Author Archive
Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author
Opening Bell: Bad Numbers On Blackstone
Papers swallow company spin on losses; Dick Armey and Steve Forbes are angry renters; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 16, 2008 at 07:20 AM
(The headline for this post was corrected at 1:55 p.m.) Blackstone Group had a bad first quarter. Just how bad?... More
Opening Bell: Down The Rabbit Hole…
with Freddie and Fannie; bad week for Countrywide; what’s the truth about inflation?; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 15, 2008 at 07:52 AM
Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprise that along with Fannie Mae underpins the entire housing market, reported a smaller-than-expected $151 million... More
Opening Bell: Did We Dodge A Recession?
Conventional Wisdom now says yes, maybe; tax the rich, teach the vets; UBS official indicted; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 14, 2008 at 07:22 AM
Well, that was fast. The Wall Street Journal on page one says economists are hedging their bets on a recession,... More
Opening Bell: Clear Channel Deal On
Lawsuit avoided, pain is shared; cigarette regulation, Bush style; small-biz loan crunch; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 13, 2008 at 07:29 AM
Leveraged buyouts are back in the news this morning. The papers write that the Clear Channel Communications deal, which collapsed... More
Opening Bell: Payday Loan Scams
Not just for the poor anymore; the Dolans and Newsday; will Dems pay for helping home owners?; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 12, 2008 at 08:05 AM
The Chicago Tribune this morning reports on an insidious new phenomenon: online payday loans. One woman, Rochelle Parker, landed an... More
Opening Bell: Et tu, A.I.G.?
Plus, NYT strong work on NYT housing and a powerful senator; Toyota’s skids; the container shortage. etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 9, 2008 at 08:20 AM
Insurance giant American International Group posted a record $7.8 billion loss in the first quarter as it wrote down more... More
Opening Bell
SEC’s new rules; fluffing the mortgage numbers; Moody’s man out; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 8, 2008 at 07:48 AM
Stocks fell the most in four weeks, with the Dow dropping 206 points (1.6 percent) and financial shares tumbling 3.7... More
Opening Bell: Oil Prices Keep Rising…
But no one’s talking about using less; Myanmar’s rice harvest hit; greenback bulks up; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 7, 2008 at 07:15 AM
The price of oil continued its record rise, and the papers all give major play to stories on how much... More
Opening Bell: Countrywide Deal Hits Snag
Analyst urges B of A to bail; Sprint wants to unload Nextel; Fannie and Freddie need help; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 6, 2008 at 07:18 AM
Investors bailed out of Countrywide Financial yesterday, sending its shares down 10 percent after an analyst said Bank of America... More
Opening Bell: Yahoo To ‘Burn The Furniture’
If Microsoft went hostile; Buffett: we avoided worst of financial crisis; U.S. like S. Korea, 1997?
By Ryan Chittum May 5, 2008 at 07:11 AM
The business press goes wide with Microsoft backing away from its unsolicited bid for Yahoo, ending for the moment a... More
Opening Bell: The Fed Flashes Its Fangs
Cracks down on credit-card industry; is SUV era over?; ExxonMobil has another record quarter; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 2, 2008 at 07:21 AM
The Washington Post on A1 says the Federal Reserve and other bank regulators will unleash “one of the most aggressive... More
Opening Bell: Economy Expands, But…
just barely and it won’t last; another Fed rate cut; Rent-A-Center squeezes food banks; etc.
By Ryan Chittum May 1, 2008 at 07:20 AM
The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times all go big with news that the economy expanded—barely—in the... More
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
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
