Volatility is a matter of perspective. Are you watching the hummingbird or its wings?

Best-laid plans get sidetracked by meltdown

Many wealthy Americans weren’t shocked when Obama’s budget proposal called for raising their income taxes. But there was surprise - and some alarm - over a separate proposal to limit the deductions that couples earning more than $250,000 can claim for charitable gifts.

Updated: 3:35 p.m. The stores were to close by late March, but sales have gone quicker than expected.

President Barack Obama faced a new rash of bad economic news Monday as his Treasury Department prepared to hand out $30 billion more to bail out an international insurance and investment giant and Wall Street shed value even before it opened for trading.

The number of laid-off workers receiving unemployment benefits has jumped to an all-time high near 5 million while new jobless claims remain well above 600,000. Both figures were worse than expected and new projections from the Federal Reserve show unemployment rising for the rest of this year.

When debt management plan can help.

Bad economy cuts our taste, and options, for easy credit, but that may not be so bad

Having lived through economic peaks and valleys and co-written a book about the financial panic of 1907, Robert Bruner isn’t surprised by events playing out today.

Consumers reduced their spending at retail stores again in November while the costs of goods before they reach store shelves also continued to drop, more bad signs in a recession that appears to be deepening.

Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession.

The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.

Wall Street was enjoying an Election Day rally Tuesday, surging as investors brushed off weak economic data and looked forward to putting the uncertainty of the presidential voting behind them. The Dow Jones industrial average soared about 300 points, and the other major indexes rose well over 2 percent.

Wall Street started November on a cautious note Monday, as stocks rose moderately after last week’s surge and ahead of readings on manufacturing activity, construction spending and auto sales.

Free markets are under assault in America. We have seen much hyperbole and slander in these past two years of political polarization. But the idea of capitalism and free markets has received more negative campaigning and vicious attack than both candidates combined.

Beaten down and watching their wealth shrink, Americans are cutting back sharply on their spending, trimming it in September by the largest amount in four years.

A private research group said Tuesday that consumer confidence in the U.S. economy plunged in October to its lowest on record, as stock markets dropped sharply and companies laid off workers.

Wall Street opened lower Monday after stock markets around the world tumbled further on worries about the global economy.

Wall Street headed for a higher open Monday as investors cheered signs that global credit markets are thawing even as they awaited a batch of quarterly earnings to see how companies are weathering the financial crisis.

Wall Street was gearing up for another surge following the Dow Jones industrial average’s historic 936-point jump, with investors encouraged by the U.S. government’s plans to spend $250 billion on buying stock in private banks.

Wall Street snapped back from last week’s devastating losses after major governments announced further steps to support the global banking system, including plans by the U.S. Treasury to buy stocks of some banks. All the major indexes rose well over 6 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials gained 500 points.

By TIM PARADIS
AP Business Writer

News that the Bush administration is considering taking part ownership in a number of U.S. banks helped restore a relative calm over global financial markets Thursday.

Citigroup and Wells Fargo have agreed to extend their legal standstill in the fight for Wachovia until Friday morning.

A battle broke out for control of Wachovia Friday as Wells Fargo signed a $15.1 billion agreement to buy the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, while Citigroup and the federal regulators backing its earlier deal insisted that Citi’s takeover bid go forward.

U.S. employers slashed payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most in more than five years, a worrisome sign that the economy is hurtling toward a deep recession.

Assigning blame for recent events in the financial markets is today’s most pressing political issue. Unintended cause and effect are both complex and subtle, but recognizing the culprits is important if we want to avoid giving them additional power and responsibility.

Updated 3:30 p.m.

“I now expect that we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate (and) be signed by the president,“ said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.
Economy Forum Thread

President Bush is bringing presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain into negotiations on a $700 billion rescue of Wall Street as Democrats and Republicans near agreement on a bailout plan with more protections for taxpayers and new help for distressed homeowners.

“The financial markets are in quite fragile condition and I think absent a plan they will get worse,“ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said.