News from around the web: 2009-10-04

"Unemployment rates rose in all cities across the United States in August from a year earlier, with 16 recording jobless rates of 15 percent or higher, according to the Labor Department. At the same time, only 11 metropolitan areas said they had gained jobs in August, while 356 had lost positions."

The dollar’s share of global currency reserves fell in the second quarter to the lowest level in a decade as the holdings of euros rose to a record, according to the International Monetary Fund.

"Ein Schuhwerfer hat den IWF-Direktor Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Istanbul am Rande der traditionellen Herbsttagung der internationalen Finanzorganisationen attackiert. Fernsehbilder zeigten am Donnerstag den türkischen Studenten, wie er von Polizisten niedergehalten wurde."

"It’s a kind of geological butterfly effect. Fenglin Niu of Rice University in Houston, Texas, and colleagues believe they have found two clear cases where remote events weakened the San Andreas fault near Parkfield, California. The finding suggests powerful earthquakes – like the one that has just hit Sumatra – may trigger further quakes worldwide."

"Sometimes economics can be helpful even if it does not allow you to make point predictions with any degree of confidence. This is the case, for instance, when it can rule out certain combinations of outcomes for different economic variables as unlikely or even nigh-on impossible. An example of such an unlikely configuration of outcomes is (a) a strong and sustainable recovery of the US economy and (b) a strong (let alone a strengthening) US dollar."

David Merkel giving us a good example of how to actively do asset allocation.

"you have to wonder what some of the Obama era’s most moneyed and White House-connected lobbyists were thinking as they preened before a Washington Post reporter recently for two lengthy articles. We’re not even nine months into the new administration, yet these swaggering, utterly un-self-aware influence peddlers seem determined to prove that nothing except the party affiliations has changed in the Beltway’s pay-for-play culture since Tom DeLay. If these lobbyists were stocks, I’d short them."

"Ireland endorsed the European Union’s new governing treaty, in a reversal of last year’s veto that puts the EU back on course to enhance its global profile and revamp its policymaking system."

"We have already witnessed a significant recovery in stock prices globally and the All Share Index has rallied more than 100% in US dollar terms. It is important to note that the rally has thus far been mainly a rerating in stocks while profits continued to go backwards."

"Palm Pre owners, rejoice: iTunes sync is working again. Until the next round, that is. The backstory, in case you missed it. Palm, upon the launch of its cute, pebble-like Pre phone, had a somewhat cheeky idea that allowed the device to sync with iTunes: masquerade as an iPod. Apple, predictably, rejected the idea of an iPhone competitor piggybacking on its popular software: iTunes upgrades repeatedly broke the sync function."

"Massachusetts officials have begun identifying emergency cuts to make to the fiscal year 2010 budget after the state’s September tax revenue collections missed their target, Governor Deval Patrick said on Friday."

The grand old man of letters Gore Vidal claims America is ‘rotting away’ — and don’t expect Barack Obama to save it

Some are insolvent and all are well-connected.