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August 2009 Archives

The Fed's making a profit?

The Federal Reserve has indeed made $14 billion on hundreds of billions of dollars in loans injected into the financial system, according to the Financial Times. But of course, that’s not whole story.

Continue reading The Fed's making a profit?

Main Street's where it's at

Wall Street is a far away, almost imaginary place for most people. Yes, it can spark a certain populist anger, but if you really want to get somebody going, bring up Main Street. I don’t mean the symbolic one. I mean, their Main Street.

Continue reading Main Street's where it's at

Should we ban cell phones during flights?

Yeah, I know mobile phones are already banned while flying in the US, but there’s been talk of lifting that rule. One Congressman is trying to stop the madness before it even starts.

Continue reading Should we ban cell phones during flights?

Ring of fire

Fire is incapable of mercy. You just have to beat it back or wait for Mother Nature to step in. So far, neither is happening with the wildfire raging here in Los Angeles. It could double in size again today. The center is north of Pasadena in the Angeles National Forest. But here’s what it looked like from my apartment, at least 12 miles away:

Continue reading Ring of fire

Morning Reading

Good Monday morning. My quote for the day: “Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped” (Elbert Hubbard). Some interesting things to read:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The week that was

I’m experimenting with my weekly podcast, After the Bell, which is now available. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. In this edition, I talk to Reuters blogger Felix Salmon about what in the world’s going on lending, among other things. Musical assistance from Mellow Drum Addict, BB King and The Jayhawks. If you’d like the podcast to download automatically each week, click here. Sorry for the delays and light posting today. We’re working on some web projects, the fruits of which you’ll see very soon!

Drinking is the answer

Analysts are starting to show more confidence in the job market. And I quote: “Both long-term and short-term forecasts are showing signs of recovery…” Oh wait, did I mention these are drunk analysts?

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Morning Reading

How could we possibly be worried about running out of water? Well, read on. That’s one of this morning’s top picks:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Speed pays

Let’s talk about this beast known as high-velocity trading. It’s also called high-frequency or flash trading. Critics have some other names for it — frontrunning, fleecing and wrong.

Continue reading Speed pays

The new war between the states

Just about every state has budget wounds. Some, like California, look like they’ve been shot more than Sonny on the causeway. In California’s case, its neighbor, Nevada, smells the blood and is attacking with ferocity.

Continue reading The new war between the states

The inflation freight train

Just try stopping inflation once it gets some momentum. I tried this morning. The Federal Reserve has this cool Internet game that puts you in the Fed Chairman’s seat for 16 quarters. Let me tell you what I did.

Continue reading The inflation freight train

Morning Reading

What’s the difference between Cash for Clunkers and the first-time home buyer tax credit? Not much, when you think about it. And that’s just one of the things on today’s breakfast menu:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The Great California Garage Sale

The lovely but financially irresponsible state in which I reside is holding a garage sale this Friday. Yes, the entire state.

Continue reading The Great California Garage Sale

Wassup? Beer prices

Not just beer, either. There are signs of bounce-back in prices in several markets. Then again, there are still plenty of bargains to be had. Let’s do an informal look at prices.

Continue reading Wassup? Beer prices

Well-timed contributions?

There’s a new Internet tool for keeping track of when special interest groups give campaign money to members of Congress. Like, say, one day before a major vote?

Continue reading Well-timed contributions?

Morning Reading

You might remember a few months ago, I attended a forum on economic blogging at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City. Bloggers such as Tyler Cowen , Paul Kedrosky and Yves Smith gathered to talk about the recession and topics like “Is Journalism Dead?” Well, let’s roll tape. The video is out.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Let's make a deal

Despite what you may have heard, banks are willing to lend money. Consider this big pharma deal we reported yesterday — drug maker Warner Chilcott buying Procter & Gamble’s prescription drug biz for $3 billion. Did you notice that the deal is completely leveraged?

Continue reading Let's make a deal

Global warming on trial?

The country’s main business lobby wants to challenge the science of climate change in “court”. The US Chamber of Commerce is asking the EPA to hold a trial-like public hearing to determine whether man-made global warming is real.

Continue reading Global warming on trial?

As far as the eye can see

Whoa Nelly, look at that national debt. It’s at $11 trillion now and today, the White House and the Congressional Budget Office said it’ll almost double in the next decade. But the two forecasts had different results on the ratio of revenues to expenditures. Let’s figure out why.

Continue reading As far as the eye can see

Morning Reading

I didn’t hear anyone shouting four more years, four more years this morning, but maybe there was a silent cheer for Ben Bernanke. President Obama just nominated him to run the Federal Reserve for another term. Elsewhere, some things to get the juices going:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Guns and Hummers

Forget cash for clunkers. A Hummer dealership in Missouri has another idea for getting people into the showroom. Sell them guns.

Continue reading Guns and Hummers

Big investors vs small ones

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece about how Goldman Sachs gives information to its clients. It says that for about two years now, GS has been holding “trading huddles” with select top clients, providing them with stock advice that might not jibe with the ratings everyone else gets. It’s definitely a topic worth debating.

Continue reading Big investors vs small ones

What if everyone went on strike?

At least one well-known person is calling for every worker in America to shut down the economy for a day and send a message to the government.

Continue reading What if everyone went on strike?

Morning Reading

Hope you had a good weekend. Here are some things that made me sit up and pay attention this morning:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The cruel summer

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. I don’t know about you, but I felt pretty sluggish this week. I think it’s the dog days effect, and it seems to be everywhere. But there’s still some good stuff to talk about from the week. Musical assistance from Cephas and Wiggins, The Centurians and Bananarama. If you’d like ATB to download automatically each week, click here.

Do-it-yourself cigarettes

The little guy is taking on the big tobacco companies again, but not in the way you might think. This year, there’s been a big increase in the number of people growing their own tobacco in the backyard.

Continue reading Do-it-yourself cigarettes

Love him or hate him...

Here comes Michael Moore’s take on the financial meltdown. Moore just released the trailer for his new documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story.” It’ll be hitting some film festivals next month and then go nationwide October 2nd.

Continue reading Love him or hate him...

The rich getting poorer

For three decades, the rich have literally been getting richer. But there’s statistical and anecdotal evidence that the trend is over. The question is — what does that mean for everyone else?

Continue reading The rich getting poorer

Morning Reading

And morning viewing in this case. I’d like to begin with a video produced by the Cleveland Federal Reserve. Snoozer, right? Actually, no.

Continue reading Morning Reading

The health care debate, Taibbi-style

The guy who ripped apart Goldman Sachs in Rolling Stone has a new target. The magazine’s latest issue has Matt Taibbi eviscerating the health care system and the US government. And today, on CNBC, he and Maria Bartiromo really got into it.

Continue reading The health care debate, Taibbi-style

GM bails out cash for clunkers

How’s this for turnabout? GM plans to “rescue” the federal government’s cash for clunkers program by advancing cash to dealerships. It also appears cash for clunkers is about to be tossed onto the scrap heap.

Continue reading GM bails out cash for clunkers

Morning Reading

My favorite story of the morning comes from where else (?) but Marketplace. As a promotional campaign and stimulus package, a British telecom company has hired former pickpockets to slip money into random people’s pockets.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Kicking yourself over Google?

It was 5 years ago today that Google went public with an IPO at $85 a share. At the time, some people scoffed at the price. Today, Google is trading around $445 dollars a share, a 420% return. The NASDAQ’s gain during that time is 8%.

Continue reading Kicking yourself over Google?

There's never been a better time...

Home builders and real estate agents are really pushing the government’s $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. To take advantage of it, people have to close by November 30th. That means they’d better get moving.

Continue reading There's never been a better time...

Reframing the health care debate

The story of the day seems to be how President Obama might save his health care reform plan. Does he need to stop getting bogged down in details and think big picture? Or is it the other way around?

Continue reading Reframing the health care debate

Morning Reading

Some good stuff this morning, from Wall Street to health care to Cash for Clunkers. Let’s begin with the lightning rod of the wealthy:

Continue reading Morning Reading

No soup for you, credit card thief

I hope Albert Gonzalez goes to prison for a long, long time. He’s the guy who was just charged with masterminding the theft of 130 million credit card numbers. In hacker circles, they call him the Soup Nazi, after the character in the Seinfeld episode. But there’s nothing amusing about Gonzalez.

Continue reading No soup for you, credit card thief

A picture worth $170 million

If you rent from Hertz, you probably won’t be getting away with any dings or scratches from now on. The company plans to start taking pictures of the cars before they go out and then again when you bring them back.

Continue reading A picture worth $170 million

Who's afraid of social media?

The NFL, the Southeastern football conference, ESPN, the Marines, J. Crew. The list of companies and organizations that are banning or trying to restrict the use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. is growing.

Continue reading Who's afraid of social media?

Morning Reading

Wall Street’s gained some ground in the early going, but everyone’s talking about yesterday’s dip in the market. What does it mean, if anything?

Continue reading Morning Reading

Our little company

Thought you might like an update on how your investment in General Motors is going. Unfortunately, our little company isn’t little enough. By the end of next year, GM still plans to be marketing four brands and selling 34 different models.

Continue reading Our little company

Own-to-rent

No, that isn’t a new option at Sears. It’s a philosophical change that President Obama seems to be embracing. He’s planning to spend $4.2 billion to encourage some Americans to rent instead of buy their homes.

Continue reading Own-to-rent

Finding Lincoln at a flea market

A guy buys a box of old papers at a flea market. He’s a history buff, so he’s into that kind of thing. He gets the box home and sorts through it. Lo and behold, at the bottom of that stack is an envelope with Abraham Lincoln’s signature on it. Turns out, it could be the last thing President Lincoln ever signed.

Continue reading Finding Lincoln at a flea market

Why health care reform is dying

A few weeks ago, I suggested we might need to have an obituary ready just in case. Well, it isn’t looking good.

Continue reading Why health care reform is dying

Morning Reading

This morning, a possible breakthrough (breakdown?) in the health care debate. Did we go through a man’s crisis and a woman’s recession? And using our DNA to make microchips…

Continue reading Morning Reading

Economy still bed-ridden?

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. This week was an important one for figuring out how far the economy might be from getting out of the hospital and how it’ll be weaned from all those government IV tubes. Musical assistance from The Perishers, New Buffalo and Conor Oberst, long-time lead singer of Bright Eyes (one of my favorites). If you’d like the podcast to download automatically each week, click here.

How you get your movies

I’m a big film buff, so I consider this an important issue. There’s a battle going on right now over how and when DVDs are available to the public. And yes, I’m talking about Netflix and Redbox.

Continue reading How you get your movies

All the wine that's fit to drink

Save a newspaper? Buy a bottle of wine. The New York Times has reached into its bag of revenue tricks and started a wine club.

Continue reading All the wine that's fit to drink

We confess

You’ll be seeing some fun, new features on marketplace.org over the next few months. The first one, College Confessions, is a must-see for the photographs alone.

Continue reading We confess

Morning Reading

This morning, we could be in for another big bank failure, just in time for the anniversary of Wall Street’s meltdown. Plus, why the Chevy Volt might cause blackouts.

Continue reading Morning Reading

dzengee zha mashieneu

I could be swearing in Russian for all I know. I used one of those online dictionaries. But I’m pretty sure I’m in the ballpark of “cash for clunkers” (cash for cars, anyway). You see, Russia has decided to start its own cash for clunkers program.

Continue reading dzengee zha mashieneu

Chart of the Day

From Unemploymentality:

Unemployed.jpg

Airplanes going nowhere

This week, the Transportation Secretary said he was looking into a five hour tarmac delay in Rochester, Minnesota. His department’s trying to decide whether to make new rules about people being cooped up in grounded airplanes for hours at a time.

Continue reading Airplanes going nowhere

Morning Reading

This morning, reaction to the Fed’s assessment of the economy. Plus, why in the world did President Obama say what he said about the Postal Service this week? But let’s start with consumer spending. There isn’t any.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Deep thoughts, by Chuck Lorre

This is just one of those random things I wanted to tell somebody about. I was watching TV last night, and at the end of the show, I saw a flash of white. I rewound the DVR and there was a card telling me the show had been censored, and I should know where to look.

Continue reading Deep thoughts, by Chuck Lorre

I want you back

Some people broke up with their 401(k)s last year, but it looks like the romance has been rekindled. For the first time in four quarters, Fidelity investors increased the amount they put into their retirement accounts rather than dropping the percentage. I guess they were tired of getting no love from their money market fund.

Continue reading I want you back

The bottled water scam

I’ve always been suspicious of the bottled water industry, that it had to be an ingenious marketing ploy tapping into our fear of faucets. How do you know what you’re getting in the bottle? Not to mention the environmental scars, the pricing, the chemicals. Well, a new documentary blows the lid on bottled water, although it appears some people have started to catch on anyway.

Continue reading The bottled water scam

Morning Reading

Quite a bit about health care this morning. It is, after all, the topic around the country. Plus, has the Federal Reserve created another bubble? And one idea for stemming the wave of foreclosures…

Continue reading Morning Reading

Pin the tail on the lobbyist

The health care debate is soaking deep into the grassroots. One website is holding a contest to see who can find the most former Congressional staff members who are now lobbying for the health care industry.

Continue reading Pin the tail on the lobbyist

Tied up in knots

Guess who is hiring? The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It’s looking for a few good Wall Streeters to conduct some business for the Fed. Yes, I’m serious.

Continue reading Tied up in knots

Damned if you do

Is it good news that worker productivity is way up? Should we be happy that companies are squeezing more out of their smaller staffs?

Continue reading Damned if you do

Morning Reading

Now we know what that weird 230 electrical socket thing was. 230 mpg is what GM says the Chevy Volt might get for city driving. That’s more than four times what the Prius gets. Of course, the Volt’s price will be electrifying also.

Continue reading Morning Reading

From totally chic to totally geek

I have a theory that most people perpetually live in a high school state of mind when it comes to trends and fads. A new study backs me up on this, so marketers, you might want to pay attention. You don’t want your product to get too hot too fast.

Continue reading From totally chic to totally geek

Crackberry overtime

Should hourly workers get paid overtime for responding to emails or answering calls after normal work hours? At least two new lawsuits may let the courts have a say in this.

Continue reading Crackberry overtime

Swimming with sharks

When it comes to reality TV, I believe moderation is the best policy. Sure, I’d like to think I could abstain from its harmful rays completely, but I’m human and occasionally fall prey to reality TV’s siren song. Last night, a new one got its hooks into me.

Continue reading Swimming with sharks

Wine, women and the economy

I just spent a few days in Napa Valley, so I have wine on the brain (or should I say in the brain?). Either way, here are some things I learned in wine country.

Continue reading Wine, women and the economy

Morning Reading

Good morning. Back from a couple days of R and R, which I’ll tell you a bit about shortly. Thanks to Paddy Hirsch for filling in. This morning, you might need a handkerchief for starters. Plus, Robert Reich alleges extortion involving the White House. And depositing a check using a camera?

Continue reading Morning Reading

Hey, cupcake

73282463.jpg Actress Aisha Tyler (24, CSI, Friends etc., etc.) joined us at the Marketplace Whiteboard yesterday.

She came by because she wanted to discuss a plan to lift the economy using everyone’s favorite tea-time diversion: cupcakes.

How could we refuse?

Continue reading Hey, cupcake

It's a mystery

What does it mean? What’s 8 11? Is that a date? Is that supposed to be 23 or 230? Is that an electrical socket or a smiley face? Or both?

Continue reading It's a mystery

What's sticking ... and what ain't

Our weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. Bob Moon’s been looking back at this week’s news, and he has the feeling that the government’s going through one of those idea incubation excercises that overpaid consultants like to conduct. “Clunkers, TARP buybacks, loan modifications, toss it at the wall and let’s see what sticks!”

Musical assistance and a film clip from Paramount Pictures. Produced by Paddy Hirsch and Fiona Ng, engineered by Charlton Thorp.

If you’d like After the Bell to download automatically each week, click here.

Hands off the shorts

shorts.jpg Felix Salmon has a new rallying cry: three cheers for short-sellers. He argues that short sellers generally protect investors.

Continue reading Hands off the shorts

Talk o' the mornin'

A $1.8 billion profit at AIG. A $1.7 billion loss at Royal Bank of Scotland. The White House backs off the Fan and Fred “bad bank” idea. More job losses, but not enough to break the 10 percent “threshold”. And Ben Stein gets the boot from the Times.

Continue reading Talk o' the mornin'

Squawk!

bird.jpg By now everyone in the known world is aware that Twitter had a two-hour outage this morning. Marketplace tweets, as does the Whiteboard, but when Twitter went down today, we all had to resort to our Facebook pages to let our legions of followers know what we’re up to.

Continue reading Squawk!

Predatory lender

cash.jpg If you think banks, auto finance and mortgage companies are usurious, try borrowing on the street in Machester, England. John Kiely, a 36 year-old loan shark, charged some of his “clients” rates as high as 2,437 percent. Kiely was sentenced in Manchester Crown Court yesterday for a range of offences.

Continue reading Predatory lender

Frankly, my dear...

gs.jpg Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn lets it all hang out in a New York Times story today.

“Our risk appetite continues to grow year on year, quarter on quarter, as our balance sheet and liquidity continue to grow,” Mr. Cohn said.

Continue reading Frankly, my dear...

Top o' the mornin'

Looks like a slack day for the US, markets-wise, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Nikkei both ended up, and European markets are also looking better today. Oil is down, but so are sales reports from US retailers. The jobs news is good - or better than expected, at least: the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits fell 38,000 to 550,000 last week.

Continue reading Top o' the mornin'

Trendsetters

chas.jpg

America may have thrown off the yoke of British imperialism, but British ways still seem to have a way of insinuating themselves across the Atlantic. Plaid (or tartan, as His Royal Highness calls it), is back. That’s what retailers are telling Marketplace reporter Stacey Vanek Smith today.

Continue reading Trendsetters

Fuld of it

fuld.jpgDick Fuld, the former CEO of now-defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers, is back in the news. For a while there, it was his wife Kathy making the headlines, with all that crazy shopping she was doing. But thanks to New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, it’s all about tricky Dick again. New York City says Lehman owed it $627 million in taxes, and it’s doing all it can to muscle to the front of the line of bankruptcy creditors in the Lehman case.

Continue reading Fuld of it

Top of the Morning

Paddy Hirsch here, filling in for Scott until the weekend.

No flashing

Top story today is news that the SEC plans to crack down on flash orders.

This is going to irritate some small and up-and-coming exchanges like BATS, who show some clients orders for a very brief period before they go wide to the rest of the market. What’s more irritating is the apparent confusion in this Times article between high-frequency trading and flash orders. They are not the same, and yet most reports, even those in the financial press, appear to confuse them. A recent story in the Economist does a good job of spelling out the difference. Let’s hope the SEC isn’t as befuddled on this one as most reporters seem to be.

Here’s a tip…

Watch the Chinese. It looks as though our partners across the Pacific are worried about inflation.

Continue reading Top of the Morning

"Good manners are important"

That’s a quote from Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, who today asked protesters to be more civil when confronting Democrats over the issue of health care reform. If you’ve seen the video from Sunday’s town meeting in Philadelphia, you know what he’s referring to. The question is — is it possible and/or important to have a civil debate about this issue?

Continue reading "Good manners are important"

Reinventing ourselves

For so many Americans, life will be completely different, even when the economy recovers. On the downside, they probably won’t be making as much money as they used to — maybe never again. But some people will be happier because they’ll be doing something they actually want to do.

Continue reading Reinventing ourselves

Blame the children

Trading in your clunker, recycling, using energy-efficient lightbulbs. A new study says these are small potatoes when it comes to reducing carbon footprints. What really adds to greenhouse gases is having kids.

Continue reading Blame the children

Morning Reading

Among this morning’s items: holding a summit when the answer is ridiculously obvious, photographer Annie Leibovitz’s financial trouble, and a newspaper writer goes off on a blog that excerpted his story. But let’s start with our good friend Allan Sloan.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Another slap on the wrist

The SEC fined Bank of America $33 million today for lying to shareholders about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees during B of A’s takeover of Merrill. Make that a $33 million fine for handing out bonuses of $5.8 billion to employees of a company that almost went out of business last year.

Continue reading Another slap on the wrist

Cheeps and Twares

Ah, the language of Twitter. It’s so… (pick your word — mangled, cute, annoying?) Anyway, a story about airlines tweeting fares came up at our morning meeting and that prompted the question: Are corporations hijacking social media?

Continue reading Cheeps and Twares

What's the caption?

This piece of video has been making the rounds on the cable news networks this morning. I know there has to be an economic analogy.

Continue reading What's the caption?

Morning Reading

Just a couple of things to point out this morning, including a disturbing look at health insurance math. Let’s start with that.

Continue reading Morning Reading


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