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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Dow Jones on the Paper-It-Over Economy

   November 6, 2009 03:22 PM

   Dow Jones Newswires breaks an excellent story on Wells Fargo's efforts to delay its day of reckoning on billions and billions of more mortgage losses, these in ready-to-implode option-ARMs Wells inherited when it bought Wachovia, which inherited them when... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   WSJ Spotlight Helps Get Results on Antitrust

   November 6, 2009 10:45 AM

   The Wall Street Journal follows up this morning on its report on CVS Caremark's business practices six months ago. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the company's doings, which the Journal in May reported include blatantly anticompetitive stuff like... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Thursday Links: Goldie’s Gall, Chait Check, FSA

   November 5, 2009 06:33 PM

   The Wall Street Journal reported a couple of days ago that Goldman Sachs (an Audit funder) is trying to buy tax credits from Fannie Mae to offset its profits. Take it from here, Floyd Norris: Goldman, you may... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Bloomberg Examines the Bank Lobby’s Armor

   November 5, 2009 10:25 AM

   Bloomberg spotlights the Consumer Financial Protection Act and uses it as a jumping-off point for a smart story on the state of the finance-lobby's might. The theme is that the financial industry is still awfully powerful but—and this is... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Wednesday Links: Ad Comps, Recovery Engine, Coming Crash

   November 4, 2009 06:50 PM

   The Wall Street Journal's Nat Worden makes the obvious point—one missed by some, including, apparently, lots of investors—that any potential newspaper recovery depends on print advertising not continuing to decline at 25 percent-plus clips. "Newspaper publishers are running... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   McClatchy: Goldman Laid Down with Dogs

   November 4, 2009 02:10 PM

   Dean Starkman has been applauding McClatchy's series on Goldman Sachs (an Audit funder) for a couple of days now. Add another Audit appreciation today. McClatchy has been doing what Dean has been calling for for a long time... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Bloomberg: Moneychangers in the Temples

   November 4, 2009 12:19 PM

   Bloomberg notices that three prominent bankers in recent weeks have taken to UK churches to make the case that they're not evil. Really, they did that. The moneychangers/temple headlines write themselves (see above), but Bloomberg being Bloomberg, it goes... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Friday Links: Pearlstein’s Fairy Tale, WSJ’s Results, Galleon

   October 30, 2009 02:57 PM

   Steven Pearlstein has an excellent column in the Washington Post today explaining the problem with Wall Street compensation policies for the layman. Most times these explainers or arguments are too complicated and esoteric, which works in the Street's favor.... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   On a Diet on the Second Front

   October 30, 2009 02:22 PM

   Here's a good example of the Murdoch-era Wall Street Journal short-arming a potentially interesting story. The paper reports on B1 that despite its 29 percent unemployment, Detroit's gambling parlors are doing A-okay. But rather than explore the implications through... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    An Excellent NYT Column on Financialization

    October 30, 2009 10:26 AM

    Every writer knows the feeling of reading something you wish you'd written yourself. That's what I got with Floyd Norris's column today on why the financial industry pay is so huge and what to do about it. For one,... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Newspapers Get the Slate Treatment

    October 29, 2009 04:24 PM

    Slate got extra contrary last night, talking up the newspaper biz in a piece headlined "Newspapers aren't doing as badly as you think." To which I can only say: Have you picked one up lately? The industry hasn't been... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    The Colour of Galleon’s Money

    October 29, 2009 10:24 AM

    Here's one of those strange stories that could be one that blows a story wide open or one that blows over quickly. Hard to tell. The Financial Times's Henny Sender writes that the Galleon hedge fund, which collapsed amidst... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Wednesday Links: Cable Bluster, Night School, Footnotes First

    October 28, 2009 06:17 PM

    What was CNN doing having sports journalist Stephen A. Smith on to debate Times business wunderkind Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wall Street compensation practices? I'm all for having new, outside voices in the arena (so to speak), and we've... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Hard Truths on Social Security from Leonhardt

    October 28, 2009 04:35 PM

    The New York Times's David Leonhardt has a smart column this morning on the administration's skewed spending priorities. By spelling out why they're skewed, he gives some insight into what's wrong with the economy more broadly. Specifically, he looks... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Rhetoric and Reality on Pay

    October 28, 2009 10:08 AM

    The Wall Street Journal has a nice analysis on pay czar Kenneth Feinberg's plan to restrict compensation at seven corporate-welfare cases, finding that in fact base pay will rise—sometimes sharply. But it makes a bit too much hay out... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    Tuesday Links: Circulation, Mouthpieces, Galleon

    October 27, 2009 07:17 PM

    One of the critical questions for what remains of the newspaper industry's near-to-medium-term future is how much of the recent circulation collapse has been intentional. Newspaper companies spun the news yesterday that the huge falls were part of a strategy... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Seattle Times Reviews WaMu, Hometown Predator

    October 27, 2009 04:42 PM

    Hats off to The Seattle Times for an excellent two-part series investigating the demise of Washington Mutual, onetime hometown hero turned zero (literally). The paper calls a spade a spade here, writing (emphasis mine) "In short, WaMu... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Bloomberg on AIG as Banks’ Backdoor Bailout

    October 27, 2009 10:05 AM

    Bloomberg has an important story today on the bailout of the banks through AIG. Estimating that an essentially bankrupt company like AIG could have shaved 40 percent off what it owed big banks like Societe Generale and Goldman Sachs... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    Monday Links: Circ Collapse, Main Street, Patriots

    October 26, 2009 07:46 PM

    At the Nieman Journalism Lab, Martin Langeveld digs into the catastrophic newspaper numbers. Every six month increment for (weekday) newspaper circulation has gotten worse than the one before it. The latest: a 10.6 percent plunge from the year-earlier six-month... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    NYT Goes A1 on TBTF

    October 26, 2009 04:19 PM

    Too big to fail makes the front page of The New York Times this morning, which reports that Congress, specifically Barney Frank, is toughening up the administration's plan to deal with the problem. Specifically, it gets the scoop that... Continue reading

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