this is an adventure

“The intelligence that we had from the U.S. Olympic Committee and Chicago bid team was that it was very close and therefore well worth our efforts,” said Valerie Jarrett. “The message was that … a personal appeal from the president would make a huge difference.” Hope it’s not the same guy who’s on Ahmadinejad.

“Goldman Sachs stands to receive a payment of $1bn – while US taxpayers would lose $2.3bn – if embattled commercial lender CIT files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,” thanks to the structure of $3bn rescue finance package that Goldman extended to CIT “about five months before the Treasury bought $2.3bn in CIT preferred shares.”

“Since the onset of the credit crisis over two years ago, available credit to small businesses and consumers has contracted by trillions of dollars, and that phenomenon is reflected in dismal consumer spending trends. Equally worrisome are the trends in small-business credit, which has contracted at one of the fastest paces of any lending category.”

“The U.S. faces the possibility of deflation for the first time since the Eisenhower administration, a threat that may prompt the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates near zero through next year… A sustained price drop might set off a chain reaction in which lower profits force employers to pare wages and payrolls.”