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Is Apple planning to bid for wireless spectrum at an upcoming auction?

Mr. Kasriel believes that the economy has been propped over the last 10 years and perhaps longer by the massive use of debt. Consumers have borrowed their way to wealth and the bill is now coming due. He has long predicted the type of event seen with the credit crunch and feels it will only get worse. In addition, he does not see many palatable ways of resolving the problem.

In the past, the kind of volatility we have seen over the last weeks signaled bottoms, crashes, reaction to war and terrorism, and the like. The frequency, speed, and psychology of the recent series of plunges are now getting much harder for all of us to interpret (and impossible for technicians). In fact, it has become a fool's folly to predict and interpret downticks and upticks in the market. Something else is going on.

Say what you will about Ben Stein (and some are not impressed all of the time), I think this guy is one of the few sane, mature voices out there in a sea of panicked children. He has a wisdom and perspective that are sobering at the same time as they are calming. And, he is right. Listening to him is like sitting on the lap of a wise old man -- he is realistic, he knows the lessons of history, and he is calming. Most importantly, he is not trite and he doesn't have his head in the sand. He is particularly refreshing because he speaks in Grown-up Speak -- someone who sees things with clarity and doesn't run around declaring that the sky is falling.

The market is more skittish than it has ever been. Upsand downs of hundreds of points daily have become common occurrences. The slightest news causes ecstasy or panic. There is very little reflection, very little tempered reaction. Many say the volatility that we are becoming used to is the result of the spread of technology and the speed with which herd behavior happens. Whatever the reasons, we are in dangerous times where the herd can literally take the market and the economy down significantly. It is a hell of a time to be rounding the corner of the 6th anniversary of 9/11.

There really ought to be a law against a former Fed chair making public pronouncements on the market or the economy. This is especially that case for Alan Greenspan whose words were watched so carefully for so long and, consequently, who still has the power to shake and shape events. He did it again last night.

The payroll numbers are out and they looked pretty dreadful. Instead of a gain in payrolls, employment actually fell by 4,000, the first time the number has dropped in four years. I took a stand saying the numbers would come in better than expected and was wrong.

Before the onslaught of the credit crunch, it was widely believed that the Fed would raise rates to cool inflation fears. I remember on BestCashCow reading quite a few articles discussing fears of inflation and real inflation versus core inflation, etc.

The New York Times announced that Amazon is launching a new e-book reader The Kindle. My first reaction to this was, why? I applaud Amazon for trying but I don’t see this as a big business, even with their book buying heft behind it.

My neighbors and others have been telling me about how rising property taxes are pushing their budgets to the limit. This, even more than adjustable rate mortgages could push many over the edge.