One of the most interesting news items I’ve found was on the cover of The Financial Times, where I learned that a guy named Lahde “made tens of millions of dollars from betting against the financial and property sectors during [the] past two years”, and he now wanted to thank “the low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA” who made it all possible for him to find enough suckers.

Embattled U.S. insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) is looking to sell its Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. unit to Germany’s Munich Re Group AG, the world’s second-largest reinsurance company, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters yesterday (Sunday).

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $14 billion federal loan package for Detroit’s embattled “Big Three” late yesterday (Wednesday), overcoming Republican opposition in the House but leaving the bill to face an uncertain fate in a hostile Senate.

It took the statisticians of the National Bureau of Economic Research almost a year to confirm what the rest of us already knew, that the US registered a significant decline in economic activity, thus officially entering a period of recession.  While I am pleased that the members of NBER take their duties seriously, thereby ensuring that they don’t leap to any hasty conclusions, I only wish that similar moderation could be displayed by their colleagues at the Fed and the Treasury.

The U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury Department announced yesterday (Tuesday) $800 billion worth of stimulus measures to rev up three primary engines of the U.S. economy – homebuyers, consumers and small businesses.

Paulson says no to automakers…  Currencies trade in a tight range…  Richard Russell on a Wednesday!  TIC Flows improve… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Data shows just how bad things are…  Trade deficits narrow…  EU confirms they are in a recession…  RBA intervening again… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Paulson throws the markets a curve…  Goldman says to buy the yen…  RBA intervenes to protect the AUD$…
China provides support to commodities… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

American International Group Inc. (AIG) got a $150 billion government rescue package – almost double the initial bailout deal of less than two months ago and the largest ever granted to a private U.S. company – as the ailing insurer continues to burn through its cash at an accelerating rate.

More than one-seventh of all the silver bullion ‘thought to exist’ in the whole world was suddenly bought up in less than a year, and yet the price of silver has been pounded down to less than 10 bucks an ounce? No wonder I am so bullish on silver!