Mark Thomawrites a reminder that there is more to news than the bailout, and makes connections.

By Bruce Andrew Biggs directs our attention to a new detailed PRA plan by Mark Warshawsky, a member of the Social Security Advisory Board: Notes on SS Reform: Actuaries Score New Reform Proposal The post does not link to the plan itself but instead to a detailed scoring of it by the Office of the […]

by Rdan Calculated Risk and many others note that a tentative agreement might be done, details to follow to day perhaps, ‘before the opening of the Asian markets’. Barney Frank, a hometown citizen wants a clearer explanation than it is a compromise on a compromise agreement needing to be passed by tomorrow. Please convince me […]

Bloomberg carries this bit of news for us to chew on: Wall Street’s five biggest firms paid more than $3 billion in the last five years to their top executives, while they presided over the packaging and sale of loans that helped bring down the investment-banking system. Merrill Lynch & Co. paid its chief executives […]

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Congress gave final approval to legislation providing the auto industry with $25 billion in loans, lifting an offshore oil-drilling ban and funding the government until the next president takes office.The legislation, approved by the Senate 78-12, spends $602 billion for the departments of defense, homeland security and veterans affairs. […]

By:Spencer Subject: time for unity There are about 2 months until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States. The person elected will be the president of all Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans. To show our solidarity as Americans, let’s all get together and show each […]

Current Inflation RateYear Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ave2008 4.28% 4.03% 3.98% 3.94% 4.18% 5.02% 5.60% 5.37% NA NA NA NA NA2007 2.08% 2.42% 2.78% 2.57% 2.69% 2.69% 2.36% 1.97% 2.76% 3.54% 4.31% 4.08% 2.85%2006 3.99% 3.60% 3.36% 3.55% 4.17% 4.32% 4.15% 3.82% 2.06% 1.31% 1.97% 2.54% 3.24%2005 […]

by rdan WSJ reports: Who needs markups? Customers who shop at Eli’s Manhattan, a posh grocery store in Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side, aren’t paying more for individual items — they’re just paying 1.8% more on their bill at the checkout. Grocery stores find ways to pass higher energy prices onto customers. Eli Zabar, who owns […]

Robert Waldmann A commenter over at naked capitalism notes that $110b of senior LEH debt went from trading .95 to .12 in a matter of days …. If you include the less senior debt that is trading at essentially zero, LEH had $110b hole in its balance sheet. And just days before this, the market […]