Market song of the day: For whom the bell tolls.
Bring on the czar: HOUSE passes Federal Loans to Auto Makers. Smart move: Some G.M. Suppliers Said to Request Payments in Advance.
New unemployment claims reach 26-year high. Foreclosures Rise 28%. Salt, meet wound: US Household Net Worth Fell Most on Record in Third Quarter. Bad toy story: KB Toys declares bankruptcy.
Yay, Hank & Neel’s bailout plan is working: BofA lends $1.35M to closed plant.
Turns out that Cerberus CEO John Snow, who spent three-and-a-half lackluster, and some might say lap-doggish, years as President Bush’s second Treasury secretary, is leading a who’s who of crony capitalists in a lobbying campaign for a taxpayer bailout to “salvage Cerberus’ investment in Chrysler.”
Remember that Cerberus also tried to get GMAC bailed out. Erin Burnett praises Snow’s patriotism.
To be refuted by next Levitt and/or Gladwell book: A new survey from the Retail Industry Leaders Association shows that the current recession has started to cause an increase in the number of crimes reported by retailers. To be refuted by new Dan Ariely book: Jon Jon’s Cabaret, a topless bar near General Motors and Chrysler-owned assembly plants, has cut the price of a table dance in half – to $10 from $20 – in addition to having to lay off staff.
Department of Homeland Cleaning: Chertoff used illegal immigrants to clean home?
Who knew communists could be such a sensitive bunch: Mapping the hurt feelings of the Chinese people.
Quote o’ day. John Maynard Keynes: “The day is not far off when the economic problem will take the back seat where it belongs, and the arena of the heart and the head will be occupied or reoccupied, by our real problems / the problems of life and of human relations, of creation and behavior and religion”. Friggin’ hippie!
