A guy comes into the bar, and I figure he is a trucker because he looks like a trucker and he is wearing a greasy Peterbilt hat. So I say, “Are you a trucker?” and he answers “Yeah. What’s it to you, old man?”

Consumer Electronics in the Dumper? Not in the TV Department… To no one’s surprise, a Nielsen study completed last November found that Americans are watching more TV than ever before: 142 hours a month, up five hours from the previous year.

Global airline losses may total $4.7 billion this year as revenues plunge below levels seen after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the International Air Transport Association said today (Tuesday).

If only China had someone like St. Patrick.  As I scanned the post-Paddy’s Day headlines, it occurred to me that China needs its own saint to drive some snakes out of its economy. 

U.S. Congress set to approve $789 billion stimulus package… OPEC again cuts 2009 world oil demand forecast… OPEC figures suggest 65 percent compliance on output cuts…

Caterpillar Offers 2,000 Early Retirements; Canada Posts Rare Trade Deficit; RIM Meets 4Q Expectations, Barely; GE Powering Middle East; Dollar Rises Against Yen, Euro; GM Seeks Saab Funding From Sweden; Gold Hits 7-month High; China Injects $19.5 Billion Into Rio Tinto

So many people are getting on the bankers’ case; we’re beginning to feel sorry for them. After all, what did they do wrong?

It looks like it will be another volatile week in the energy markets. On one side of the balance, a tremendous economic slowdown and an overabundance of oil are pushing prices down, while the other side of the balance, rather empty until now, has the threat of a major strike propping prices up.  Here’s two ways to play it.

Oil rally fades ahead of US inventory data … American Petroleum Institute data due at 2130 GMT…

Microsoft (MSFT) falls after missing expectations, cutting jobs… Data on U.S. jobless, housing fuel worries over economy… Apple up after profit beats expectations… Dow off 2.4 pct, S&P off 2.5 pct, Nasdaq off 3.2 pct…