Links and News [2008.02.19]

• Wall St. Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/business/19banks.html?ex=1361077200&en=fe688fa0499bb530&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
  

  In recent weeks one part of the debt market after another has buckled. High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages and student loans have fallen sharply. Even auction-rate securities, arcane investments usually considered as safe as cash, have stumbled.

  (categories: economics)

• Clinton to fight for every delegate - msnbc.com
  
  URL: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/13/662535.aspx
  

  “Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn’t won any of the significant states — outside of Illinois?” Chief Strategist Mark Penn said. “That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama.”

  Howard Wolfson, communications director, pointed out, “We do better the more voters vote. The largest turnout primaries, by in large, are the ones that have favored us. …The presidential election is not a caucus; it’s an election for the most people to get out and vote.”

  (categories: elections)

• No Lull in Mortgage Pitches - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/business/media/18foreclosure.html?ex=1360990800&en=059e78b52d62f689&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
  

  Countrywide Financial brags in its ads that “No one can do what Countrywide can” and that “Countrywide can show you the way home.” Wachovia ads feature an “Approved” stamp prominently at the top, and Bank of America says, “Homeownership is the best medicine.”

  (categories: economics)

• Obama mania’s got all sides screaming
  
  URL: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_obama_manias_got_all_sides_screaming.html
  

  "If Hillary walked on water, she would be criticized for not swimming," Lehane said. "And if Obama swam, he would be lauded for being able to do what Hillary could not do."

  (categories: elections)

• Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world/asia/19pstan.html?_r=1&ex=1361077200&en=0969be8e2ea4a8d9&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin
  

  Pakistanis dealt a crushing defeat to President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections on Monday, in what government and opposition politicians said was a firm rejection of his policies since 2001 and those of his close ally, the United States.

  Almost all the leading figures in the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the party that has governed for the last five years under Mr. Musharraf, lost their seats, including the leader of the party, the former speaker of Parliament and six ministers.

  (categories: news)

• The Afghanistan Conundrum: Germany Mulls Exit from Anti-Terror Mission - SPIEGEL
  
  URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,535925,00.html
  

  The German government is considering exiting the United States-led anti-terror operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and has already sent out feelers in Washington about the issue.

  (categories: news)

• Bleak New Batch of Data on Economy - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15cnd-econ.html?_r=1&ex=1360818000&en=592a1e2b786204ee&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin
  

  With the price of oil near record levels, import costs grew in January at the highest annual rate in a quarter century, the Labor Department said. In New York, manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in five years. And consumers, responding to a national survey, said they felt worse about the economy than any time since the recession era of the early 1990s.

  (categories: economics)

• Black Leader, a Clinton Ally, Tilts to Obama - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/politics/15clinton.html?_r=2&ex=1360731600&en=adede1742201fbb8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
  

  Representative John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil rights era and one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most prominent black supporters, said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention.

  (categories: elections)

• BBC | Weak rise in US industrial output
  
  URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7247093.stm
  

  US industrial production rose a meagre 0.1% in January, official figures have shown, the latest indication of weakness in the US economy.

  (categories: economics)

• House Holds Bush Aides in Contempt - NYT
  
  URL: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-White-House-Contempt.html?_r=2&ex=1360731600&en=ccb27683df06e33e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=login
  

  The House voted Thursday to hold two of President Bush’s confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge of federal prosecutors was politically motivated.

  (categories: politics)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 12:16 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.