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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Opening Bell: States ‘Slammed’

   July 24, 2008 08:00 AM

   The Wall Street Journal leads its front page with a report saying that states are getting “slammed” with budget problems as tax receipts dry up. The poor economy, with the housing bust leading the way, is causing state... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Shorting Journalism Too

   July 23, 2008 12:58 PM

   A working member of the business press writes in response to last week’s post on the SEC’s war on short-selling: I would make one additional point that I'm sure you're already aware of—namely that any move to curb short-selling... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Portfolio’s Promise

   July 23, 2008 11:42 AM

   Portfolio’s August cover story is a devastating follow to its scoop that broke the “Friends of Angelo” Countrywide VIP loan scandal last month. This great piece is in keeping with the magazine’s hit or miss nature since its launch,... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Worth Less, Costs More

   July 23, 2008 08:43 AM

   Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in nearly five years, as investors continue to worry about the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The New York Times reports on A1 and The Wall Street Journal on... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Sign Of The Times

   July 22, 2008 02:49 PM

   Forget the toasters. A bank I passed yesterday in West Seattle is marketing itself as the We Won't Lose Your Money In A Bank Run bank. The sign on the right is a bit hard to read but says... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Women Leaving Workforce

   July 22, 2008 08:34 AM

   The New York Times on page one reports that the number of women in the workforce is declining. The recovery (which is all but officially over) from the 2001 recession is the first since 1960 where the percentage... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   The Blind Leading The Blind

   July 21, 2008 03:22 PM

   Portfolio’s long profile of new Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth is a pretty good read. It would be hard not to write an interesting story about someone with the life she’s had, having tales like the whole Norman... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Opening Bell: WTF, FDIC?

   July 21, 2008 08:45 AM

   The Wall Street Journal goes page one with a story about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation running a bank that issued predatory subprime mortgages. The paper says hundreds of borrowers have subsequently lost their homes. The banking regulator... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   Cut the Dividends!

   July 18, 2008 02:15 PM

   Gannett had one helluva bad quarter, losing a tenth of its revenues from a year ago and more than a third of its profits. But something too often lost in all the gloom of the cataclysmic upheavals in the... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Drilling for Angles

    July 18, 2008 10:00 AM

    Speaking of stretching for a newsy angle, The Wall Street Journal overreached yesterday with a story headlined "In California, Support Grows for Offshore Drilling." That angle got the story prominent placement on page two of the paper. But... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Merrill Listing

    July 18, 2008 08:13 AM

    No wonder Merrill Lynch is selling its Bloomberg stake. The investment bank lost $4.7 billion in the second quarter on nearly $10 billion in new write-downs. That was double what analysts had feared, The Wall Street Journal <a... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Shopping For Angles

    July 17, 2008 02:54 PM

    USA Today repackages an old story about malls turning to entertainment to draw traffic and turns it into a sign of the bad economy. But it reaches too far. The “shoppertainment” phenomenon is nearly a couple of decades old... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Shorting the Free Market

    July 17, 2008 11:44 AM

    The Securities and Exchange Commission’s move to damp short selling earlier this week is yet more proof that the market-is-God Bush administration is losing its religion. While the SEC’s order only limits so-called “naked shorting”, which is already against... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Opening Bell: The Fed’s Catch-22

    July 17, 2008 08:39 AM

    Inflation jumped in June to the highest level since 1991, raising more worries about the prospect of stagflation. Meanwhile, real wages plunged. The Wall Street Journal leads page one with the news, while The New York Times folds... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Short-Sellers Take a Hit

    July 16, 2008 10:07 AM

    The government stepped up its crackdown on what it sees as possible stock-market manipulation, issuing new rules that make it harder to short financial stocks or bet on their decline. The move comes days after the Securities and Exchange... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    The WSJ’s Sketches of Pain

    July 15, 2008 04:14 PM

    Even The Wall Street Journal’s famed stipple portraits (known internally as "hedcuts") aren’t immune from the bummer that is the credit crisis. Here’s Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit in a June 7 story about his move to cut costs by... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    It’s Not Exactly “A Wonderful Life”

    July 15, 2008 01:22 PM

    For the better part of a year now, the business press has been getting on-the-job training in covering financial disasters in all its forms. Today’s topic: bank runs. The Los Angeles Times has a good reminder of what’s... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Banks On the Brink

    July 15, 2008 08:30 AM

    The financial industry continued to teeter yesterday despite the government’s rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This time it was regional banks that got hit hardest. Washington Mutual and National City both issued remarkable statements saying they... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    Pushy Bottom

    July 14, 2008 03:47 PM

    You’ve got to hand it to Barron’s. They don’t pussyfoot around when it comes to making contrarian market calls. "Buy GM" it blared from its cover just last month. Hope you missed that issue. If you didn't and... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Small Government Anyone?

    July 14, 2008 08:55 AM

    The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times lead their front pages with the Treasury Department’s “rescue plan” for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after a week in which their... Continue reading

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