Talkin’ About Credit-Default Swaps

Why being bearish on them means you’re likely bullish in general

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2008 at 03:15 PM

Now of course, we know all about credit-default swaps. And we know that you know all about credit-default swaps. I... More

The Press Drives Out to the Country

USA Today adds to Times on gas hit to rural U.S.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2008 at 11:50 AM

The press has written quite a bit about how the price of gasoline is making the exurban lifestyle cost prohibitive... More

Costco vs. Wal-Mart

Slate asks why their labor practices are so different

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2008 at 10:02 AM

Over at Slate, Liza Featherstone asks a good question: Why doesn’t Wal-Mart pay its employees as well as Costco does?... More

Opening Bell: Moodier and Moodier

Ratings firm pushes out exec; Grasso keeps riches; bust makes Starbucks contract for once; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2008 at 08:25 AM

Moody’s got rid of an executive after finding “inappropriate” and “deeply disappointing” conduct in his staff’s ratings of financial derivatives.... More

Blackstone vs. the Bean Counters

CEO likes fair-value when prices go up but not when they go down

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2008 at 11:55 AM

Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times scores an interview with Blackstone Group chief Stephen Schwarzman, who’s running around... More

A Bear Raid?

Vanity Fair talks to lots of Bear Stearns execs who think—surprise!—outsiders did them in

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2008 at 10:02 AM

Was Bear Stearns murdered? Vanity Fair asks that provocative question in a riveting but overdone piece on the demise of... More

Opening Bell: Swiss Mess

U.S. seeks UBS client list; casino bubble bursting, too?; IndyMac in peril; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2008 at 08:29 AM

The U.S. is trying to upend the secrecy of the Swiss banks. The Justice Department asked a federal court to... More

Water Boggle

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 30, 2008 at 02:12 PM

The Washington Post goes above the fold on page one with about as good a slap-down of the bottled-water industry... More

Housing Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet

So says BusinessWeek in its cover story

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 30, 2008 at 12:22 PM

BusinessWeek takes a look in its good cover story at why the housing crisis is just going to get worse:... More

Unloading Bad Securities

UBS may also soon stand for Undone By Scandals

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 30, 2008 at 10:22 AM

Gretchen Morgenson in the Sunday Times shed some more light on the UBS auction-ratings securities soon-to-be-scandal (That would make at... More

Opening Bell: A Ground Zero Black Hole

WTC delayed yet again; Hoarding hurts food prices; Is this bear ‘94 or ‘74? etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 30, 2008 at 08:40 AM

Editor’s note: Welcome to the new, right-sized Opening Bell. Since February, our young-yet-wizened Ryan Chittum has toiled in the wee... More

Opening Bell: Bear Country

Dow downers; Fed scrambles; one more Countrywide postmortem, etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 27, 2008 at 06:47 AM

Stock markets plunged on Thursday on worries about the health of the financial system and the economy as a whole.... More

Opening Bell

Exxon’s $2 billion win; Fed stays put; States pile on Countrywide; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 26, 2008 at 08:16 AM

The Supreme Court handed a $2 billion victory to Exxon Mobil, saying the punitive-damages award for the Exxon Valdez disaster... More

Opening Bell: Wrong Track

Consumer confidence dives again; so do home prices; real estate crimes; Buffett on porn; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 25, 2008 at 08:24 AM

Consumer confidence plummeted, raising fears of a deeper recession if the pessimism translates into lower spending. The Wall Street Journal... More

Opening Bell: GM’s Gas-Guzzler Blues

Zero percent financing rides again; 100 percent financing rides again; Google News is overrated; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 24, 2008 at 06:40 AM

General Motors continued its struggles, going back to its same old bag of tricks for another round of zero percent... More

Opening Bell: At Least It Wasn’t a Bridge Tournament

SEC’s Cox sunned while Wall Street burned; Big bank layoffs; Saudis pump more, Nigerians less; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 23, 2008 at 07:49 AM

The Wall Street Journal takes a withering A1 look at the performance of Securities and Exchange Commission chairman during the... More

Opening Bell: Perp Walk

Plus, “Operation Malicious Mortgage”; Swiss cheats; an RV chase scene, etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 20, 2008 at 06:42 AM

The Bear Stearns Two got their perp walk yesterday after a federal grand jury indicted them on criminal fraud charges,... More

Opening Bell: GAO Smacks Down Air Force

Says it improperly awarded major contract; bad news at FedEx; Pfizer sticks it to us on Lipitor; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 19, 2008 at 08:10 AM

The Government Accountability Office handed Boeing a huge win, finding that the Air Force improperly awarded a $35 billion contract... More

Opening Bell: What’s Goldman’s Secret?

Firm weathering credit storm; stagflation alert; tougher toy regs; lenders screw poor students; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 18, 2008 at 07:49 AM

Goldman Sachs continued to navigate the credit crisis better than any of its peers. It reported just an 11 percent... More

Opening Bell: Fed Says Markets Too Optimistic

August rate hike unlikely; more evidence that KBR ripped us off in Iraq; rethinking privatization; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 17, 2008 at 07:46 AM

The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times both go page one with apparent leaks from the Federal Reserve that... More