Interesting: U.S. Press Freedom Ranks 36th of 173 Countries

The U.S. ranks 36th out of 173 countries in terms of press freedom - behind Slovenia, Mali and Jamaica - according to this report from Reporters Without Borders, which urged U.S. presidential candidates to improve protection of journalists in the country. "This situation is unacceptable for the country known for its First Amendment rights, "the group said. "We are asking the candidates to let the American people know how they will improve this ranking and improve access to information for their fellow Americans."

Investigations: U.S. Officials Undermined Bolivia Government

U.S. aid officials played a shady role in undermining the populist government of Evo Morales of Bolivia - the country's first indigenous head of state - according to this story about U.S. government documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests by journalist Jeremy Bigwood.

Market Watch: Volkswagen Oops!

Little has been written about the role of the financial press in the market mess and of analysts quoted in the media. Here's an interesting item from the cover of the last weekend's issue of Barron's, the financial weekly. As part of a market roundup headlined, "More Pain," the story called Volkswagen "perhaps the most overvalued big company on the planet" and cited analysts who said the European automaker's shares "could fall under 100 euros... Its market value of $84 billion is triple Daimler's, a seemingly nutty situation."

Fast forward to Wednesday, when Barron's sister publication, The Wall Street Journal, reported VW's stunning 348-percent rally over the previous two days. "Hedge funds around the world absorbed a punishing blow Tuesday, as soaring shares in Germany's Volkswagen AG created one of the biggest losses from a single bet in recent memory," the article said.

"The funds are expected to face billions of dollars in losses, according to prime brokers familiar with the positions, because they were wagering that VW shares would fall. Instead, shares of the big German auto maker soared 82% Tuesday to €945 ($1,185)...

"VW shares are up 348% over the past two days and 267% in the past month."

Oops.

TAGS: markets