US investors heaved a sigh of relief overnight, as the Obama administration unveiled a $25 billion settlement with five major home lenders over foreclosure abuses.
US economy
Maley: a Greek writedown chain reaction?
Global equity markets have enjoyed the best start to the year since 1994, but their euphoric mood is about to be sorely tested.
Maley: Bernanke holds a housing ace
Investors face a nervous few months as they try to work out when US central bank boss Ben Bernanke will play his last remaining trump card — buying up long-term mortgage bonds in an effort to revive the ailing US housing market.
Kohler: did you hear the one about the bond market?
Up to January, the European Central Bank lent European private banks about €500 billion at 1% interest.
The economy of comedy: does less money = more laughs?
A stand-up comedy club entrepreneur in Chicago is using the American economic recession not to scale back his business but to expand it, writes Gary Strauss.
The year of the non-lessons of fiscal stimulus
In 2011 we all became monetarists again, despite the lessons of the GFC.
Maley: a taste of French ratings fear
Are France’s political leaders softening up voters for an imminent loss of the country’s precious triple-A rating? That was certainly the impression last week…
Maley: strapped in for a market meltdown
Global equity markets are set for precipitous declines mid-way through next year, according to a leading technical analyst.
Swan can cut, but the bad news from overseas won’t stop
While the mining boom continues to power the Australian economy, the news from offshore continues to worsen.
Maley: staring down US budget D-Day
For the past several weeks, investors have been obsessed by the continuing carnage in European bond markets. But a looming US deadline is about to remind the world that debt is not just a European issue.
Political snippets: Aussies have not stopped spending
Australians might be prudently paying down their credit cards a little (see yesterday’s chunky bits) but they have not completely stopped spending.
interactive 
Unemployment and pay rates by uni degrees
A fascinating document that shows how US college graduates compare based on their college major. For example Actuarial Science students have 0% unemployment, which contrasts to Architecture, where 10% of its graduates remain unemployed.
graph pr0n 
Why the Occupy Wall Street protesters are so damn angry
It may be a movement with no clear leadership or aims, but a look at these graphs — showing growing unemployment rates in the US compared to the growing level of corporate profits — and it’s no surprise why Americans are protesting.
Political snippets: At least it’s not getting worse.
That’s about the best that can be said of the September labour force figures released today.
Gottliebsen: Wall Street’s confidence trick
Wall Street’s high risk taking could be a key issue at the 2012 US election, writes Robert Gottliebsen of Business Spectator.
Now it’s China’s banks under the hammer
The global banking strains have spread to China with the country’s government last night surprising with a very public move to buy shares in its four biggest lenders after their shares have fallen 30% in recent months.
The deep cracks on Wall Street
What should we make of the Occupy Wall Street protest movement that started three weeks ago in a New York park? asks Karen Maley.
Kohler: flagging down a recession
Markets are falling now because the US, and probably the world, is tipping into recession. Again.
Video of the Day: The men who crashed the world
As the global markets continue to look shaky, it seems an appropriate time to check out this Al Jazeera documentary series Meltdown. Pull up a chair — it’s 40 minutes — and examine the world of greed and recklessness on Wall Street that brought us the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08.
Our recovery is hanging by a thread
The so-called recovery of 2009-2010 was never really a recovery, but rather, an orgy of government-funded speculation that fooled some, and enriched others (namely bankers and speculators).
Markets crash: headless chickens belting mild-mannered lemmings
The big fall on markets around the world was one of the more astonishing over reactions to the obvious that we have seen for some years.
World markets in freefall
Crikey media wrap: Investors are panicking, with world markets in freefall after a gloomy Federal Reserve outlook yesterday renewed fears of a global recession.
Global economy in danger, but Oz cruising along nicely
Crikey media wrap: A new report by the International Monetary Fund declares that the global economy is in “a dangerous new phase”.
