Bhopal Revisited

The liability issue is complicated, but the Times still should have done more.

By Ryan Chittum   Aug 26, 2008 at 08:30 AM

Last month, we criticized The New York Times for leaving a big hole in a page-one story on the aftermath... More

Opening Bell: States ‘Slammed’

As tax revenue shrivels; consumer spending drops; reading the recent oil-price slide; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 24, 2008 at 08:00 AM

The Wall Street Journal leads its front page with a report saying that states are getting “slammed” with budget problems... More

Shorting Journalism Too

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2008 at 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:... More

Portfolio’s Promise

Excellent reporting blows open the Countrywide scandal

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2008 at 11:42 AM

Portfolio’s August cover story is a devastating follow to its scoop that broke the “Friends of Angelo” Countrywide VIP loan... More

Opening Bell: Worth Less, Costs More

Mortgage rates and inflation soar; Bizarro bank world; rich make more, pay less taxes; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2008 at 08:43 AM

Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in nearly five years, as investors continue to worry about the health of... More

Sign Of The Times

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2008 at 02:49 PM

Forget the toasters. A bank I passed yesterday in West Seattle is marketing itself as the We Won't Lose Your... More

Opening Bell: Women Leaving Workforce

But not necessarily by choice; Steve Jobs’s health and Apple’s stock price; Yahoo gives Icahn board seats; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2008 at 08:34 AM

The New York Times on page one reports that the number of women in the workforce is declining. The recovery... More

The Blind Leading The Blind

The Washington Post’s new publisher has no new ideas in a Portfolio profile

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2008 at 03:22 PM

Portfolio’s long profile of new Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth is a pretty good read. It would be hard not... More

Opening Bell: WTF, FDIC?

Regulator turned blind eye to subprime abuses; choosing between food and water; begging for your Starbucks; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2008 at 08:45 AM

The Wall Street Journal goes page one with a story about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation running a bank that... More

Cut the Dividends!

Newspaper companies fork over hundreds of millions a year—and for what?

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 18, 2008 at 02:15 PM

Gannett had one helluva bad quarter, losing a tenth of its revenues from a year ago and more than a... More

Drilling for Angles

WSJ spins a poll on offshore oil exploration the wrong way

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 18, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Speaking of stretching for a newsy angle, The Wall Street Journal overreached yesterday with a story headlined "In California, Support... More

Opening Bell: Merrill Listing

Bank’s troubles are staggering; Freddie has some stock he’d like to sell you; Wachovia office raided; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 18, 2008 at 08:13 AM

No wonder Merrill Lynch is selling its Bloomberg stake. The investment bank lost $4.7 billion in the second quarter on... More

Shopping For Angles

The peril of blaming the economy for everything

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 17, 2008 at 02:54 PM

USA Today repackages an old story about malls turning to entertainment to draw traffic and turns it into a sign... More

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