SAR #9111

There are no perfect answers; I'd settle for plausible.

Hat Trick: Bank of America made a profit by selling off an asset - shares of China Construction Bank - and by taking a $2.2 billion credit because their bonds are rated less and less likely to be paid. And, of course, they got gazillions of bucks from the taxpayer.

Turf: Does the big guy on the block have any idea that his days are numbered. And its a reasonably small number...

Blagojeviched: A wiretap caught Jane Harman, D-Cal, telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby Justice to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington. In return it was suggested efforts would be made to promote her to chair the House Intel committee. They have no shame, they have no common sense. Best question - in that this happened a few years back, why is it being leaked now?

Accessory: If your next new car comes with a loan, it'll also come with an engine shut-off device. Miss a payment and Snidely can disable your car from the comfort of his computer.

Conjugation: As temperatures approach a global 2.5ºC rise, heat stress on forests will cause a reversal in their role as "carbon sinks" and trigger a release of vast amounts of carbon dioxide. From carbon sink to carbon sunk.

Comming Events: The good news is "House Prices Are Finally Approaching Fair Value." The bad news is that it will take until 2011 and the downward drop will overshoot by at lest 10%.

Excellent Question: 'What Good Are Economists Anyway?'

Pockets: I put my money on the desk. A twenty, two $5's, a $1 and 34 cents in change. $31.34. Then I put the $20 in one pocket and the rest in another. A few minutes later I put the money back on the table and counted it. $31.09. Lost a quarter. Funny, when the financial giants do this they somehow end up with more money.

Strengthening the Economy: You'll be proud to learn that Goldman Sachs is using your tax dollars to sue a website that criticizes them. No, not us - but we could use the publicity.

Say It Isn't So: Obama is gathering a bunch of the silverbacks in an attempt to find ways to cut $100 million from the budget. The budget deficit is reported to be $1.9 trillion. If it takes them an hour to figure out the $100 million in savings, it'll be a net -$128.3 million for the hour.

Rumors & Gossip: "Stress test results leaked, everybody fails." Who knows, maybe it's just a trial balloon. Or ballooney.

Splitting Hairs: Krugman points out that part of Ireland's problems stem from the fact that "In Ireland you had key government officials with close personal - and, in some cases, financial - ties to the people inflating the bubble. And there are complaints that despite the crisis that hasn’t changed." In the US it's the other way around.

Race of the Bottoms: The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index has caught up with the Baltic Dry Index; it now possible to charter a tanker that cost $70,000 a day last January for less than $8,000 a day now.

Wait, There's More: American International Group on Monday says it’s reached a pact with the U.S. Treasury to swap classes of preferred shares in a deal that could give it access to nearly $30 billion in funds in return for some limitations on lobbying and compensation . Perhaps that should be 'More is Blackmail.'

Porn O'Graphs: A cornucopia of depressing charts.