading, which starts right now:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The economic divide

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available.

This week’s events seemed to reflect that there hasn’t been much progress in bridging the gap between the haves and have nots, despite all the talk about Main Street and Wall Street. Musical assistance from Wilco, 10cc and Schoolhouse Rock.

If you’d like to subscribe to the podcast, here’s the link for that.

Guest post

I was hanging around the water cooler today (the actual water cooler), and Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch told me he was reading David Faber’s new book, And Then the Roof Caved In. Already? It just came out this week. Paddy doesn’t miss much. Anyway, the book’s subtitle is: How Wall Street’s Greed and Stupidity Brought Capitalism to Its Knees. So that might pique your interest. If not, here’s Paddy with a few thoughts on the book:

Continue reading Guest post

Contemplating Michael Jackson

I felt a particular and familiar emotion when I heard about Jackson’s death. It was a mixture of sad resignation and the distant pleasure of childhood memories. I say familiar because I’ve had that feeling before. Maybe you have too.

Continue reading Contemplating Michael Jackson

Morning Reading

The story of the day may well be a House vote on the energy bill. A new poll finds that 75% of Americans believe the government should regulate greenhouse gas emissions. But the split is 50-50 on the cap-and-trade idea. Let’s hear both sides:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Who said comic strips were dead?

I continue to find new examples of people expressing their recessionary selves. Between the unemployed having more free time and the need to laugh or else you’ll cry, there’s a lot of creative spark. Today, I found comic strips!

Continue reading Who said comic strips were dead?

The word 'pizza' is just too long

One thing that came up in our morning meeting is this new marketing strategy by one of the restaurant chains. It’s a restaurant that sells doughy pies with tomato sauce and toppings on them. Italian in origin. People get them delivered to their houses on Friday nights. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Continue reading The word 'pizza' is just too long

The whatever economy

I recently saw a sign in front of a hair salon: “First-time customers, whatever you want to pay!” Then, this morning, Boing-Boing put it together for me. We are in the Whatever Economy:

Continue reading The whatever economy

Morning Reading

I was doing my usual perusing of the Internet this morning and wasn’t finding a whole lot worth pointing to… when I got sucked into an article that I couldn’t put down (or stop scrolling or whatever you call it now). So, I’m going to make it my only piece of morning reading.

Continue reading Morning Reading

The secret credit scores

I thought you might want to read this. At MSN Money, personal finance columnist (and Marketplace contributor) Liz Pulliam Weston has a really interesting article on some of the other scores that lenders keep on you.

Continue reading The secret credit scores

A different kind of stimulus

It wasn’t the stress of federal stimulus money that prompted South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford to fly off to Argentina. Today, Sanford held a press conference to tell the world the real reason: he’s been having an affair.

Continue reading A different kind of stimulus

We're not going anywhere

Americans are like birds who’ve decided not to fly south for the winter. After decades of migrating hither and yon, the economy has frozen us in place. And that’s dropping a big piano on the moving industry.

Continue reading We're not going anywhere

You sank my movie script!

I’m trying to get my head around the idea of Hollywood making movies out of board games. I have so many questions. Will someone wear a Thimble costume? Who’ll be cast as Rich Uncle Pennybags? Will the movie battleships have holes in them for the red pegs? What prompted me to think about this was a commentary on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Continue reading You sank my movie script!

Morning Reading

Citigroup is increasing base salaries for its employees by as much as 50%, according to the New York Times. And the government can’t do a thing about it, even though it will soon own a third of Citigroup. The administration’s pay “czar” only has power over the salaries of the 100 highest-paid executives.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Now, here's an investment

Oh, sure, you’ve heard of credit default swaps, but what about naked red/black hedge trades? Or proprietary coin-in straddles? Or vega convergence bets? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Then, let me tell you about the opportunity of a lifetime.

Continue reading Now, here's an investment

T-t-talking about my generation

One thing that’s clear about this recession — Gen X-ers are competing against their Baby Boomer parents, who are managing the Generation Y-ers, who are trying to keep economic hope alive for their Generation Z kids. It’s a pretty spicy generational stew.

Continue reading T-t-talking about my generation

No more speedy airport security

The company that ran expedited security lines at 18 airports went out of business this morning. A statement on the Clear website simply says “Clear Lanes are no longer available.” It doesn’t say whether customers will get their $200 a year back.

Continue reading No more speedy airport security

Morning Reading

Ford, Tesla and Nissan will be getting loans from the federal government to make more fuel efficient cars. The Energy Department required that the money go to “financially viable” companies. Hence, GM and Chrysler can’t get their hands on this particular stash. Other things to read:

Continue reading Morning Reading

No match

About a quarter of US companies have eliminated or are considering the elimination of matching 401k contributions. That’s according to a new online survey conducted for Charles Schwab. On Marketplace Morning Report, Jeremy Hobson pointed out that 87 percent of respondents listed matching contributions as the most important aspect of their 401(k)’s.

Continue reading No match

Brand disloyalty

When the going gets tough, people buy generic. A new study says brand loyalty took a big hit last year as normally loyal customers ditched their favorite toothpaste or cereal, presumably for the cheapest thing on the shelf.

Continue reading Brand disloyalty

Kodachroooome

“They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day. Oh yeah. I got a Nikon camera. I love to take a photograph.” But Mama, they’re takin’ my Kodachrome away!

Continue reading Kodachroooome

Morning Reading

In March, the World Bank said the global economy would see its deepest contraction on record, 1.7%. Well, the World Bank has changed its mind. Today, the group said things will be even worse, a 2.9% drop. That’s one reason Wall Street is in sell-off mode. Some other stuff:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The biggies

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. This week, the government got serious about two enormous projects — health care reform and financial regulation. Besides breaking down the plans and what happened this week, I talk to a former financial regulator who has some excellent insights. I think you’ll want to hear what he says. Musical assistance from Kanye West, Rufus Wainwright and Dead Prez. If you’d like ATB to download automatically each week, here’s the link for that. And here’s this week’s show:

Credit scores on the rise

The latest numbers show that, on average, credit scores are starting to bounce back up. The strongest trend is in the Midwest, which also happens to be the place with the highest credit scores anyway. There’s also a new kind of score being used.

Continue reading Credit scores on the rise

Come out, come out wherever you are

People who hide money in Swiss banks might be in for a rude awakening soon. Today, the Treasury Department announced a new deal to share more tax information with Switzerland - the goal being to root out tax evaders.

Continue reading Come out, come out wherever you are

A moving story

I just read a beautiful story about a little girl, a movie and a corporation. However, if crying at work might be a problem, you should wait until you get home to read it. Trust me.

Continue reading A moving story

Morning Reading

President Obama is still popular among voters, but his handling of the economy is starting to wear thin with more of them. Voters are especially concerned about two things: the budget deficit and government over-involvement.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Wait and see

Yeah, it’s a cliche, but that seems to be the most accurate description of the job market at the moment. There are small signs, like this morning’s numbers, that could be at least in the neighborhood of positive. But the consensus is that employers are not in any hurry to hire people.

Continue reading Wait and see

Creative marketing

I just happened to stumble across these two things today, and they both have the common element of being strange, true and controversial. Dunkin’ Donuts has hired street musicians to promote the message: For the change you’re giving street performers, you could eat breakfast at Dunkin’. Meanwhile, a North Carolina company is using race to sell furniture.

Continue reading Creative marketing

Bailouts r us?

One burning question over financial regulation is this: Does the administration’s plan, as Kai Ryssdal put it this morning, codify “too big to fail?” In other words, are we making bailouts a permanent part of the financial system?

Continue reading Bailouts r us?

Morning Reading

A little bit of encouraging news on the job front. Continuing unemployment claims fell for the first time since January. Could be a sign of some stabilization in the job market. Some other items of interest:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Bogus number?

The one number that gets repeated over and over in the health care debate is: 47 million Americans have no health insurance. But if you break that number down a bit, you realize that it is a very misleading statistic.

Continue reading Bogus number?

Regulation Reaction

I find this debate over financial regulation fascinating, so I’ve been scouring the web for a variety of viewpoints on the administration’s plan. The three hot points seem to be: giving the Fed more power, the creation of a consumer protection agency for financial products and who gets the blame for the financial crisis.

Continue reading Regulation Reaction

Gold and silver, silver and gold

What if you could put money into a vending machine, and instead of a Snickers bar, out came a bar of gold? Well, a German company is making that a reality. I’d also like to point out a federal tax trial in which the accused paid his contractors in silver and gold coins, instead of paper money.

Continue reading Gold and silver, silver and gold

Morning Reading

We’re waiting for the President to deliver his plan on financial regulation, but an 85-page draft has already been given to the media. My favorite breakdown of it comes from Felix Salmon at Reuters:

Continue reading Morning Reading

A comeback for hedge funds?

Speaking of a lack of regulation, let’s talk about those famously unregulated pools of money called hedge funds. Marketplace’s Amy Scott is working on a story for tonight about a new fund. It’s the biggest hedge fund start-up of the year, according to Bloomberg. At our morning meeting, we asked ourselves, what does this mean? Are big money investors ready to jump right back into risk?

Continue reading A comeback for hedge funds?

Regulation isn't looking good

The President hasn’t even announced his plan to regulate the financial industry, but already, there’s a lot of skepticism that anything meaningful will come out of it. For starters, Bloomberg reports that Congress might not even pass it this year.

Continue reading Regulation isn't looking good

Cities take a cut of garage sales

If you’re in need of a crock pot, a coffee table or a plastic pony, chances are your neighbor is selling them in their yard this weekend. It’s garage sale season, and because of the economy, yard sales are up big time. Cities and towns are not oblivious to this development. Some of them have increased their fees and changed their rules.

Continue reading Cities take a cut of garage sales

Morning Reading

I would swear that the same housing story is being republished every single month. Here’s what the wires said this morning: “Construction of new homes jumped in May by the largest amount in three months, providing an encouraging sign that the nation’s deep housing recession may be bottoming.” And here’s what was written on March 17:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Laugh of the day

Okay, so I thought the video I just posted from 1994 was the best thing I’d seen so far today, but it’s now running a close second to this spoof of a GM television ad…

Continue reading Laugh of the day

Something called the "Internet"

This is one of those great time capsule moments. It’s a clip from NBC News circa 1994, a time when you needed a duffel bag to carry your “mobile” phone, and the Internet always had the words “It’s called” come before it. Only Tom Brokaw can do this justice.

Continue reading Something called the "Internet"

Tick, tick, tick, tick

In a speech to the American Medical Association this morning, President Obama said his health care proposal will not be socialized medicine. He said that’s just “scare tactics and fear-mongering” by critics. Then, he proceeded to tell us that health care was a “ticking bomb” that could blow up the United States and its economy.

Continue reading Tick, tick, tick, tick

Have we got a deal for you

If Wall Street isn’t doing it for you, how about giving Baghdad a try? A New York-based firm announced today that it will begin offering trades for the Iraqi stock market. Auerbach Grayson is the first non-Iraqi company to do so since the 2003 US invasion.

Continue reading Have we got a deal for you

Taking the spikes out of gasoline

After our recent experience with $150 oil, it’s pretty nerve wracking to see oil floating back up. It’s around $70 a barrel now. There is a way to take the jitters out of oil prices, and that is with a gasoline tax.

Continue reading Taking the spikes out of gasoline

Morning Reading

Young people are having to make some tough choices in this economy. That’s the focus of a reporting collaboration between NPR’s Morning Edition and PBS’s Newshour. It’s called Generation Next, and it’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed reading this morning:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The pressure's on

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available for listening. As I thought about the week in business and the economy, one word came to mind — pressure. And that’s where we begin. If you’d like the podcast to download automatically each week, here’s the link for that.

Debt, the video game

Do you know what’s going to gobble up our economy? The Giant Pac-Man of debt, according to Ohio Senator George Voinovich:

Continue reading Debt, the video game

Who says there aren't good jobs?

Wanted: Someone to drink wine. At a winery. Stay in a beautiful home in wine country. Tell people about it on Facebook and Twitter. It’s a real job, and it’s available to the person who can create the best one minute sales pitch of why they should be hired.

Continue reading Who says there aren't good jobs?

Bad timing for minimum wage?

Here’s an interesting debate. Next month, the minimum wage is set to go from $6.55 an hour to $7.25. This is the third and final step of a hike that was passed in Spring, 2007. But unemployment was 4.5% back then. Now, it’s 9.4%. Should we postpone the wage increase?

Continue reading Bad timing for minimum wage?

Morning Reading

Wanna know who’s hiring? The federal government, that’s who. The Washington Post points out that the $787 stimulus package includes lots of money for administering the stimulus. So far, most of the jobs being created are the jobs to oversee the creation of jobs. Make sense?

Continue reading Morning Reading

Where will the recovery come from?

Here’s what the Treasury said today: “Timely policy adjustments, not stepped-up U.S. consumer spending, are the key to pulling the world out of its current economic crisis.” Let’s think about that for a second.

Continue reading Where will the recovery come from?

A badge of dishonor

AIG has removed its logo from corporate badges and credit cards, according to Bloomberg. This is because employees were getting harassed in public.

Continue reading A badge of dishonor

Oh great rabbit ear

I have prayed to a few TV antennas in my life. “Please, please come in, most gracious rabbit ear. I must watch this football game, and you’re the only one who can make that dream come true.” Tomorrow’s switch to digital television may sound like the end of an era, but some people might still be on their knees in front of the Magnavox, begging for the picture to clear up.

Continue reading Oh great rabbit ear

It's not what you say...

Let’s say two people are constantly giving you advice. One of them is extremely confident every time but usually turns out to be wrong. The other is much less confident-sounding but usually winds up being right. Who do you listen to? A new study says overwhelmingly, people choose confidence first.

Continue reading It's not what you say...

Morning Reading

Some old emails are getting passed around the halls of Congress. They suggest that people like Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke did, in fact, pressure Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to buy Merrill Lynch despite all the red ink on Merrill’s books. Lewis will give his “They made me do it” defense on the Hill today.

Continue reading Morning Reading

A Beige-looking recovery

The Fed released its latest Beige Book survey today, and more than anything, it tells us that we may just have to be patient about the job market’s recovery.

Continue reading A Beige-looking recovery

No, not the beer!

One of the big stories today is the new proposal for monitoring executive compensation. You can read about that here. I don’t have much new to add on that subject for now. I’d rather talk about free beer.

Continue reading No, not the beer!

Baby back ribs and salad bars

I’d like to take a moment to remember Robert Brinker. Brinker died yesterday at age 78. Now, some people might be inclined to scoff at the guy who made the salad bar a national phenomenon and who made chain restaurants grow like Bloomin’ Onions. But by all accounts, Brinker was an amazing entrepreneur and human being.

Continue reading Baby back ribs and salad bars

TARP-ola

I’m struggling with the TARP payback story. On one hand, it’s supposed to be a good thing that banks are paying back this money. For them, crisis averted (Did they even have a crisis? Has it been averted?). On the other hand, some people make a good case that TARP was a sham.

Continue reading TARP-ola

Morning Reading

Best of luck to Chrysler and Fiat in their new life together. Fiat kissed the bride this morning. Father Government wired $6.6 billion to the happy kids so they can get started on their new venture together. The other reading this morning has a common and sobering thread:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Don't search for that!

You might think Googling for porn would be the quickest route to getting a computer infected with malicious software. But actually, says McAfee, much more benign-sounding keywords are the most dangerous search terms.

Continue reading Don't search for that!

Little praise for appraisers

During the Wild West days of the real estate market, appraisers were a homeowner’s best friend. Now, I imagine some people have tacked up pictures of appraisers to their dart boards.

Continue reading Little praise for appraisers

Cash for Clunkers

The House is expected to take a floor vote today on the bill that would give people vouchers for trading in low mpg cars and trucks for ones with better fuel efficiency. The biggest criticism of the House bill is that it only requires the new cars to have slightly better fuel efficiency.

Continue reading Cash for Clunkers

Morning Reading

The Treasury is set to tell us that 10 of the big banks will be allowed to pay back TARP money. This would seem a vote of confidence in the banks’ health. But many observers are saying don’t be fooled. The financial system is nowhere near out of the woods yet.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Internet, the destroyer?

I was having dinner with friends this weekend and one of them said: “The Internet is destroying our economy.” He’s a journalist, so that fact alone might explain his theory. But he also pointed out that the music business and the movie business and the book-publishing business have all had their revenue models irrevocably changed/crushed. True enough, but is that a bad thing?

Continue reading Internet, the destroyer?

Pearls of wisdom

For the new economic reality, we oughta have some new motivational sayings. “When life gives you lemons” just doesn’t cut it anymore. “Hang in there” rings hollow. Fortunately (and unfortunately), many creative thinkers have extra time on their hands to come up with new words of wisdom.

Continue reading Pearls of wisdom

Taking the ticket out of Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster has come up with a plan to wipe out scalping. Today, the company begins selling “tickets” for the Miley Cyrus tour this fall. Except there won’t be any actual tickets.

Continue reading Taking the ticket out of Ticketmaster

Can't sell the house? Raffle it off

Frustrated homeowners have a new option for unloading their properties — hold a raffle. Here’s how it works:

Continue reading Can't sell the house? Raffle it off

Morning Reading

A world economic group gives a somewhat optimistic report about the global economy this morning. The OECD says there’s a “reduced pace of deterioration” in most of its member countries with stronger signs of a possible trough in Canada, France, Italy and the UK. The new “better,” it seems, is things getting worse more slowly. Other items of interest:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Who has changed their tune?

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. As I thought about this week in business and the economy, it seemed to me that certain people or groups might be singing a different song than they were a few months ago. Speaking of songs, I get help from Yes, Grant Lee Buffalo and Aerosmith. Here’s the link to subscribe so that the podcast will download automatically each Friday.

A helpful diagram

I absolutely love this. It’s one of those simple things that makes so much sense but is eye-opening at the same time. So, if you’re looking for work, thinking about a career change, unhappy with your current job or basically anybody on the planet, take a look at this venn diagram.

Continue reading A helpful diagram

If GM's "reinvention" doesn't work...

Bankruptcy is really more of a beginning than an ending, since the company gets to start over in a way. But if the new company can’t make a go of it, then there is a definite ending — liquidation. Included in GM’s bankruptcy filing is an analysis of what GM’s ice cube melting would look like.

Continue reading If GM's "reinvention" doesn't work...

Morning Reading

Yes, the unemployment rate is now 9.4%, the highest in a quarter-century. But the number of layoffs last month was the lowest total since September. So, maybe there’s room for some glass half-full thinking. GM’s making some progress on slimming down. Word is that former race car driver Roger Penske’s company plans to buy Saturn. Elsewhere:

Continue reading Morning Reading

A retail showdown in Arkansas

Target recently opened a new store right in the heart of Wal-Mart country. Is that like if the Yankees had built their new stadium in South Boston? Or if Ohio State added a satellite campus in Ann Arbor?

Continue reading A retail showdown in Arkansas

AIG wants money back from charities

I really wouldn’t mind if AIG spent a little money on the PR department. This week, we learned that AIG is going to court to try to seize money from a charitable foundation in order to pay bonuses and keep talent. Now, before you have a conniption, let me explain, and you can decide for yourself.

Continue reading AIG wants money back from charities

Morning Reading

A small piece of positive news today. The number of people getting unemployment benefits fell for the first time in 20 weeks. The number of new people signing up for unemployment also dropped. Elsewhere, I read this:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Time to close the money hole?

We’re probably overdue for a national debate on throwing our cash into the national money hole. But the Onion News Network is ahead of the story. Here’s your laugh of the day with apologies for any sting of truth that comes with it:

Continue reading Time to close the money hole?

Many, many fistfuls of quarters

Did you see the documentary, The King of Kong, about the video game geeks and their classic battle of good vs evil? The likable underdog Steve Wiebe vs the pompous poser Billy Mitchell for the world title of Donkey Kong champion! If you haven’t seen it, (and you’re thinking how could that possibly be good), do yourself a favor and rent it right now. It’s brilliant. For those who have seen it, Wiebe tried again yesterday to break the world record at the E3 expo here in LA.

Continue reading Many, many fistfuls of quarters

Buy American might backfire

There’s a provision in the $787 billion stimulus bill that requires all the iron, steel and manufactured goods purchased for public works projects to be made in the United States. The Democrats’ intent here was obviously to defend American jobs. It might be doing just the opposite.

Continue reading Buy American might backfire

What if McCain had won?

The New York Times Economix blog asks an intriguing question: How would the economy be different if John McCain had won the election? Their conclusion — not much different at all. Here’s why:

Continue reading What if McCain had won?

Morning Reading

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking up about the government’s strategy to spend its way out of recession. It’s a strategy Bernanke has clearly endorsed so far. But he says now it’s time to come up with a strategy for controlling the deficit because that could endanger the economy’s long-term health. I guess he’s talking to those of us who weren’t aware that limitless spending and ahem, the Fed printing money, might lead to long-term economic problems. On a similar note…

Continue reading Morning Reading

Let's do the numbers

It’s kind of a slow day, so I’ve been digging around for nuggets. Here are what I’m calling the stats of the day. Let’s start with social media. Nielsen research says in the past year, time spent on Twitter soared 3712%. Only one problem — revenue is a bit smaller number. Zero.

Continue reading Let's do the numbers

GM's still an old dog

One of my younger colleagues came up to me this morning and said something like: I don’t get all the fuss about GM. No one I know would even consider buying a GM car. And if I was going to buy a car based on patriotism or pity, I’d certainly choose Ford over GM. Just let GM die. Let’s discuss this, shall we?

Continue reading GM's still an old dog

Cue the JAWS music

Here’s why it’s not safe to dive back into the economic waters just yet, despite all the talk about bottoms and recoveries. Daily Kos, in full color charts and graphs, looks at the coming implosion of mortgages outside of subprime — commercial loans, Alt-A, jumbos, etc. It makes you think the banks could have their limbs ripped off.

Continue reading Cue the JAWS music

Morning Reading

GM says it has a buyer for its tank division, Hummer. GM isn’t saying who, but it does say the buyer plans to “aggressively” sink money into future Hummer products. So, I’m guessing its either a foreign carmaker or the Marines. Elsewhere…

Continue reading Morning Reading

Harlem dealership opens door for GM

Bankruptcy laws are pretty quirky. And because they are, here’s a little tidbit you might not know: A little dealership in Harlem, NY will forever be linked to GM’s bankruptcy filing this morning.

Continue reading Harlem dealership opens door for GM

Orbitz drops fees, Southwest adds them

Online travel sites are getting rid of their booking fees. Today, Orbitz said it has permanently removed fees for all domestic and international flights. At the same time, Southwest’s response to declining traffic and profits is to ask people to pay more money.

Continue reading Orbitz drops fees, Southwest adds them

He bet his life

I just find this story charming. A British man made $8,191 today by winning a bet. He didn’t bet on horse racing or poker or blackjack. No, this terminal cancer patient made a bet three years ago that he would live to see this day.

Continue reading He bet his life

The Chinese secret - save money

The Chinese have a proverb: With money you are a dragon; with no money, a worm. In other words, money equals power. But in today’s context, it could be that saving money equals power. At least that’s what Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is hearing from the Chinese.

Continue reading The Chinese secret - save money

Morning Reading

After 101 years in business, GM filed for bankruptcy this morning, saying it will close or idle 12 plants. GM’s stock is so worthless (50 cents) that the company was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. So was Citigroup. They’ve been replaced by Travelers and Cisco Systems. Some reading that grabbed my attention:

Continue reading Morning Reading


American Public Media © |   Terms and Conditions   |   Privacy Policy