Week of August 13th, 2007

The New York Times has a story delving into the question, how could so many smart people buy so much bad debt. The article makes clear that the…

A reasonable set of forecasts by George Magnus, senior economic adviser at UBS Investment Bank in London. It's dated August 10. (I had set it aside…

The numbers and the markets will be what they'll be, but how do you feel? Economist Diane Swonk gives us a lesson on consumer sentiment.

It's not surprising that home prices are down. What is a bit surprising is how resilient home prices appear to be after all the shock waves of…

There's more financial market tubulence ahead. Okay, that's a safe forecast. Still, the the Fed's dramatic cut in the discount rate is probably…

Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson talks with host Kai Ryssdal about the markets' nervous reactions to the liquidity shortage.

The Fed today cut the discount rate — what banks pay to borrow from the Fed — by half a percentage point. Banks use it only when they're in a bind. Like the one they've been in the past couple of weeks. Jill Barshay reports.

Skype, one of the most popular companies offering phone service over the Internet, suffered a pretty unpopular glitch the last couple of days. Lisa Napoli reports.

Pet Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow in New York, featuring high-end products for dogs. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports that fancy Fido doodads are capturing an ever-larger slice of the $40-billion-a-year pet-products market.

There's money to be made in the effort to halt global warming. One burgeoning business is the buying and selling of "carbon offsets" to American industry and consumers. What are these offset projects and how good are their claims? Claire Schoen reports.

We've asked some of our commentators to send along their nominations for the best business beach books. For today's final installment writer Harriet Rubin recommends a contemporary novel about the beauty of innovation.

If you've worked your entire life but haven't done as much traveling as you'd have liked, why not consider retiring abroad? Jeremy Hobson explores some options and hangs out with a retiree in the streets of Paris.

When a secure financial safety net is in place, some worry investors may act less than safe. Hey, if the hazards are covered . . .

You feel you're meant to be a star, but she'll know for sure. And she won't even use the "casting couch" . . .

Online phone provider Skype is still working on its network this morning after a software crash yesterday left some 220 million users without service. Critics say the incident highlights a glaring flaw, Stephen Beard reports.

The bells at London's famed clock tower have been quieted so some of its 148-year-old parts can be replaced. That they lasted that long is a marvel of Victorian engineering, explains Keeper of the Great Clock Mike McCann.

The Japanese yen is fast gaining strength against the dollar, but that could be bad for Japan's heavily export-dependent economy. Really bad. Economist Andrew Hilton explains.

Millions of people will be at house parties tonight… to watch a made-for-TV movie on the Disney Channel. That's right. It's the Mouse House sequel to the cash cow called High School Musical. Lisa Napoli does the advanced cross-promotional math.

Mexico has plans on the drawing board for a brand new megaport that just might become reality, but neighboring ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles aren't too worried about the competition. Dan Grech reports.

Who'da thought slot machines would save horse racing. Tracks have been struggling to keep their gates open for a while now, but the casinozation concept is working so well, Diana Nyad predicts they'll all have slots one day soon.

Computer maker Dell has to restate its finances from the last four years after the company was caught fudging with the numbers to hit performance goals. Ashley Milne-Tyte has more.

Mortgage lenders are having trouble getting their hands on lots of cash right now, which has put a crimp in the business of making loans. So at least one lawmaker wants to raise the portfolio cap for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jill Barshay explains.

The Federal Reserve has given the credit markets a big dose of a medicine. In a surprise move, it cut the discount lending rate by half a point. It's meant to relax the credit squeeze and that's giving the markets a healthy boost.

Marketplace Money for Friday, August 17, 2007

The charitable organization CARE is turning down $45 million in U.S. government aid because, it says, the strings attached to the food aid package are hurting developing countries. John Dimsdale reports.

In our continuing series on the best business beach books, economist Marcellus Andrews picked one that really is all business: "Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism."

You probably won't find Shawn Carter or Curtis Jackson on any list of Who's Who in American Business. But they're on top of the new Forbes magazine list of hip-hop's cash kings. Forbes' Lea Goldman is on the beat.

Worries about the usually safe investment in "commercial paper" — short-term bonds companies float to run their operations — are trickling through the markets. Moody's chief economist John Lonski explains.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning parents not to give cough or cold medicines to children under 2 unless a doctor says so. The recommendation comes after a campaign by pediatricians who've treated overdoses of cold remedies. Helen Palmer reports.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the head of the Federal Reserve bank in St. Louis had basically the same message today — despite the market unease, there's no plan for government intervention. Bob Moon has more.

Meet a woman who's trying to get Cambodia a piece of the action in the international silk trade. The silk empire she's stitched together is the biggest employer in her province. Rachel Louise Snyder reports.

Mike Mandel of Business Week has a good post on the political imoplications of the housing market bust:…

European banks tied into subprime debt are now rushing to buy U.S. dollars to pay back those loans, which is raising the value of the flailing currency. But Ashley Milne-Tyte reports it may just be a short-term fix.

Last year Johnson & Johnson discovered counterfeit strips used to test blood glucose levels were being sold under its label. Looks like we can add those to the long list of fake products originating in China. Scott Tong has more.

The European Commission is investigating credit-rating agencies on claims that they failed to warn investors about subprime risks. And there are other worries, too. Stephen Beard reports.

The explosion of recent corporate takeovers by private investors has attracted the attention of labor unions. Yesterday, one union leader launched an effort to rein in private equity's growing influence. John Dimsdale reports.

Doing the numbers is starting to get downright gloomy. Markets in Asia and Europe are dropping by 2 and 3 percent after yesterday's Wall Street plunge on continuing subprime concerns. This time mortgage lender Countrywide was the biggest troublemaker.

A few small car-sharing services have been offering autoless city dwellers the option of renting by the hour for years. Now some of the big traditional car rental companies want a share of that market. Lisa Gray reports.

Lobbying by U.S. automakers failed to slow a Senate proposal that would drastically increase fuel economy standards, so GM, Ford and Chrysler are holding a rally today to plea for popular support. Critics are calling it a scare tactic, Sam Eaton reports.

Elvis T-shirts, an Elvis-edition Harley, Elvis Reese's Cups, ticket sales at Graceland… the licensing money for all that memorabilia really adds up. But the folks in charge of his estate have big plans that could triple the take. Wren Elhai reports.

A new population report predicts the global population will grow by 50 percent to reach 9.3 billion by 2050. And very soon the number of people living in urban areas will outnumber rural folk. Jill Barshay has more.

20th Century Fox has reached agreement with a group of top screenwriters that would pay them smaller advances in exchange for allowing them a percentage of the profits if their movies get made. Lisa Napoli reports.

Commentator David Frum offers up a Dickens classic that's all about the markets.

Smoke and flames have forced the U.S. Forest Service to close two popular stretches of the Salmon River in Idaho. And that's left quite a few businesses up a creek. Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

Documents detailing Whole Foods' proposed takeover of the Wild Oats chain, accidentally left exposed on a court website, provide a glimpse into how the natural food chain is playing hardball against Wal-Mart. Bob Moon reports.

Some iPhone users are getting more than they bargained for — like 300-page phone bills from AT&T. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

The world's biggest food company has reported a sweet increase in sales and profits, despite the fact that milk and sugar prices keep going up. Stephen Beard looks at how Nestle earned enough to plan a $21 billion stock buyback.

Commentator Robert Reich says the full-blown credit crisis of recent weeks is the price we're paying for letting financial entrepreneurs take over our economy, a problem that's not going away unless we level the playing field.

The Federal Trade Commission inadvertently released documents yesterday from Whole Foods with information that should have been omitted — including the grocery giant's plans to close 30 Wild Oats stores upon the companies' merger. Amy Scott reports.

A quick visit to the Sistine Chapel before lunch, perhaps? Good luck. Ever-increasing numbers of tourists are creating frustratingly long lines at Rome's most famous attractions, and headaches for the city's small tour guides. Megan Williams has the story.

The increased demand for ethanol fuel has turned things around for some American farmers. Suddenly they've got more money to reinvest in better tractors, and that's meant a profitable year for John Deere. Gabriel Spitzer reports.

In what will likely be a very costly recall, Nokia is offering to replace 46 million cell phone batteries because of cases of overheating. Lisa Napoli reports.

That's not as good as it sounds. Most hedge funds require a 45-day notice before investors can withdraw money, which makes today the deadline to pull out before quarter's end. And markets are waiting to see if inverstors have had enough. Jill Barshay reports.

Uncertainty continues to plague stock markets here and around the world. And after an unusual profit warning from Wal-Mart yesterday, overseas investors are particularly concerned that American consumers are out of spending money.

Americans will pay plenty to de-stress and relax, and where there are consumers, there are advertisers wanting to reach out to them. And it turns out even people just thinking about a healthier lifestyle make good consumers. Ashley Milne-Tyte explains.

In Europe this summer, some of the biggest names in music have been having a rough time filling seats. Stephen Beard reports.

Engineering professor Bill Hammack says Thomas Barnett's book is a perfect confection of bite-sized ideas about our global economy to nibble between dips.

Nine million Mattel toys imported from China have been pulled from shelves. They've either got magnets kids could swallow or they're coated with lead paint. John Dimsdale reports on the latest addition to consumer anxiety over Chinese-made products.

You didn't have to be Warren Buffet to know that giving people loans for houses they couldn't afford might come back to bite the economy. And, as Lisa Napoli reports, we all really should have known better this time around.

The federal government has offered New York City $354 million to pay for Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to charge a fee for vehicles entering the busiest areas of Manhattan. The mayor says it will be good for the economy. Bob Moon reports.

Nasdaq is launching a new market with about 500 companies listed. But before you rush out to make your first trades, Amy Scott has some caveats to report.

Another investment group said today it won't let investors redeem shares until it figures out exactly what the price on those shares should be. Steven Miller of Standard & Poors explains why the value is now hard to determine.

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has been in Mexico, meeting with officials on health care — how to pay for it when Mexicans working in America need medical care. Dan Grech reports.

Some pundits are pinning the blame for market uncertainty of late to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, but is it fair to second guess 18 years of decision-making in hindsight? Besides, he did warn borrowers two years ago, John Dimsdale reports.

Imagine turning the ocean into a giant renewable energy pipeline. It could meet as much as 10 percent of U.S. power needs, but some who make their living on the water worry plans to harness it will leave them high and dry. Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

Nasdaq's new Portal Market debuts tomorrow, but is only opening its doors to the super-rich. Investors interested in the private market can only trade if they hold at least $100 million in assets. Amy Scott reports.

We all know child care is expensive. Now a survey of 600 women demonstrates how dramatically the costs may impact family planning. The group behind it hopes it'll turn up the volume on its call to restore federal budget cuts. Lisa Napoli reports.

Today Mattel announced that it's recalling about 9 million more toys, including products with magnets that can be harmful if swallowed. Doug Krizner gets feedback from business professor Eric Johnson, who follows the toy industry.

A rather nasty exchange rate is the most obvious culprit keeping American and Canadian tourists away from the U.K., but other European countries with strong currencies continue to lure travelers, points out Stephen Beard. So what's the problem?

As British officials struggle to attract visitors and improve efficiency at London's Heathrow Airport, environmentalists have set up camp to protest its expansion plans. They say more flights will mean more climate change. Stephen Beard reports.

Bolivia has a wealth of natural gas, but it doesn't have the money to get it out of the ground. It needs foreign firms to help, and it wants help now. So it's told them to get moving or get out. That should speed things along, Dan Grech reports.

Chances are some of us have skin in the subprime game too, even if we don't know it. Ashley Milne-Tyte has been looking into how individual investors might get hit.

Mortgage-backed securities seem to be at the root of the markets' problems these days. So what exactly are they? Kai Ryssdal turns to portfolio manager Mike Hatley to help us all understand.

Goldman Sachs announced it's pouring $3 billion with the help of investors into one of its hedge funds that lost 32% of its value in the past week. It might walk like a bailout and talk like a bailout but, as Amy Scott reports, don't call it a bailout.

We've asked some of our commentators to give us their picks for the best business beach book ever. Nell Minow kicks off our weeklong series with a classic tale about a thief. Give us your picks, too.

The only country in the world that willingly admits Iraqi refugees is Syria. So far, roughly 1.5 million Iraqis have fled there. But some Syrians want the welcome mat rolled up. Jennifer Glasse reports.

Should the Federal Reserve pump money into the system to help out institutional players who took big risks when times were good and money was cheap? Commentator Krishna Guha says that's looking at it the wrong way.

As anyone who travels by air knows, getting your bags through security can be a serious hassle. So a few businesses that ship luggage door-to-door are finding some new clients. Alex Goldmark reports.

Many of us are feeling some kind of financial pinch at the moment, what with high energy prices, rising school fees, health insurance costs… But don't count on the boss to help you out much. Helen Palmer reports.

The Fed will be looking at two key inflation measures this week: Tomorrow we'll get a read on July wholesale prices and Wednesday the Labor Department reports on consumer prices. But officials may have something else on their minds. Amy Scott has more.

Despite private-equity firms struggling with the credit market clamp down, Blackstone Group still posted a healthy profit last quarter. But Amy Scott reports the company may have more challenges ahead.