Shorting the Free Market

The invisible hand gets slapped when stocks go down

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 17, 2008 at 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... More

Opening Bell: The Fed’s Catch-22

Rising inflation makes interest-rate cuts problematic; messing with menthol; Texas dereg nightmare; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 17, 2008 at 08:39 AM

Inflation jumped in June to the highest level since 1991, raising more worries about the prospect of stagflation. Meanwhile, real... More

Opening Bell: Short-Sellers Take a Hit

SEC moves against “naked shorts”; Bernanke’s bummed; and with good reason; did Goldman Sachs help bury Bear Stearns?; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 16, 2008 at 10:07 AM

The government stepped up its crackdown on what it sees as possible stock-market manipulation, issuing new rules that make it... More

The WSJ’s Sketches of Pain

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2008 at 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... More

It’s Not Exactly “A Wonderful Life”

But the press should prepare to cover more bank failures

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2008 at 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... More

Opening Bell: Banks On the Brink

A vote of no confidence from the public; Paulson the interventionist; what bailout history teaches us; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2008 at 08:30 AM

The financial industry continued to teeter yesterday despite the government’s rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This time... More

Pushy Bottom

Barron’s’ “us first” call on the housing market is weakly supported and almost certainly wrong

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 14, 2008 at 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... More

Opening Bell: Small Government Anyone?

On mortgage/school loans, private sector helpless; IndyMac collapse a bad omen; Anheuser-Busch capitulates; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 14, 2008 at 08:55 AM

The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times lead their front pages with the Treasury Department’s “rescue plan”... More

Fannie Mae Need Government Help

How much will that cost taxpayers?

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 11, 2008 at 02:00 PM

The big financial news this week is the sharply increased doubts about the stability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,... More

Opening Bell: Taxpayers, Get Ready…

Fannie & Freddie are coming your way; bad economy is boon for Wal-Mart; more lousy job stats; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 11, 2008 at 08:32 AM

The Wall Street Journal and New York Times lead their front pages with worsening news on mortgages giants Fannie Mae... More

Gramm’s Mentality

Top McCain adviser says “What recession?”

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 10, 2008 at 03:11 PM

John McCain’s top economic adviser Phil Gramm, who’s also a vice chairman of troubled Swiss bank UBS, has some not-so-compassionate... More

Opening Bell: Bailout Bound

Fannie and Freddie sink lower; America for sale; what did you do with YOUR stimulus check?; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 10, 2008 at 08:16 AM

The Wall Street Journal leads its front page with news that the government has done contingency planning for the possibility... More

The Grievance Culture At Fox News

NYT’s David Carr shines a light on its PR tricks

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 9, 2008 at 03:10 PM

Fox News people like to think other journalists don’t like them because of politics but maybe it’s because they act... More

Underwrite, Sayeth The Fed

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 9, 2008 at 12:22 PM

This paragraph from the WSJ’s Bernanke story today sums up concisely just how bad mortgage lending was during the bubble:... More

Opening Bell: The Return of Regulation

Big Ben wants more authority over the Street; more trouble for Credit Suisse; a run on IndyMac?; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 9, 2008 at 08:55 AM

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he would extend the emergency-loan program created for Wall Street during the Bear Stearns... More

Forbes Lets ‘Er Rip

Hard-hitting piece says pension funds help cover up investment returns

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 8, 2008 at 01:20 PM

Forbes' cover story this week is a tough indictment of the private-equity real estate business—and the pension funds that supply... More

Opening Bell: Fannie and Freddie’s Grim Outlook

Shares nosedive as housing crisis deepens; IndyMac’s disintegration; WaPo’s new boss; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 8, 2008 at 08:38 AM

The mortgage crisis continued to deteriorate as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares tumbled more than 16 percent on fears... More

Good News (For Once) At The Journal

Two internal promotions are hopeful signs in the News Corporation era

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 7, 2008 at 03:14 PM

Say what you want about News Corporation’s takeover of The Wall Street Journal, and we have, and the ham-handed ouster/buyout... More

NYT’s Incomplete Bhopal Story

The paper raises questions it doesn’t answer

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 7, 2008 at 01:25 PM

The New York Times has an interesting page-one story today about the legacy of pollution at the Union Carbide plant... More

Rewrite To The Nth Power

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 7, 2008 at 12:42 PM

Calculated Risk makes a good catch on a MarketWatch rewrite of a rewrite of a German newspaper story reporting that... More