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September 2009 Archives

Getting Naked

Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention because this is an important topic. What’s the likelihood that public companies are being destroyed by millions of shares of stock that don’t exist?

Continue reading Getting Naked

An instant success or total failure?

Perhaps Starbucks is thinking the launch this week of Via Ready Brew is just another innovation from a progressive company. But what if a seemingly harmless cup of instant coffee takes down the whole company?

Continue reading An instant success or total failure?

What really happened last year, part II

A couple weeks ago, I pointed out a GQ story that chronicled the crazy days at the White House last September. Today, Vanity Fair hits the newsstands with a story about what former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had in mind for his old company, Goldman Sachs.

Continue reading What really happened last year, part II

Fake expensing it

I wonder if Wall Street actually is cutting back. In an effort to drum up business, a Manhattan restaurant has created a website where you can generate fake receipts to turn in to your employer.

Continue reading Fake expensing it

Morning Reading

Good morning. On today’s breakfast menu: A banker says too big to fail is bad (but don’t make us smaller). There’s talk of a commercial real estate bailout. And a columnist explains why Obama “bombed on health care.”

Continue reading Morning Reading

From the horse's mouth

Despite the talk of green shoots in recent months, the job market is likely to continue its hibernation for some time. This is coming from CEOs themselves.

Continue reading From the horse's mouth

Homes on wheels

Is the housing market finally starting to move? Maaaybe. But there are some qualifiers, which we should discuss. There is a segment, though, that’s moving for sure.

Continue reading Homes on wheels

Think Big

Every once in a while, I stumble across a new website that reels me in, and I feel compelled to share it. I found one this morning that I think you’ll enjoy.

Continue reading Think Big

Morning Reading

Good morning. Among today’s items, a debate over the Fed’s competence level in fighting inflation, what Barney Frank thinks of home buyers and Chicago’s bid for the Olympics…

Continue reading Morning Reading

Tracking the stimulus

The government’s official stimulus tracking website, recovery.gov, relaunched today. The site has lots of new data and some interactive maps to help you see exactly where the money is going, down to the neighborhood level. Texans might be disappointed. And people who live on really bad roads.

Continue reading Tracking the stimulus

Rash decisions

If you think your government has made some hasty decisions based largely on fear, you have to see what’s happening in Egypt right now. There has never been a more literal example of “haste makes waste.”

Continue reading Rash decisions

It's the music that matters

Our latest web project asks the question: What music is good for the recession? Whatever you’re listening to, man, whatever you’re listening to.

Continue reading It's the music that matters

Morning Reading

Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. This morning, the Blob That Ate Monetary Policy and more!

Continue reading Morning Reading

Bubbles, Bandits and Burghers

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. This week, Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch and I dig deeper into the week’s top stories. Plus, I spend some time with former Pittsburgher Rico Gagliano. I know there’s a lot of attention focused on the global economy, but it’s good to talk about what’s going on with local economies, too, and Pittsburgh’s an interesting case. Music this week includes the Steve Miller Band, Frank Black and Spongebob Squarepants. Spongebob is worried about the next bubble. If you’d like ATB to download automatically each Friday, click here.

The debt coming due

It’s mind-boggling how much borrowed money is still sitting on the balance sheets of banks and other companies. All those corporate buyouts and commercial real estate deals that were financed during the boom times? A lot of those loans haven’t been repaid, and the fear is that they never will be.

Continue reading The debt coming due

TP Talk

There’s a reason why the toilet paper at the office, the airport or a restaurant is rough while your TP at home might be “ultra plush” or “extra fluffy.” They come from very different sources, one of which is not so good for the environment. We must get to the bottom of it.

Continue reading TP Talk

Morning Reading

Good morning. Today’s slate has a bit of international flair, from Ireland, China and Brazil:

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Listen to the man

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker testified to Congress today about President Obama’s plan for regulating the financial industry. Volcker is a smart cookie, and he’s not afraid to challenge conventional thinking.

Continue reading Listen to the man

Can Mr. Squiggles save the economy?

I can’t believe Christmas is three months from tomorrow. But it is, and the pressure’s on retailers to figure out how to avoid a second straight awful holiday shopping season. Apparently, a fake hamster might come to the rescue.

Continue reading Can Mr. Squiggles save the economy?

Trading in Wall Street's graveyard

Did you know that Washington Mutual’s stock gained 64% earlier this week? Lehman Brothers shares have quadrupled the past month. The stock of the old, bankrupt GM has tripled. You see anything wrong with this picture?

Continue reading Trading in Wall Street's graveyard

Morning Reading

Good morning. Among today’s items: Katie Couric’s ridiculous salary, protectionism, inflation, and a very disturbing crime.

Continue reading Morning Reading

The next bubble's already here?

The Federal Reserve just made its announcement on interest rates. The Fed said it would leave rates near zero and will in fact keep them low for an extended period even though economic activity has “picked up.” Could be a very dangerous strategy.

Continue reading The next bubble's already here?

The banks make nice

Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase have announced new rules on overdrafts, and they favor the customer. Uh, some customers.

Continue reading The banks make nice

Banker pay: the wrong problem?

One of the big topics at this week’s G-20 summit will be banker compensation. World leaders seem in unison on this topic — outrageous bonuses led to excessive risk-taking, which led to the economy’s collapse. But what if that’s just not true?

Continue reading Banker pay: the wrong problem?

Morning Reading

Question: What movie premiere after-party was held at an extremely swanky Soho apartment with two suites, two balconies, a hot tub and a steak bar? A steak bar.

Continue reading Morning Reading

Ode to the Rust Belt

This week, Pittsburgh hosts the gathering of world leaders known as the G-20 Summit. Pittsburgh? I’m trying to imagine Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel hanging out, drinking Iron City beer, stuffing their faces with a Primanti Brothers sandwich. I’m only teasing, of course. Pittsburgh’s cool again, didn’t you know?

Continue reading Ode to the Rust Belt

Look here, stimulus at work

A couple months ago, I wrote about the debate over putting up road signs that promote the stimulus projects. Well, the Senate has given its blessing to them.

Continue reading Look here, stimulus at work

Students are flocking to J-School?

It’s hard to believe, but admissions to journalism schools are up significantly. I know that defies logic, considering the state of the industry, but it’s true, and it’s an interesting development.

Continue reading Students are flocking to J-School?

Morning Reading

Good stuff this morning, including Hank Paulson’s phone records, a debate over requiring health insurance, and why Goldman always wins:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Mortgage defaulters have good credit

A new study suggests many people who are walking away from their mortgages know exactly what they’re doing. They’re not especially desperate. They’re not subprime borrowers. They’re just making a business decision.

Continue reading Mortgage defaulters have good credit

The free and open Internet

Today, the FCC chairman said he wants to codify rules that prevent wireless providers from messing with your Internet access. His argument has a freedom of speech ring to it, but this is also about bandwidth hogs.

Continue reading The free and open Internet

Eat Fresh, on every corner

Subway is opening 40 new locations a week around the world. It’ll pass 31,800 this week, and within the next 9 months or so, it should overtake McDonald’s as the largest fast-food chain by number of stores. It’s hard to believe, but Subway has almost twice as many locations as Starbucks.

Continue reading Eat Fresh, on every corner

Morning Reading

Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. We’ll start the morning with astonishing remarks and one unbelievable question:

Continue reading Morning Reading

It's alive! Sort of...

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. Among other things, I talk to Infectious Greed blogger Paul Kedrosky about Uncle Ben’s comments on the economy. Let’s just say Paul thinks Bernanke wouldn’t make a very good weather forecaster or mad scientist. I also try to answer questions I posed about dynamic ticket pricing with the CEO of one company behind it. Check out the musical diversity of this week’s podcast: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bobby Pickett (know what he sang?) and Harry Connick, Jr. If you’d like ATB to download automatically every Friday, click here.

The FDIC might need a loan

As you probably know, there have been so many bank failures this year, that the FDIC is starting to run out of money. It doesn’t have many options for getting more. The FDIC fund insures the money you have at the bank. And one of the options is — you guessed it — to borrow from the taxpayers.

Continue reading The FDIC might need a loan

Morning Reading

Good morning. On Friday’s agenda: high-frequency trading, of course, plus Wal-Mart as Godzilla and no wonder Warren Buffett never learned to use voice mail:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The word on "The Street"

No, not Wall Street. Sesame Street. PBS has produced an hour-long special designed to help children understand why their families might be having a tough time and how to deal with it. It’s actually a refreshing take on the economic problems many of us are getting numbed to.

Continue reading The word on "The Street"

Americans are $2 trillion wealthier

The Federal Reserve said today that household net worth grew by $2 trillion in the second quarter. That’s the first quarterly increase in two years. Where is all this money? In a piggy bank, under the mattress, in a basement safe?

Continue reading Americans are $2 trillion wealthier

The debt alarm clock

The Economist has a new tool for showing the mounting debt of countries around the world — a clock that is updating every few seconds. Tick, tick, tick, BOOM?

Continue reading The debt alarm clock

Morning Reading

Citigroup has the money. They’re just not ready to pay us back yet. Plus, what’s the meaning of Dow 10,000? That and more:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The next stress tests

The Federal Reserve is planning to conduct a new round of analysis on smaller banks around the country, according to the Associated Press. The goal is to figure out just how much danger lurks in the commercial real estate market.

Continue reading The next stress tests

Kids and credit cards

Our Small Town Hall is generating some discussion around the web, as we hoped it would. The Consumerist has started a debate about one of the questions we asked the kids: Should you have credit cards?

Continue reading Kids and credit cards

Scalping, er, "dynamic" ticket pricing

Let’s say the backup quarterback is playing this week or the understudy is subbing tonight because the Broadway star is sick. Under a new ticket pricing system that’s getting some attention, the tickets to this week’s game or tonight’s show could drop significantly. Of course, the tickets to a must-win game or a finale show could skyrocket at the last minute.

Continue reading Scalping, er, "dynamic" ticket pricing

And it starts all over

After all the bickering, lobbying, distorting and lying about the health care bill, a version is finally ready, uh… to debate. Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus unveiled the 10-year, $856 billion bill today. It’s called America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. But based on what I’m reading, the bill — as it’s presented — doesn’t have a healthy future at all.

Continue reading And it starts all over

Morning Reading

Some good stuff to read this morning. Lets start with a great question:

Continue reading Morning Reading

What really happened a year ago

Today’s must read comes courtesy of GQ magazine. Former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer tells an insider’s story of what happened at the White House as the $700 billion bailout was being debated last September. Holy Moley.

Continue reading What really happened a year ago

The kids are alright, part 2

This is a complimentary post to our new web project, Small Town Hall. I talked to kids about the economy and their ideas on money, saving, borrowing, etc. Well, PBS has a new documentary that looks at how those kids might behave financially about 10 years from now.

Continue reading The kids are alright, part 2

Whew... it's finally over?

Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared the recession “very likely over at this point.” Does it feel that way to you? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Continue reading Whew... it's finally over?

Word up

In the spirit of Ambrose Bierce’s “Devil’s Dictionary,” The Wall Street Journal has created a satirical dictionary for the business lexicon of our economic times. Some pretty funny stuff:

Continue reading Word up

Morning Reading

This morning, some takeaways from the president’s speech to Wall Street. Plus, an insider’s view of how Wall Street works.

Continue reading Morning Reading

The kids are alright

There’s a lot of talk about how the economic decisions of today will affect future generations. But we rarely talk to the future. So, I gathered a few kids together and held a Small Town Hall to hear their thoughts about money, the economy and their future. If you think children aren’t tuned into this stuff, think again.

Continue reading The kids are alright

There's still one born every minute

I’m not sure why Nigerians are so good at internet scams, but they are, and even after years of warnings about their methods, Americans are still getting duped. Imagine if the Federal Reserve published this:

Continue reading There's still one born every minute

Learning to say no

President Obama delivers a speech on Wall Street today. The main thrust of it will be his vision for regulating the financial markets, but equally important is the administration’s strategy for getting out of American business.

Continue reading Learning to say no

Morning Reading

Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. A few things to kick off the week:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Defining moments

My weekly podcast, After the Bell, is now available. This week — the lessons of defining moments. Plus, I talk my friend Allan Sloan at Fortune about the year since Lehman’s collapse. I’ve interviewed Allan many times, but I have to say, this is one of my favorites. Musical help from Shawn Colvin, Cy Coleman and Pennywise. If you’d like to download the podcast automatically each week, click here.

You can't dance to that, Ellen

The pick of Ellen Degeneres as the next American Idol judge is being overshadowed today by the news that big record companies are suing her TV show. They claim Ellen’s little dance numbers are a violation of copyright laws.

Continue reading You can't dance to that, Ellen

Break 'em up?

One of the issues I’ll be talking about on the podcast today is whether the big banks need to be dismantled and reorganized. As a supplement to that discussion, I wanted to point out a good debate between two sharp people — former NY Attorney General Elliot Spitzer and economist Tyler Cowen.

Continue reading Break 'em up?

He wouldn't give a penny to a banker

I’ll give the Treasury Secretary credit. He put himself out there last night. Mr. Geithner held a town hall meeting and took questions from people frustrated by the government’s bailouts and spending sprees.

Continue reading He wouldn't give a penny to a banker

Morning Reading

You couldn’t make this stuff up. Neighbors say an executive from Wells Fargo moved into a $12 million Malibu Beach home after the bank foreclosed upon it. She threw parties and basically treated it as her own property. The previous owners had been devastated by their investments with — you guessed it — Bernie Madoff.

Continue reading Morning Reading

No gain in commuting pain

I missed this when it came out a few days ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning. IBM’s annual commuter pain index has some interesting data in it, like how much would people pay to have a shorter commute?

Continue reading No gain in commuting pain

Let's watch movies!

A film festival later this month in New York City has made The Great Recession its theme for this year. The entrants are a collection of short comedies and dramas, documentaries and music videos. Some of them are quite good.

Continue reading Let's watch movies!

On the trade deficit

The chasm between US imports and exports grew by a 16% in July to $32 billion, according to the Commerce Department. While that sounds like a bad thing, it could be a sign of confidence in the economy.

Continue reading On the trade deficit

The poor (and everyone else) getting poorer

Today, the Census Bureau came out with its annual report on incomes, poverty and health insurance. I’ll spare you the depression of reading through the whole thing and just give you a couple of the lowlights.

Continue reading The poor (and everyone else) getting poorer

Morning Reading

President Obama made another push for health care last night, but is he making a mistake by focusing too much on that and not enough on the economy and financial regulation? Some opinions in today’s morning reading:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Making fun of people at Wal-Mart

Social media could take us in all kinds of directions. I’m about to show you one direction it’s taking people in droves right now. I’m not advocating it. I’m just pointing it out because this is the kind of thing companies will probably have to put on their radar.

Continue reading Making fun of people at Wal-Mart

Google's Monopoly

This isn’t an antitrust blog post. Today, Google launched the world’s biggest game of Monopoly. Google Maps is the game board, and you can buy any street in the world and build property on it. Unfortunately, it seems the entire world is trying to play all at once.

Continue reading Google's Monopoly

When the hare controls the hound

At a speech in Frankfurt today, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said some investment banking products are socially useless. And so are guaranteed multi-year contracts for Wall Street bankers.

Continue reading When the hare controls the hound

Morning Reading

The former CEO of Lehman Brothers won’t talk about what happened a year ago, but he will tell the press that his mother loves him. Plus, a test drive with Bob Dylan…

Continue reading Morning Reading

The great American pullback

The amount of credit outstanding plummeted in July by $21.6 billion. That’s a record. It’s the sixth straight month Americans have reduced their borrowing and the 10th straight month that credit card balances have been reduced. Yeah, Americans! But it also means the economy’s turnaround might be even slower.

Continue reading The great American pullback

Gold & Silver, Silver & Gold

You’ve probably read that the price of gold surged past $1,000 an ounce today to its highest level in 18 months. It’s a clear sign that investors are worried the path of rampant government spending must lead to inflation. They’re choosing gold over the weakening dollar. But there’s something else I’d like to point out.

Continue reading Gold & Silver, Silver & Gold

Money never sleeps

That’s the subtitle of Wall Street 2, Oliver Stone’s sequel to one of the greatest business movies of all time. Stone starts shooting this week in Manhattan’s financial district, but the stock market won’t be the story this time around. Appropriately, the Federal Reserve will have a much bigger role.

Continue reading Money never sleeps

They'll bet your life

Here’s an argument for why bailing out Wall Street might’ve been a horrible idea — the bankers have little incentive to be careful. They’re already cooking up the next exotic, dangerous way to make piles of money, and that could be to gamble on when the sick and elderly will die.

Continue reading They'll bet your life

Morning Reading

Good morning. Hope you had a great holiday weekend, but now it’s back to work. From the sorry history of America’s debt to women playing professional football in lingerie, I’ve found a little bit of everything this morning:

Continue reading Morning Reading

I want a new drug

On this week’s After the Bell podcast, I have some perspective on the employment report, the Fed’s profits and the taxman. Plus, I talk to a guy who knows the drug industry inside and out. He’s a great interview, you won’t want to miss it. Musical assistance from Stevie Ray Vaughn (yeah!), Huey Lewis and John Lennon. If you’d like the podcast to download automatically each Friday, click here.

The next bubble = college tuition?

This is an extraordinary fact: last academic year, the amount of money borrowed by students increased 25% from the year before. That may be the biggest annual increase ever, at a time when lending is tight everywhere else in the economy. Guess where the money’s coming from?

Continue reading The next bubble = college tuition?

Give more money to the SEC?

After falling flat on its face in the Bernie Madoff case and in other situations, the SEC could be rewarded with a raise. New York Senator Charles Schumer wants to increase the SEC’s budget by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Continue reading Give more money to the SEC?

Morning Reading

10% unemployment isn’t far away now, although the number of job losses last month was lower than expected. Plus, here we go with the anniversary look-backs on Lehman Brothers:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Getting sued by your football team

It’s almost time for that annual rite of Fall — the kickoff of the NFL season. Only this year, quite a few season ticket holders will be sitting at home with a lawsuit in their lap instead of a set of pom-poms.

Continue reading Getting sued by your football team

Equal opportunity unemployment

All eyes will be on the monthly employment report released tomorrow morning. I’m keeping my expectations low, but maybe we’ll see the glimmer of a turnaround in the job market. It can’t get much worse than the past year, if you look at those numbers. The story is the same, whether you live in a city of decline or a boom town.

Continue reading Equal opportunity unemployment

Hard work and sacrifice

I read an interesting column this morning that poses the four “problems that could sink America.” It’s not a very encouraging look in the mirror, but I suppose the glass-half full crowd would say, hey, at least we’re not sunk yet! Either way, it raises some good debating points.

Continue reading Hard work and sacrifice

Morning Reading

A bank and two ratings agencies will have to defend a class-action lawsuit over subprime mortgages. Are companies ready to spend again? Will YouTube rent movies? Is the iPhone actually a pig? Many important questions this morning:

Continue reading Morning Reading

The government as bookie

It seems that examples of poorly-run government businesses are oozing out of the woodwork. The latest case is New York’s Off Track Betting operation. Holy smokes, what a den of inefficiency.

Continue reading The government as bookie

What drug companies do

Not only did Pfizer just settle a case for the largest criminal fine in the history of the United States, but the Senate has obtained a copy of the marketing plan for the antidepressant Lexapro. Just toss it on the pile of evidence of how many drug makers operate.

Continue reading What drug companies do

Take a chance, begin again

If the recent economic tides have you thinking of making a change, you might find some inspiration in our latest web project, Starting Over.

Continue reading Take a chance, begin again

Morning Reading

Haven’t talked about AIG in a while, but there are two items featuring the insurance company in today’s morning reading. But let’s start with the Mulligan Club:

Continue reading Morning Reading

Funny how?

It’s kind of a slow news day, which is fine by me. But I have a few things to point out that are curious, interesting or downright hilarious.

Continue reading Funny how?

What the IRS is up to

A couple of changes might be coming to a 1040 near you. Both of them could increase the government’s tax revenue haul.

Continue reading What the IRS is up to

Subprime meltdown, the movie

Michael Moore might have some competition in the “documentary on the financial crisis” category. A new one called “American Casino” is touring the country. It’s specifically about the housing market’s collapse.

Continue reading Subprime meltdown, the movie

Morning Reading

Some good stuff this morning. Hank Paulson tells his story, Sheila Bair says what’s on her mind, an American says big government works and a Canadian calls Americans tax crybabies. Read on!

Continue reading Morning Reading


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