Economy Blog

Dollar bulls have cheered the recent resurgence in the greenback, buoyed by depressing economic news out of the Eurozone, Japan and England. But the dollar is a bit of a Gilda Radner investment these days — it’s always something.
The possibility that OPEC would make an active decision to price oil barrels in a currency other than the dollar has been bandied about, but never spoken of by anyone with any real power. That changed today, after OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri was quoted in the Middle East Economic Digest, saying &…
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(February 8, 2008 02:41 PM, by Bryan Caplan) Herbert Gintis already wrote a surprisingly critical review of Krugman’s last book; now he’s written a glowing review of Thomas……
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$$$ Liev Schreiber to the big house. [DealBook]

$$$ I’ve spent the last several years chasing a mirage, with little time or desire to have anything lasting. I’ve done the bar scene, but usually the women – while physically attractive – are flakey, superficial, or a few fries short of a Happy Meal. That’s not hot. [Craigslist]
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addslashes(Top 10 Most Searched Stocks on TheStreet.com, February 8

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The economy isn?t even officially in recession yet, and already some are warning of a ?double-dip?: a slump, followed by a brief recovery, then renewed slump.
?The policy cavalry has arrived and reinforcements are coming, in the form of the aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus,? economist Richard Berner of Morgan Stanley w…
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Well, I’m back. I spent most of the past week in New York chairing the Money:Tech conference, and it’s now over. Money:Tech came off better than I could ever have reasonably expected, especially considering it was a) a first-time event b) in an emerging subject and c) on the other side of the country. Ordinarily, self-centered sort that I am, I would cheerfully accept all praise for the event’s success and motor on, but it sure wasn’t me. Far from it. …
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Jonathan Stempel reports:

Discover Financial Services said on Thursday it agreed to sell its Goldfish credit card unit in Britain to Barclays Plc for $70 million, abandoning a money-losing business it bought two years ago for $1.68 billion, as consumer credit worsens.

Yep, that’s $1.6 billion, or 96% of the original purchase price, up in smoke. In fact, Discover has lost significantly m…
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We talk shit about Fox Business all the time, implying that they’re all drunken idiotic sluts but it’s the kind of ridicule that points to something deeper and darker, which is that we’re more or less obsessed with FBN. We cannot get enough of them with their gaffes and their pratfalls and their car wrecks and their d…
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addslashes(The Real Story Wrap, February 8

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Being otherwise detained last evening and unable to attend, we found the only assholes in New York who weren’t participating in the greatest spectator of all time, i.e. PocketChangeNYC’s Speed Date II, for “Sugar Mamas and Boy Toys”…and sent them to watch. This is their recap.

The evening started off as any other, 4 guys tenting for some poon - what was different was what we were after. The patina of time had rendered this particular target as soft as cordovan and the flavor as intense as Peter Lugers finest prime. Tonight was going to be glorious, not easy, but glorious nonetheless. As any successful hunter knows, the lure has to be tailored to match the prey - in this case, we were armed with a near encyclopedic knowledge of the contemporary art scene, latest Palm Beach fashions, and the bat-phone numbers of the best cosmetic artists in the city. Or so we thought. …
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Caroline Baum does everybody a favor today and explains why you shouldn’t be remotely worried about a deservedly-obscure indicator known as non-borrowed reserves. She talks about the "hysterical emails" she’s been getting on the subject but is too polite to name any names. But I know where I first saw this meme arise: it was M…
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(February 8, 2008 01:33 PM, by Arnold Kling) Jeff Frankel quotes Jeff Liebman: "There are some excellent papers that carefully model how the cumulative effects of the welfare……
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DRS Technologies Inc. (DRS) was called a buy on Stop Trading. The defense stock reflects changes in the U.S. wages war. The military looks to be getting away from the likes of Force Protection Inc. (FRPT). Recommended were telecom companies Verizon Communications Inc. (V…
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Is it any wonder that the Federal Reserve is once again making noises about inflation? The U.S. slide-rule committee, after lowering the federal-funds target by 1.25 percentage point in about a week, has sent out a stampede of policymakers, who have tempered their expectations for a downturn after some earlier acknowledged the possibility of a recession.
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Jim Chanos, the legendary hedge fund manager who shorted Enron when the company was flying high, is predicting a “huge spike in defaults” of leveraged loans, according to Reuters.

“I don’t know what crack pipes these guys were smoking, but some of the valuations were absolute madness,” said Chanos, speaking to hundreds of investors, referring to private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
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(February 8, 2008 01:05 PM, by Arnold Kling) Alfred Kahn, the saving grace of the Carter Presidency, writes, The assumption of Democratic control of Congress last year and……
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Idearc (NYSE: IAR) Sell off from bad earnings continues. Falls to $8.55 from 52-week high of $38. R H Donnelley (NYSE: RHD) Shares downgraded. Sells off to $17.33 from 52-week high of $84.49. Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) German tech still coming down because of bad numbers. Hits low of $8.01 from 52-week high of $18.74. UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Tough time to be an international bank. Sells off to $36.55 from 52-week high of $66.26. Aruba Networks (NASD: ARUN) Poor quarter takes stock down. Falls to $4.81 from 52-week high of $23.85. UTI Worldwide (NASD: UTIW) Planning big staff cuts….
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Evergreen Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR) has seen its shares hit harder than most of the other solar stocks this week. On this last Monday it filed to sell 20 million shares of common stock in a secondary offering. At current prices this will represent roughly $200 million if the overallotment isn’t exercised. What is interesting is that if you were looking for a use of proceeds, this is the best use of proceeds for an emerging solar company. Proceeds are to complete Phase I of its development of a new manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, and to plan, construct and equip…
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OPEC members are beginning to talk about cutting production in March. The reason is to keep prices high. Oil now trades near $92 a barrel. According to MarketWatch “Lower demand coupled by economic hurdles in the U.S. warrants a cut,” one unnamed senior delegate told the newswires. “Even if we were not facing economic concerns in the U.S., it is normal for OPEC to usually cut production for the lower demand season.” Douglas A. McIntyre
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