By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Who broke the buck?  A money market fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, was unable to preserve its $1 price per share.  Losses on its portfolio of short-term, safe investments overwhelmed the fund’s earnings.  The Wall Street Journal reported that the fund was the top […]

1. What was the name of the major Texas town to be devastated by hurricane Ike? 2. How much did the Feds loan to AIG? A) 95 Billion B) 85 Billion C) 75 Billion D) 65 Billion

By Nike Kern, As 39 states across the country vie for Hollywood’s production money, here at home the Governor’s Office of Film and Television is doing its part. At stake is a significant slice of the mega-million dollar film production industry, not to mention the potential tourism dollars that may […]

[Moore Information systems Inc.] Obama/Biden Narrowly Lead Presidential Race in Oregon. Our recent survey of Oregon voters shows Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin within six points of Barack Obama and Joe Biden (43% Obama/Biden, 37% McCain/Palin). Another 14% have not made a decision as of today, and 6% of […]

By Mark Neil, Radio Host of Your Money & Your Life, Mondays 4-5PM, KBNP AM 1410 Yesterday was a very bad day in the markets.  A stunning chain of events over the weekend sent the S&P 500 index to its steepest one-day percentage drop since the 9/11 attacks in 2001.  […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Calculated Risk has a good post about home prices, looking at prices from several different angles.  All angles suggest that prices have a ways further to go before reaching “normal.”  Of course, there’s no reason to expect any time series to get back to […]

Five questions to test your news observance level. Which nation conducted the atom-smasher experiment this week? A) Germany B) England C) Switzerland

Latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Survey: Confidence drops in July; lowest reported score in five years [Wells Fargo Press Release San Francisco — September 9, 2008]  Reflecting signs of a weaker economy and rising costs, small business owners’ optimism continues to decline. According to the recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, surveyed […]

By Mike Scoggin, A Portland City Auditor’s report finds that while the city’s Department of Transportation has improved quality assurance, it is resurfacing fewer streets Taken for granted, most people would be surprised to find out that 25% of the Rose City’s total assets are its roads. Valued at $5.4 […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting, I spoke a couple of months ago about the economic contingency planning process.  You can listen here. Key steps: 1. Evaluate your company’s own vulnerability to changes in the economy. 2. Develop an early warning system specific to your business. 3. Sketch out a […]