feedjune082






		June 1 - June 22, 2008 Monday June 30, 2008 U.S. Stocks Rise, Led by Energy Companies BL Dollar Recovers Investment Outlook - Dear President Obama PIMCO (Gross) Lehman Drops to Eight-Year Low on Speculation It Will Be Sold Below Market BL Corn Futures Tumble by Exchange Limit on U.S. Farmers' Plans to Plant More BL Analyst Cuts Estimates, Price Targets for Banks AP Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index Unexpectedly Increased to 49.6 in June BL Monday Morning Outlook: Has the Sell-Off Created a Buying Opportunity? Schaeffers Iraq throws open door to foreign oil firms Reuters Iraq fails to sign contracts with global oil majors AFP U.S. Advised Iraq on Oil Deals NYT IMF finally knocks on Uncle Sam's door The Age Der Spiegel wrote that the IMF had "informed" Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke of plans that would have been unheard of in the past: a general examination of the US financial system..."no Fed chief in US history has been forced to submit to the kind of humiliation that Ben Bernanke is facing". BIS slams central banks, warns of worse crunch to come Telegraph G&M: “It is uncharted waters that we are testing at this point, and central bankers all over the world are very alert.” BIS 78th Annual Report BIS PDF File The end of the superbubble MSN (Fleck) Projected Long-Term Market Returns are Still Tame Hussman Buffett v. Bernanke: Inflation showdown Fortune (Barr) Treasury Bear Market to Worsen as Bernanke Fed Lacks Greenspan Confidence BL Election could delay Fed rate rise until December Reuters Inflation Menace Has Echoes of Volcker's Days Hassett What if the Bank has lost its magic? Independent (King) Stock, Bond Slumps Signal Worse Than '94 in Return to Inflation Era of '74 BL Expect U.S. economic woes to linger into 2009 CS Monitor Where will the economy go from here? Kellner Q&A New Threat: The 'Obama Market' Dorfman History Suggests More Pain Lies Ahead for Investors Roseman Ben Stein Goes Wild at the NYT!!! Baker What we can do in this dangerous moment FT (Summers) Debate Over: It's Hyperinflation (and US Economic Collapse) ML-Implode Henry Paulson Reaffirms Strong Dollar Policy Reuters -- “We're in an economy that's tanking, we're looking at the most significant economic downturn since the 1930s, and the dollar is going to hell.” Charles Allmon Banks may need to pump billions into scheme Times Online Rights Offerings Reveal Need for Wall Street to Throw Good Money After Bad BL “It's a slightly bizarre situation. The one- legged bank is supporting another one-legged bank.'' Merrill destined to raise equity in third quarter, analyst says MW Business volumes fall at fastest rate in 17 years FT The gap between lending and borrowing rates has widened more than at any time in the survey's history. Credit crunch still has six months to go Citywire Australians leave UK to escape credit crunch Telegraph Credit crisis fallout to corset homeowner spending Reuters Commercial Real Estate: Harder Times Ahead S&P (Wyss) Mortgage rates creeping upward USAT As Bill Evolves, Mortgage Debt Is Snowballing NYT Schwarzenegger sees end to housing woes in '09 MW Let the Banks Go Under, Sell 10 Million Houses for $1 Each Smith Blog Fortis Chairman: “The U.S. is heading for complete meltdown” Thomson - Fortis calls for ‘collapse of the U.S. financial markets’? In Dutch Yahoo Translator Commodities Indicating Bubble Bursting Following Best First Half Since '73 BL “We're near some kind of reckoning'' in commodities Fed's flinch galvanizes gold Brimelow Gold to catch up with oil as inflation brews Reuters Oil Rises to Record Above $143 on Concern Iran Supplies May Be Disrupted BL Iran threatens to shut down Persian Gulf oil lanes if attacked LA Times Is There Any Retreat in Sight for Oil? Barron’s Oil Futures and the Folly of Price Controls WP America's untapped oil CNN Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher NYT Bringing Down Bear Stearns Vanity Fair Did the investment bank die of natural causes or was it, as some suspect, murder? Detroit's mood grim as automakers face the brink Reuters If a brokerage firm goes broke, will your investments remain safe? CS Monitor Property Insurers Face $5 Billion in Claims: WSJ CNBC Citigroup to Overhaul Management Bonuses Reuters Bud alert: Brazilians not all sunshine and fun G&M Connecticut hedge fund scammer wants diploma AP Embracing the uncertain Globe & Mail He made billions running hedge funds and almost broke the Bank of England. Now George Soros says he has the answers to the credit crisis Sell, Hedge ... or Be Prepared to Lose! Weiss Trichet Backs ECB's Inflation Hawks, Risking Weaker Growth, Widening Rift BL UK house prices fall for ninth month Telegraph Banks and building societies have continued to increase their mortgage rates as the credit crisis makes it increasingly difficult to raise funds. Builders in crisis as Taylor Wimpey seeks rescue Independent Cash fears worst for 26 years Times Online Plunging confidence threatens to exacerbate Britain’s economic woes as hard-pressed consumers rein in their spending Dark Clouds Over The Delta Newsweek Factories are closing in the Pearl River Delta, just as Beijing planned. The next step is even harder Moody's upgrades Japan's government debt to Aa3 from A1 MW Brazilian Secret 93 Million Don't Want to Talk About Is Racism BL Foreigners Flee Seoul Bourse as Clouds Gather Chosun Year of the Bear Australian Special Ireland teetering towards recession Times 'Legal Nightmare' Feared in Russia NY Sun Shanghai Disneyland 'may open by 2012' China Daily Preparing the Battlefield New Yorker (Hersh) The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. Israel has a year to stop Iran bomb, warns ex-spy Telegraph Israel Prepared to Use Force Against Iran Spiegel Weekend Edition (June 28-29, 2008) Key U.S. Data Releases and Events Global Insight Merk Week Ahead Markets to wade further into uncharted territory MW Teetering on brink of global recession Financial Post The Slow Motion Recession Re-visited Mauldin Tequila Sunrise: Fuel Subsidies In Mexico Stimulate Black Market Activity In The US Merk G5 Monetary Policy Prescription: Talk Tough But Act Gently BMO Focus PDF The ECB's eurobankers are beating the Fed at their own game Telegraph Current Growth in Money and Credit Aggregates Not Fueling Inflation Kasriel PDF Intervention Will Not Stop the Dollar’s Slide Schiff Just The Facts Noland Dollar pain hits close to home CNN Sitting on the Porch, Leaving the Car in the Garage NYT (Norris) Hunkering Down BMO Pain is all around as Americans shun SUVs Reuters U.S. Financial Data, June 27 Issue FRBSL MBIA selling muni bonds to raise cash MW Insurer needs more than $7 billion to meet obligations triggered by downgrade Development Bank of Japan Has Loss From Subprime, Nikkei Says BL Credit-card lenders lower borrowing levels, which hurts consumers' credit scores AP Does the Housing Bubble Have to Pop? Baker Nobody Home Hassett State charges five with mortgage fraud Boston Globe The Commodities Bubble FPIF Oil rally looks set to run and run FP (Reuters) First time average forecasts have envisaged the extended rally has years to run. No evidence of manipulation in oil trading IHT Who are those oil speculators, anyway? Maybe you AP Iran sees crude price at $150/bbl in near future-agency Reuters Canadian Dollar: Appealing Petrocurrency BCA Research Ripe for profit Globe & Mail They're being called the next Microsofts - companies on the cusp of reaping the rewards from the boom in global agriculture and a looming shortage of food. Electric car maker poised to shock auto industry Financial Post If it is proven to work it will have a technology that could change the transportation industry, with implications for renewable energy and any sector that needs electrical energy storage technology. Wind: The Power. The Promise. The Business Business Week Iraq earmarks $8 million for new state oil company AP The era of oil wars Guardian Buffett Has $2.1 Million Lunch Date With Hedge-Fund Manager BL Bill Gates bids a teary farewell to Microsoft Reuters Dodd, Shelby Warn Fed, SEC as Bernanke, Cox Negotiate Securities Oversight BL GM Should File for Bankruptcy Cramer Travelers Facing Deep Flight Cuts by Summer’s End NYT Where Google Isn't Goliath Spiegel Consumers say 'no' to high shipping fees CNN HK may close 20,000 mainland plants China Daily “China's export competitiveness is definitely declining fast” China's forex reserves hit 1.8 trillion dollars: report AFP Jim Rogers Says Investors Shouldn't `Give Up' on China Stocks After Slump BL Soros-Backed Chinese Airline Hangs Tough Business Week Financial Crisis Redux? Beijing Review Observers refute the start of a new Asian financial crisis sparked by Viet Nam's financial and economic troubles European Stocks Fall, Led by Banks; Head for Worst First Half in 21 Years BL UK debt is worst in history Telegraph Families now more indebted than anywhere else, ever. Saving falls as household income shrinks Times Online Paying for our economic ills Independent.ie House prices 'won't recover until 2015' Telegraph Housing drop looming in Canada? G&M “It's a bit unnerving to see how Canadian performance is beginning to look like that of the U.S. two years down the line” KSK Energy prices first Indian IPO in four months Finance Asia More pain in store for equities Business Standard New Zealand economy heading for recession AFP ASX swoops on insider trading Australian Islamic Finance in Asia Asia Sentinel The "Concept of Scientific Development" in finance Yam Part 2 - Part 3 Dow Hits Bear-Market Territory, Signaling Woe for Economy WSJ Weekly Trends Scotia Weekly Focus Danske PDFs Friday June 27, 2008 Stocks in U.S. Drop, Pushing Dow Jones Average to the Brink of Bear Market BL Gold futures rise as dollar falls, oil hits record high MW Floods may push corn inventories to historical low MW USDA to report acreage; analysts warn of $10 corn and possible supply crisis Moody's Likely to Cut Morgan Stanley Credit Rating Reuters MBIA Faces `Tenuous Situation' After Moody's Cuts Bond Insurer, Fitch Says BL Fed rescued Wall Street to avert ‘contagion' G&M Minutes Consumer Confidence Falls to 28-Year Low Reuters Gold revs its engine and squeals down the track MW GM's Market Value Only $7 Bln - Half That of Avon CNBC Let Big Brokers Fail, Buy Gold Not Oil: Marc Faber CNBC Consumer Spending in U.S. Rises 0.8% as Rebates Overcome Higher Fuel Costs BL StrategEcon: Heading for the Exit Lane CIBC PDF “Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off America’s highways in history. By 2012, there should be some 10 million fewer vehicles on American roadways than there are today ...” A Tectonic Intermission: World to Turn & Churn Hahn PDF VIX Index 26% Below 2008 High May Point to More Declines for U.S. Stocks BL The Emperor of Interest Rates WSJ When Central Bankers Clash, Stock Markets can Crash Dorsch Fed Should Run Policy, Outsource Communications Baum Democrats, White House seek deal on Fed nominees Reuters ECB Economist: ‘Interest Rates Have Been Too Low...’ Spiegel “I see rolling bubbles, that is, dangerous exaggerations moving from one sector to the next.” Barclays warns of a financial storm as Fed's credibility crumbles Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Barclays Capital said that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year... Deleveraging, now only in early stages, will transform the banking industry Reuters (Saft) Three Stages of Bear Market Comstockfunds Bears See Darker Outlook for Bad News Banks Dorfman Commodities facing a fall: Faber Taipei Times Shorting Stocks Could Be Way to Play This Market CNBC First Eagle manager Eveillard takes dim view of U.S. stocks MW “When financial history is written five or 10 years down the road, Greenspan will be seen as the worst Fed chairman since the Fed was created in 1913." DOW down Nearly 20% from Peak: Lessons from the Great Depression Dr. HB Does anyone really still believe we are not in a recession? This Recession, It's Just Beginning Pearlstein Cramer: The Way Ahead Is Down TheStreet America’s Economic Outlook: A Symposium American Stagflation threat overstated for stocks, bonds, report says G&M Fed Reviews Rules for Investing in Commercial Banks BL City Pension Funds Lose Billions NY Sun Monthly FX Outlook CIBC PDF House of Cards LA CityBeat You thought the housing crisis was bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet. The Housing Abyss Business Week Why the worst may be yet to come as forces battering the market gain strength. Royal Bank of Scotland Credit Ratings Are Lowered by Moody's on Defaults BL AIG Poised to Absorb $5 Billion Losses From Securities-Lending's Writedown BL Fears grow of new stage in credit crisis FT Gone by the board? Why bank directors did not spot credit risks FT Financial companies have already fired 83,000 employees since last summer and that number could more than double over the next 12 months as the crisis shows no signs of abating. A housing-rescue bubble CS Monitor Congress risks the same mistake – giving home loans assuming prices are going up. Credit crunch forcing US middle classes to live in their cars Guardian Bank of America to Cut 7,500 Jobs After Purchase of Countrywide Financial BL KB Home Posts Deeper Loss in Second Quarter Reuters Gold futures rise as dollar falls, oil hits record high MW Gold Bullion Holdings sells 2 gold ETFs to ETF Securities Reuters Global Oil-Supply Worries Fuel Debate in Saudi Arabia WSJ (Complete vie Google jump) Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs NYT High Oil Prices: It's All Speculation Business Week The Administration says oil's runup is due to shortages, but the evidence points to manipulation Fuels on the Hill NYT (Krugman) Congress has always had a soft spot for “experts” who tell members what they want to hear To lower oil price, boost the buck? CS Monitor Why $140-a-barrel oil is no surprise Leonard Oil Underneath Beverly Hills `Humming' Where Britney Spears Likes to Shop BL Potash boom lifts Prince Rupert port G&M Coal Keeps on Cooking Seeking Alpha U.S. corn climbs to new high, outlook bullish G&M Coffee shortage brewing? MW Supply on demand Globe & Mail Buyers are bypassing commodities markets altogether and going right to the source As oil hits $140, a new low for Detroit G&M “If you don't sell vehicles in April, May and June, you're screwed for the rest of the year” The Detroit auto industry appeared to be imploding Thursday USAT Toyota weighing first broad price hike since 1974 MW Angry Cox Expects SEC to Grow, Not Die CFO “...in internal memos made available to CFO.com, the chairman clearly seems to be simmering close to the boiling point.” SEC: Credit Ratings Are a Crutch CFO The Truth Behind Buffett's Big Bet Fool Suit Claims UBS Misled Investors NYT “They wanted to reduce their inventory, so they decided to gear up their sales campaign using cashlike arguments deliberately.” London Exchange Plans New Trading System NYT A platform for so-called dark liquidity pool trading. Speedo's suit divides swimming world Reuters Big sell-off in Asia MW Losing their halo ~ Emerging markets start to falter Economist Harvard, Buffett Have Bad News for Asia Bulls Pesek Japan's Inflation Rate Surges to 10-Year High on Rising Food, Fuel Prices BL Japan's Jobless Rate Stays at 4% as Profit Squeeze Stems Hiring BL BoE: 'Building slide worse than 1990s' ThisisMoney Living standards will not rise for a year, warns King Independent Canada’s Housing Boom Comes To An End TD PDF “...remained stronger for longer than we had anticipated, largely due to increased affordability through new financing options, such as no money down or extended amortizations.” Israel is threatening to attack Iran’s nuclear sites. This may not be a bluff Economist Wednesday June 25, 2008 Bank of America Takeover Tab for Troubled Countrywide Signed by Taxpayers BL Fed Holds at 2%, Ending Most Aggressive Easing Since 1980s BL FOMC statement Tight credit conditions, the ongoing housing contraction, and the rise in energy prices are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters. American Express Says Late Payments Are Increasing Faster Than Estimated BL Buffett Says He's Concerned About U.S. `Stagflation' BL Video Highlights Warren Buffett Tells CNBC U.S. Inflation is "Exploding" CNBC Oil Declines After U.S. Inventories Climb for the First Time in Six Weeks BL U.S. report projects growing energy, fossil fuel use by 2030 Globe & Mail EIA Highlights Global energy demand will grow 50 per cent by 2030 and still rely largely on fossil fuels, Energy Department says InBev tells Anheuser-Busch time is 'of the essence' Reuters New home sales near historic lows CNN PDF file Flat demand for durable goods in May MW Census How to stop the next bubble Prospect Interest Rate Outlook Wainwright Economics PDF Commodity prices and the Fed: from denial to confrontation U.S. Rising Rate Expectations: Premature Again BCA Research Commodity Peak, Dollar Bottom First Trust PDF Review and Preview Morgan Stanley (Wieseman) How to see world economy through two crises FT (Wolf) Will Fed begin to raise rates soon? CS Monitor Fed Calls: We Know What They’ll Say, Just Not How They’ll Say It WSJB Bernanke ‘Hawk or Dovish’ today? Oanda Fed won't yet turn on lights, end party DetNews Fed vacancies pose challenge for Bernanke WSJ Chapman University forecasters say U.S. is in recession LA Times PDF File Americans' loss of confidence: Worse even than it looks LA Times Battered consumers turn glummer WSJ Across U.S., schools feel budget pinch CS Monitor Slashed funding and rising costs are forcing school districts to cut back, even close down. Tip-reliant workers say slowdown cuts into tips AP It's Spend and Forget Taxes, Not Tax and Spend Berry Various notes on speculation Krugman Warren Buffett Says Sell to Me, Not `Porn Shop,' as Berkshire Growth Flags BL Warren Buffett is in Toronto, fielding questions from a crowd of 300 executives. One asks what makes people want to sell their companies to him. How Buffett scored a half-billion on Bud MSN Economic egomaniacs Mogambo Ritholtz ~ Palley ~ Swanson ~ Winter ~ Schoon ~ Ash Buyer’s Strike Revisited - June 16, 2008 First Pacific Advisors “Here are the seven words you can’t say these days without sending American consumers into a tizzy: subprime, housing, credit, employment, gasoline, food, and inflation. The Fed would do well not to add three more: higher interest rates.” BMO U.S. mortgage applications hit 6 1/2 year low Reuters MBAA The Housing Crash and the Retirement Prospects of Late Baby Boomers CEPR PDF U.S.-Backed Mortgage Program Fuels Risks WSJ FHA Struggles To Eliminate Loans For Zero Down Counterparty credit index weakest in three months Reuters GMAC's $60 Billion Debt Deal Losing Confidence as Bad Mortgages Burn Cash BL Credit Crisis Moves Westward Barron’s The collapse in auto makers' securities is about finance as much as car sales. Fannie, Freddie Fail to Relieve Housing Crisis By Shunning Jumbo Mortgages BL “They were granted expanded opportunity to help recovery in a troubled housing market and yet have appeared to focus on their own recovery” Four years of home-price gains wiped out: Case-Shiller data MW The Housing Crash and the End of Granny Bashing Baker Texas Real Estate Slump Gives Mexicans Chance to Reclaim Lost Land, Cheap BL Senate may pass mortgage aid plan as soon as today AP Feds Cast Scapegoat Net, Snag Cioffi and Tannin Baum We, the jury. . . Naked Shorts Every scandal needs a scalp. Hard times are back, and so are the fraudsters Telegraph Barclays to Raise $8.9 Billion in Share Sale; Qatar, Temasek Will Invest BL Kuwait SWF says its January investments in Citi, Merrill totaled $5B AP SEC Wants Investors to Reduce Reliance on Ratings BL Ford's Volvo lays off 1,200 people AP Ballmer in Microsoft spotlight as Gates exits Reuters Illinois to sue Countrywide AP World Now Has 10 Million Millionaires, Report Says AP 'Not the time to invest for recession' MW Video Politicians' efforts to lower the oil price will achieve nothing until supply and demand adjust E Speculation Is Good, London Metals Chief Executive Says Amid Record Prices BL “For a government to try and determine a good price for something is nonsense” China agrees to nearly double ore price AFP Platinum Pricey For China UBS Hong Kong to Launch Commodities Exchange AP Commodity hedges hurt General Mills AP Feeling the pinch, and exporting it Globe & Mail Policies of central banks in emerging markets could be playing an increasingly large role in determining global inflation India Central Bank Signals Further Rate Moves to Fight Prices BL IMF Slashes Growth Estimate for Korea Chosun Trichet Says ECB Didn't Signal Series of Rate Increases, Never Pre-Commits BL First-time buyers left trapped by rent rises Times Online Mortgage approvals slump 20% to new low Independent Energy bosses warn of soaring bills Independent Mexico ready to eclipse Canada as continent's No. 2 auto maker G&M Olmert Corruption Probe Prompts Campaign Finance Law as Donations Increase BL Are they really oil wars? Asia Times Tuesday June 24, 2008 Faber Favors Commodities Over Stocks as Inflation Eats Into Equity Values BL The reality of mistaking consumption for investment Reuters (Saft) The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Declines CB Consumers' expectations are at an all-time low. Home Prices in U.S. Metropolitan Areas Fell 15.3% in April, Most on Record BL S&P Another Blow to Household Cash Flow Kasriel PDF IMM positioning - net USD positioning now long Danske PDF Aggregated USD positioning vs EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, AUD, and CAD turned net long last week for the first time since February 2007. U.S. Dollar: Going Nowhere Fast BCA Research Bernanke Plays `Dangerous Game' Signaling Higher Rates as Growth Stagnates BL Will the Fed Get Tough? Kudlow The gold market has sold off $20 Monday, and my hunch is it has something to do with the Federal Reserve policy meeting... A new model for nastiness Bear’s Lair Inflation: 'Destroying governments since 1789' ThisisMoney Confronting Inflation, on Separate Continents NYT Why central banking is no longer boring VOX Dotcom crash, credit crunch, oil bubble? Reuters 10 Year VIX versus SPX Big Picture Utilities cut off more customers who are behind on their bills USAT Shortages, Prices Hit California Food Banks as Schools Recess BL Prepare for Change as World Tilts to the East Stelzer Unequal America Harvard Magazine Causes and consequences of the wide—and growing—gap between rich and poor Greenspan says U.S. economy on brink of recession Reuters A ‘Bonfire’ Returns as Heartburn NYTD “It sounds like even the firms that aren’t in trouble are in trouble.” New Crisis Threatens Healthy Banks WP Late Loan Payments Hurt Smaller Lenders That Dodged Subprime Mess Banks and bond insurers ponder CDS costs FT UBS, Merrill Lynch Private Banking Divisions Suffer From Subprime Fallout BL CIBC likely to take further writedown: analyst G&M Bloodletting on Wall Street Baker Wall Street executives have taken shareholders for a ride, but they're now paying the price for the housing market crash The roof caves in again on housing Merrill (Rosenberg) PDF Plan to aid homeowners faces key test AP Mortgage crisis spooking high-end developments AP FBI promises more fraud arrests BBC Oil near $138, Iran denies rumored attack Reuters Congress rushes to fill oil speculation loophole CS Monitor Kuwait to Pump 300,000 Barrels More Oil by Mid-2009 Reuters America's untapped oil CNN What's Up With the Price of Oil? ING Weekly Consumer Pain Goes Beyond The Pump WP $9 Gasoline Will Make You Love Public Transportation Mysak Coal may hold solution to gas prices PPG Iron ore primed for big spike MW Dow Chemical Sets Second Price Increase in a Month Reuters GM Cuts More Truck Output, Adds No-Interest Loans on Models as Sales Slump BL Toyota May Cut 2008 Sales Goal Next Month as Truck Demand in U.S. Slumps BL Lessons from the house of Lehman Sloan Report: Financial lay-offs could be worst since tech bust MW Some banks are doing just fine, gracias MW A One-Time Tax Break Saved 843 U.S. Corporations $265 Billion NYT Tiger Woods Is Suffering for Golf's Big, Bad Lie Lewis UBS Banker Admits Smuggling Diamonds To US In Toothpaste Here is TC Beware the Hindenburg Omen: 3 ETFs to Combat a Market Crash Seeking Alpha Lottery Tickets as Blood Money WSJ Mortgage lending by the UK's main banks has fallen to its lowest level on record BBC Japan Tankan Business Sentiment May Drop to Lowest Since 2003 on Oil Costs BL How big is China’s inflation problem? Finance Asia Complacency puts "India's century" forecasts at risk Reuters Some EM Central Banks to Be Stress-Tested by Inflation Jen Ireland's Economy Faces First Recession in Two Decades, Institute Predicts BL The credit crunch may at least curtail conspicuous consumption Telegraph Funds force HBOS below rights issue price Times Zimbabwe crisis worsens amid flight to embassy WSJ Monday June 23, 2008 UPS Reduces Outlook for Profits on Record Fuel Costs, Slowing U.S. Economy BL Crude could fall to $65 a barrel, gas prices could fall to $2 if Congress acts - analysts MW Losses Part of Trading Saut Huntsman Sues Apollo, Black, Harris Over Bid to Scuttle $6.54 Billion LBO BL Gold Drops Sharply In Early Trading RTT Morning Outlook: Will Expiration-Week Headwinds Extend Wall Street's Losses? Schaeffers Stock markets threaten to break through 2008 lows AP Technicians see Wall Street on thin ice Reuters Rotten Monday in the works? Brimelow No Capitulation Hussman Despite the recent weakness, there is a strange “orderliness” to recent market losses. When will the market face reality? Fleck Oil prices are soaring, inflation is raging, a recession is taking hold, and Wall Street continues to pretend the worst is over. But these problems won't just disappear. Investors share Fed's dilemma Reuters Inflation and wages - another dangerous economic fallacy Jackson Pay restraint? Punk economics King Are we heading back to the 1970s? It all depends. Thirty years on, inflation makes global comeback Reuters Asia Biggest Bear on Treasuries as Yields Boost Bunds BL Too much for a fiat currency Mogambo State, city layoffs: 45,000 and counting CNN Big Promises Bump Into Budget Realities WP New President Won't Have an Easy Time Paying for New Initiatives, Fiscal Experts Say McCain offers $300 million prize for advanced auto battery AP Bond insurers want $125bn of cover wiped out FT Buffett is likely to benefit from bond insurance turmoil AP Housing slump shaping up to be 'worst in a generation': Report MW JCHS Home Not-So-Sweet Home NYT (Krugman) Real Homes of Genius: Today we Salute you Beverly Hills 90210 Dr.HB Deutsche Bank Lost in Las Vegas as Foreclosures Force Lenders to Decorate BL Oil rises despite Saudi output pledge AP Bye, Bubble? The Price of Oil May Be Peaking Barron’s Speculating on Oil CFR Fears of oil price rises as attacks in Nigeria offset gains at summit Times Saudi king lambasts speculators at oil price summit, oil prices rise AFP Brown calls for 'new deal' on oil to lessen price shocks Independent Houston, We Have No Problems Slate (Gross) Uranium Soon Fetches $90 as India Leads New Reactors Driving Global Demand BL Record corn prices mean more expensive meat, dairy AP Price of plastic bags up as chemicals rise Times Online Put oil firm chiefs on trial, says leading climate change scientist Guardian Iraq to award oil contracts to foreign firms AFP Citigroup to Cut 10% of Investment Banking Jobs WSJ Citigroup and Goldman Sachs axe more jobs Times Papers Facing Worst Year for Ad Revenue NYT State fund boom plugs some holes in bank revenues Reuters SEC chief under fire as Fed seeks bigger Wall Street role WSJ Lunch with Buffett! Do I hear $650,000? AP Corporate Democracy is a Myth Icahn Report London `Cityboy' Unmasks World of Analysts Pushing `Gibberish' BL Billionaires Prop `Patchy' Art Market, Survey Finds BL German Business Confidence Drops on Record Oil, Concern ECB to Raise Rates BL House Prices Fall by Most This Year as Buyers Shun Market, Deepening Slump BL Securities governor calls for stock supply balance Xinhua Analysts said the regulator has been delaying approvals of initial public offerings over the past couple of months to stabilize market that was hard-hit by weak investor sentiment. Factories Staying Put in China Asia Sentinel Reports of companies fleeing China for cheaper Southeast Asian locales appear to be overblown NDRC calls for check on inflation China Daily Japan firms' mood hits 4-year low as costs rise Reuters 40% of business leaders say local economies are slowing Asahi Is a stronger dollar/yen sustainable? Finance Asia Dubai's $82 billion aerospace gamble MW Europe's terminal crisis began with a triple no vote Ambrose Evans-Pritchard The attempt to override the triple "No" votes of the French, Dutch, and Irish peoples has brought the EU to a systemic crisis of legitimacy. Odey Hedge Fund Discloses Short Position in Bradford & Bingley BL