SAR #9124

Weeds start out as green shoots, too.

Upping the Ante: Now it's 14 of 19 stress-test banks that need more capital (Citi may need $10 billion more and BofA "well in excess of $10 billion").

Difference: This weekend's bank seizures were different - one of them was Silverton in Atlanta, the nation's largest banker to other banks. Over 1,500 US banks were Silverton customers and nearly 400 banks were shareholders. It provided back-office services and lines of credit to many banks. Dominoes are expected to fall.

Prudent Prejudice: In a display of fear and ignorance, nations around the world are shunning Mexican citizens for fear of the flu. In enlightened New York Cinco de Mayo celebrations went on after a threat to ban them was cured.

Downlook: The European Commission forecasts economic contractions across the continent, with Germany falling 5.4%, the UK and France down 4% and the eurozone falling 4.3% in aggregate. This will come with a eurozone unemployment rate of 11.5%, which mahy well come with political changes.

Wealth of Nation: The government says that, as a group, American homeowners hold equity equaling 45% of the value of their homes. Some 33% own their houses outright, which leaves the other 67% splitting the remaining 15% of the equity. I've got my 0.25%, how about you?

Who Choses? WHO expects to produce 600 million doses of a vaccine against the H1N1 virus within six months. That's enough for one out of ten.

Smoke: Those who view the decline in industrial inventories as suggesting a Renaissance in demand are seriously misled. Manufacturers are letting inventories drop because they have no binding orders. None.

Journal of Prevarications. In a recent survey, 3 out of 4 doctors did not know that the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine was not a peer-reviewed journal, but an advertising gimmick dreamed up by Merck to publish data favorable to Merck's drugs.

Promises, Promises: An Iraqi government spokesman, responding to questions about US plans to keep troops in Mosul, said Iraq will not extend the withdrawal deadline. However, the definition of 'combat' and 'troop' seem open to interpretation.

Clever: Need more capital? Convert government-owned preferred stock into common. Done; the numbers look better, it doesn't cost anything, and it screws the taxpayers.

Waste! Washington keeps saying they want the consumer to consume more because then factories can make more stuff. The economy would work perfectly if everyone would buy a car every year and then drive it off a cliff and buy another. And another. Cars, widgets, salad spinners - doesn't matter what. What matters is borrowing, buying, consuming, and repeating the cycle. Don't laugh, that's what the military-industrial complex has always been about. Borrow money, build stuff, blow it up. It's the American way.

Porn O'Graph: Weakly Income.