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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Audit Notes: Foreclosure Scandal, Manufacturers’ Outlook, News of the World

   October 6, 2010 06:29 PM

   The foreclosure scandal continues to break wide open. Several banks have halted foreclosures as clear evidence of fraud has emerged in some of their activities. Nancy Pelosi is calling for an investigation and several states, including Ohio and Florida, have... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   FT Fronts a Thin Story on Manufacturing Suppliers

   October 6, 2010 02:42 PM

   Here's one of those thin Financial Times stories that doesn't make much sense. Yesterday it put this story on page one with the headline: Smaller US suppliers broadened customer bases during recession Competitive position boosted in tough times That... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   The New York Times Unloads on Tribune’s Zell Hell

   October 6, 2010 11:56 AM

   David Carr and The New York Times have a fascinating and sordid story about Sam Zell's tenure as owner of Tribune Company. It's an excellent piece of reporting—a picture of a corporate culture descended to approximately the level of... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Audit Notes: Clayton Bull, Bloomberg News, Cohan and Consumers

   October 5, 2010 06:27 PM

   Shahien Nasiripour continues to bird dog the Clayton Holdings story, reporting today that, under pressure from the folks on Wall Street who pay its bills, the company is now backpedaling from its former president's testimony to the Financial... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Reuters Investigates the Fed’s Selective Leaks

   October 5, 2010 11:50 AM

   This Reuters investigation of the Federal Reserve deserves a much wider airing than it's gotten. The wire reports that the Fed, which is known as a tough nut for reporters to crack, is actually something of a sieve when... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   The Free Trade Backlash

   October 4, 2010 07:26 PM

   The Wall Street Journal zooms in on a poll result from last week: That far more Americans now oppose "free trade" than support it. By a whopping 53 percent to 17 percent, Americans say free trade has hurt the... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Life Insurance as Tax Dodge for the Rich

   October 4, 2010 06:06 PM

   The Wall Street Journal is excellent today in a page-one story on how the life-insurance industry has evolved into something of a tax haven for the rich. Basically, life insurance has increasingly become a way to invest and not... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Murdoch’s Threat to Democracy

   October 4, 2010 12:49 PM

   Politico astutely pointed out the other day that Fox News now employs four of the leading Republican presidential candidates: Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum. It's hardly news that Fox News is more propaganda outlet than... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   The Journal Misleads on McDonald’s and Obamacare

   October 1, 2010 02:23 PM

   The Wall Street Journal caused something of a to-do yesterday with its front-page story reporting that McDonald's might drop its health-care plan because of Obamacare. Kevin Drum of Mother Jones called the piece a "non-story" and "the latest... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    The Times Channels the Oil Lobby on Cuba

    October 1, 2010 10:16 AM

    The top story in The New York Times yesterday carried a bit of water for the oil and gas lobby. It's about how Cuba is thinking about opening up its waters for oil drilling and how that could affect... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Audit Notes: The Shark Submerges, Flack Jobs From Hell, Trial Balloons Popped

    September 30, 2010 08:51 PM

    Michael Lewis plays the "Jaws" theme in his BusinessWeek column asking why Wall Street fought tooth and nail for an exemption in financial reform, won, but now isn't even going to take advantage of it. To see Wall Street... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Crisis Warning Lights Are Blinking Red Again

    September 30, 2010 05:58 PM

    Things are getting ugly again in Europe, with multiple nations teetering toward default. Nations are beginning to play beggar-thy-neighbor with currency manipulations. Trade tensions are soaring. Austerity-minded politicians are on the rise. If you don't hear the echoes of the... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Accountability Icelandic Style

    September 30, 2010 10:49 AM

    What's the difference between Iceland and us? Well, there's the rotten shark meat, the leaving babies outside unattended in freezing temps while you shop, and now there's the reaction to the financial crisis, which has particularly brutalized that... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Audit Notes: The Damage Done, GOP Economics, Pittman Bests Bernanke

    September 29, 2010 07:56 PM

    Now this is a correction. The Wall Street Journal this morning (emphasis mine): Singer Neil Young was born Nov. 12, 1945, and singer Eric Clapton was born March 30, 1945. The Short List events calendar in Friday's Weekend Journal... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    This Gold “Record” Keeps Skipping

    September 29, 2010 11:53 AM

    The Wall Street Journal goes page one with a misleading story about gold, splashing this headline across four columns atop the page: Gold Vaults to New High Gold hit $1,306 an ounce yesterday, which is a nominal record. Emphasis... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Illegal Immigrant Costs, E-books, Curmudgeons

    September 28, 2010 06:47 PM

    (UPDATE: I misread this WSJ post. The Rand analyst was actually talking about all immigration, legal and illegal. The Journal has now updated its post to clarify that. Thanks to commenter James for the headsup.) The Wall Street Journal's Real... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Access As Distortion Field

    September 28, 2010 12:23 PM

    Fortune's David Kirkpatrick, author of a new book on Facebook, an excerpt of which I criticized a while back for its CEO-hero worship, takes to the op-ed pages of the Washington Post to smash five negative "myths" about... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Why No Charges?, ABC on Collections, SEC Whiff

    September 27, 2010 08:17 PM

    I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure I can argue against this statement, by law prof Peter J. Helling, who writes "White Collar Watch for The New York Times's DealBook: One possible reason for the lack of prosecutions involving... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    A Scalpel We Can Believe In

    September 27, 2010 06:32 PM

    If you want to poke another hole in the idea that the Obama administration is "anti-business" take a look at its antitrust record. He came into Washington talking a good game, but has delivered the pro-corporate line there that has... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    A Critical Witness in the Wall Street Sausage Factory

    September 27, 2010 11:52 AM

    Chalk this one up to things I'm not smart enough to understand: Why isn't this pure-D fraud and why hasn't someone paid for it? The New York Times's Gretchen Morgenson reports today that Clayton Holdings, which ought to be... Continue reading

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