July 2008

Spain had an unemployment rate of 10.4% in the second quarter of 2008, up sharply from 9.6 in the first quarter. The Spanish National Statistics Market said employment in construction jobs were particularly weak as the housing bust in…

PoliticsSurvey finds oil bonanza in Arctic - National PostA Short Primer on McCainomics Versus Obamanomics: Top-Down or Bottom-Up - Robert ReichBush drops opposition to housing bill - LA TimesMcCain Credits Bush For Drop in Oil Price -…

This reporting season, there have been some major, major writedowns from the likes of WaMu, Citi, Merrill, and Wachovia. Most analysts see this quarter as the last quarter of major writedowns from the credit crisis. Haven't we heard that…

Consumer credit quality is weakening across the US, especially in the former housing boom states. While over $450 billion in credit writedowns have already been taken by the global financial sector, most of these losses ave been…

I certainly believe they have. Price action speaks to this. The Wall Street Journal's Market Beat had this quote about the price action in commodities:The price of many commodities and commodities stocks — from gasoline to coal to…

America's security concerns due to terrorism are having unwanted side effects in relations with the EU. Handelsblatt, the German newspaper is reporting that visa requirements for some EU citizens is causing the EU to retaliate with visa…

America's security concerns due to terrorism are having unwanted side effects in relations with the EU. Handelsblatt, the German newspaper is reporting that visa requirements for some EU citizens is causing the EU to retaliate with visa…

Costco is getting hammered today because it warned earnings will fall short due to higher inflation.Costco Wholesale Corp., which had been one of the few bright spots in retailing, said today that its earnings will miss Wall Street…

Talking about the financial markets and the housing mess, George W. Bush offered up these pearls of wisdom:"There is no question about it. Wall Street got drunk.... That’s one reason I asked you to turn off your TV cameras.... got drunk and…

I just picked up on a MarketWatch article about 401(k) debit cards through Tim Iacono's blog. It marks a pretty astounding trend in financial innovation.Debit cards are straightforward. You use them for purchases and money is deducted from…