Opening Bell: Home Prices Plummet

No end in sight; FBI is after Countrywide; factory farms are bad; Citigroup panhandles; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 30, 2008 at 07:47 AM

In today’s house-o-rama, home prices fell faster last month than at any time in a key index’s two decades, dropping... More

Opening Bell: $7 A Gallon?

Oil production not rising, but demand is; speculators swarm food crisis; Kerkorian buys up Ford stock…watch out; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 29, 2008 at 07:29 AM

The New York Times on page one looks behind the inexorable rise in oil and gas prices the last few... More

Opening Bell: Will The Fed Wilt?

Mortgage industry cries foul over new regs; more Murdoch; hospitals demanding pay upfront; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 28, 2008 at 07:18 AM

The New York Times fronts a story on how the mortgage industry is fighting tougher regulations proposed by the Federal... More

Opening Bell: Homes Still Not Selling

New-house sales down sharply; but good jobs news; (another) FAA coverup;

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 25, 2008 at 08:20 AM

So much for the spring selling season. New-home sales fell sharply in March far more than expected, to the lowest... More

Opening Bell: Fed To Halt Rate Cuts?

Wants to see if enough is enough; rice quotas in the U.S.; restaurant woes; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 24, 2008 at 07:27 AM

The Wall Street Journal leads page one with a report that the Federal Reserve is considering a halt in its... More

Opening Bell: Murdoch Tightens His Grip…

on the throat of U.S. journalism; cuts at Ford; did the SEC pull its punches with Bear?; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 23, 2008 at 07:42 AM

The Wall Street Journal newsroom throws up a “save us” flare on page one with a story about Rupert Murdoch... More

Opening Bell: Journal Editor Quits

Murdoch era now in full flower; is Newsday next?; BoA’s bad day; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 22, 2008 at 07:44 AM

Rupert Murdoch was a busy man yesterday. The top editor of The Wall Street Journal abruptly resigned just four months... More

Opening Bell: Frankenfood

Food crisis alters thinking on GMC; bailouts abound; borrowers gone wild!; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 21, 2008 at 07:46 AM

The New York Times fronts a story saying that recent food-market problems are eroding resistance to genetically modified crops. With... More

Inflation investigation

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 18, 2008 at 03:21 PM

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture points out a BreakingViews column that questions whether the government is low-balling the inflation... More

Opening Bell: The Hours

Americans are working fewer, but not by choice; cuts on Wall Street; jobless ranks swell; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 18, 2008 at 07:14 AM

Lots of bad employment news today, and we’ll start out with the lead story in The New York Times, which... More

Opening Bell: Tech Biz Buzzes On

Seems largely impervious to downturn; rice crisis in Oz; Sallie Mae wants more cash; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 17, 2008 at 07:08 AM

In another good sign for how the tech industry is holding up, IBM reported solid first-quarter earnings yesterday with profits... More

Opening Bell: What Recession?

Super-rich keep raking it in; Are banks lying about Libor?; Bush flip-flops on global warming; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 16, 2008 at 07:04 AM

Not everybody’s losing money these days. The New York Times has on A1 a story based on a hedge-fund industry... More

Opening Bell: Retail Rut

Bankruptcies, empty stores, flat sales; America’s lousy credit; Brazil’s black gold; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 15, 2008 at 07:20 AM

The New York Times leads page one with a story on a “wave of bankruptcies” at retail chains, something it... More

Opening Bell: Hat In Hand

Wachovia the latest charity case; food crisis mounts; the rich party on; Delta and Northwest ready to merge; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 14, 2008 at 07:10 AM

The Wall Street Journal reports on C1 that Charlotte-based Wachovia is getting a capital infusion of as much as $7... More

Opening Bell: Dems Dodge Trade Vote

Bush Colombia pact stalled; and U.S. free-trade cred suffers; how Moody’s changed its ratings tune; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 11, 2008 at 07:17 AM

House Democrats stalled Bush’s Colombia free-trade pact, the papers say. The New York Times notes on C1 that the party-line... More

Opening Bell: FAA (Finally) Gets Tough

Nearly half of American Airlines flights grounded; Yahoo enlists AOL in Microsoft fight; Couric on her way out at CBS?; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 10, 2008 at 07:23 AM

Airline safety concerns continued to grow, with American Airlines canceling more than a thousand flights yesterday and grounding three hundred... More

Opening Bell: Justice Under Bush

‘A reflection of the environment of greed’; Will the Fed raise its debt?; To eat, or worry about the birds; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 9, 2008 at 07:58 AM

The New York Times devotes its column one on A1 to a look at how the Justice Department has effectively... More

Opening Bell: Penn-ing A New Trade Deal

Colombia pact dissected; Greenspan protests too much; CBS wants to turn its journalism over to CNN; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 8, 2008 at 07:06 AM

The free-trade issue is all the rage in the media these days, after the Clinton/Colombia campaign crackup, and both The... More

Opening Bell: WaMu’s Angel

The bank’s $5 billion Band-Aid; Bill Gates, corporate raider; George Washington, bailout master; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 7, 2008 at 07:43 AM

The Wall Street Journal scoops on A1 that Washington Mutual is about to get a $5 billion capital fix from... More

Opening Bell: Job Drop

Unemployment soars; Jamie Dimon, welfare king; Apple eclipses Wal-Mart; etc.

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 4, 2008 at 07:04 AM

The economy is beginning to shed jobs at a worrisome pace. Initial unemployment claims soared 38,000 last week to 407,000,... More