Circuit City Falls, Cuts Dividend; Mitsubishi Working on Plug-In Line; Continental and United Buddy Up; Western Oil Back in Iraq; Citi CFO Sees More Trouble; Bear Stearns Execs Arrested; Transocean and BP Extend Drilling Contract; Bank of America to Takeover Countrywide by July.

Investors better keep an eye on bonds this week.While the stock market may be more fun to follow, fixed income is often a stronger gauge of investor expectations of the economy, future U.S. Federal Reserve policy, and inflation.

With a wheezing economy that’s struggling with housing and credit problems – as well as a weak dollar – it’s clear the United States won’t be in the investment spotlight this year.

As Barack Obama closes in on the Democratic presidential nomination, investors should focus their minds around one uncomfortable fact: Whether it’s Obama or Republican John McCain who wins the White House, expect some policy changes that won’t sit well with investors – or with the U.S. economy.

“When I use a word” said Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass,” “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” It has always been the ambition of Wall Street to bring its financial statements under a similar type of discipline.

G. Kennedy Thompson, formerly Wachovia Corp.’s (WB) chief executive officer, can now be added to the list of high-profile subprime casualties that already includes Citigroup Inc.’s (C) Charles O. “Chuck” Prince III, The Bear Stearns Companies Inc.’s (BSC) Chief Executive Officer James E. “Jimmy” Cayne, and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.’s (MER) E. Stanley “Stan” O’Neal.

As the post-Memorial Day hangover lingers, and $4 per gallon gasoline becomes a national reality, expect more and more daily energy prognostications.

Bear Stearns Shareholders Approve JPMorgan Sale; Sears Expects More Pain After Loss; Weak Economy Emboldening Costco; Pacific Rim GDP Growth; Staff Reduction at GM.

The chief executive officer of HSBC Holdings PLC (ADR:

Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) analyst Meredith Whitney’s reputation has soared like a skyrocket since she made her bearish – but highly prescient – call on the banking sector, including Citigroup Inc. (C), as Money Morning reported last fall.