Interesting: GM, GE, Ford Added to Short-Selling Ban

The list of firms on the U.S. short-selling ban list is growing. Incredibly, now, GM, GE and Ford have been added, says this New York Times story.

TAGS: markets, interesting

Investigations: $13B in Iraq Aid Lost to Fraud

An extraordinary $13 billion meant for Iraqi reconstruction was stolen or wasted in fraud schemes, says a former Iraqi investigator in this Washington Post item.

TAGS: Iraq, corruption, fraud, investigations

Investigations: Fed's Once-Pristine Balance Sheet Now Loaded With Junk

So is the $700-billion financial bailout in the U.S. going to work? Or is it just transferring risk from private hands that bunged it up to the public and endangering the government's own finances? This Financial Week item shows that under the stewardship of Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board's balance sheet, pristine and virtually risk-free just six months ago, now consists of a huge portion of troubled assets. While U.S. government treasuries accounted for 91 percent of the Fed's mix of reserve assets six months ago, today 48 percent consists of riskier holdings.

TAGS: markets, Bernanke