Business Pundit

During the World War II era, the United States got rid of the pesky Bretton-Woods system and started financing the nation by printing extra money. The Fed, by buying unsecured commercial paper, is bringing those days back. Commercial… Read more

Someone needs to make a movie about Carl Icahn. The all-star corporate raider is at it again. Icahn, who chairs the notorious pharmaceutical company ImClone’s board, has accepted a $70/share buyout of the company. From Reuters: Eli Lilly and… Read more

It’s almost impossible to follow everything that’s going on in the economy these days. I rounded up 10 items that sum up the most important news that directly relates to us, as well as a couple of items pertaining to countries that don’t seem… Read more

Looks like the Dow Jones wanted the bailout plan to pass. Today, Congress dumped the bailout plan by 23 votes (one man, Governor Weller of Illinois, didn’t vote at all). Democrats voted to pass the bill. Republicans did not, spurring a storm of… Read more

From the Financial Times: Fears that the US Treasury’s bail-out plan could fail provided support for the gold market, which saw holdings by the main gold exchange traded funds rise to record levels as investors sought a safe haven from the… Read more

Capitol Hill, speaking through the channel that is Paul Kanjorski, says the bailout bill is pretty much complete and headed for the President’s desk. From Politico: Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski said passage of proposed bailout… Read more

Ridelust covers the greener side of lobbying: Yesterday, the United States Senate passed a new bill that will provide tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles, allowing GM to successfully achieve their goal of obtaining a $7,500 tax credit… Read more

History is repeating itself. When markets look on the verge of collapsing, rich investors sometimes buy shares to prop up shareholders’ faith, hoping to staunch a sell-off. This year, it’s Warren Buffett’s turn. From Bloomberg: Goldman… Read more

So far, it looks like the House listened to dismayed taxpayers, and isn’t allowing the Treasury’s $700 billion bailout plan to pass without quite a bit of scrutiny. For a summary of Paulson’s and Congress’ bailout plans, see this AP article…. Read more

From Conde Nast Portfolio: Citigroup’s Sallie Krawcheck, one of the highest-profile women on Wall Street, will step down, according to the Wall Street Journal. She heads Citigroup’s wealth-management unit, which is being moved into the bank’s… Read more

From The Business Journal: The U.S. Mint introduced Monday four new designs for the Lincoln penny, which will be released in 2009 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 16th President’s birth. The front of the new pennies will retain… Read more

After almost two frozen decades, Japan is back. From the Financial Times: Mitsubishi UFJ said on Monday it had agreed to take a stake of between 10 and 20 per cent in Morgan Stanley, in a deal potentially worth $9bn, becoming the latest… Read more

I want to set straight a contradiction that’s been irking me for the past few weeks. While the news media has been reporting slips, falls, and fluctuating markets, the actions of the people in charge have been pure adrenaline. Another word for… Read more

Last week, there was still a Wall Street. This week, there are a bunch of holding companies. From the Wall Street Journal: The Federal Reserve, in an attempt to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from infecting its two premier… Read more