Here are a few of the most read stories on the Bloomberg in the last day with selected excerpts (and my comments, if any, in italics).

As of 16-Dec-2007 at 23:05:55 (EST):

1. Centro Shares Slump After Profit Forecast Cut

“‘We never expected nor could reasonably anticipate that the sources of funding that have historically been available to us and many other companies would shut for business,’ Chairman Brian Healey said in the statement.”

Eerily similar statement to Garrett Thornburgh’s back in August.

2. Greenspan Favors Government Bailout for Homeowners

“It’s far less damaging to the economy to create a short-term fiscal problem, which we would, than to try to fix the prices of homes or interest rates. If you do that, it’ll drag this process out indefinitely.”

You can’t make this stuff up. So long, Ayn Rand! Warm up the helicopter, Ben!

3. Wheat Price Rises Above $10 for First Time on Supply Concerns

“Chicago wheat futures jumped by the exchange-imposed daily limit to $10.095 a bushel … Soybeans advanced to $11.9225 a bushel, the highest in 34 years, and corn rose to $4.4325 a bushel, a nine-month peak.”

How much does a box of Wheaties cost these days? :-)

4. Bears Capitulate as Treasuries Thwart Chart Watchers

“Technical analysis is based on the theory that a chart of the price of any asset or index contains clues about future movements … ‘The trendline is not the issue, it’s the symptom of the issue,’ said Kosar.”

Huh? I made fun of Kosar and his 25-cent ruler in my post last April, Why Technical Analysts Don’t Deserve To Be Taken Seriously

Here are the top five most read stories on the Bloomberg in the last day with selected excerpts (and my comments, if any, in italics).

As of 25-Sep-2007 at 9:44:50 (Beijing time):

1. Goldman Sees `Bottom’ as Besieged Wall Street Can’t Yet Concur

(Previously #2)

2. Fed Will Lower Rates Again Before January Trading History Shows

(Previously #1)

3. Fed’s Rate Cut May Give Little Relief to Homeowners

“Total mortgage originations fell 8.8 percent in the second quarter to $730 billion from a year earlier, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry newsletter. The number of subprime mortgages fell 66 percent to $56 billion, according to the newsletter.”

66%, just a tiny drop. ;-)

4. Jim Rogers Sees `Skyrocketing’ Prices for Commodities

“‘I wouldn’t buy [wheat] now,'’ Rogers said. ‘If you’re going to buy something, buy coffee or cotton or sugar. Wheat has been going straight up for about a year. I don’t like to jump on a moving bus.’”

I guess it depends on how fast the bus is moving. How has Jimmy’s commodity fund fared given the problems of negative “roll yield”? Anyone know?

5. Banks Reduce Backlog of Unsold Debt to $370 Billion

“Banks underwriting the financing for LBOs commit to raise the money and earn fees to compensate for the risk of having to take on any debt they can’t sell to a wider group of investors. They have to mark down the value of the debt and assume a loss if the price of high-yield loans falls below 100 percent.”

A simple explanatory paragraph which no economist could ever write — Matt Winkler smiles.

Here are the top five most read stories on the Bloomberg in the last day with selected excerpts (and my comments, if any, in italics).

As of 23-Aug-2007 at 10:05:21 (Beijing time):

1. Bonuses on Wall Street Threatened by Credit Crunch

“… the subprime-mortgage collapse already has drained the punch bowl.”

Ha! Proof once again that all you need to get a “Most Read” story is putting the word “Bonuses” in the title.

2. Lehman Brothers Shuts Down Subprime Unit, Fires 1,200

“‘Market conditions have necessitated a substantial reduction in resources and capacity in the subprime space,’ the New York-based firm said today.”

How’s that for a pile of crap jargon: “conditions,” “necessitated,” “reduction in resources,” and the ever popular “space.” Translation: the market went to hell so we had to fire a bunch of people in our dumb lending to even dumber borrowers unit.

3. Builder in Spain Crashes, Founder Keeps New York Pad

“Spanish house prices have surged since the 1990s, fueled by a drop in interest rates, increasing incomes and a boom in vacation home purchases by Germans, Britons and other Northern Europeans.”

Interesting boom/bust story, especially the bit about changes in zoning laws.

4. Lehman, Accredited, HSBC Shut Offices; Crisis Spreads

“More than 20 companies have been shut out of the market for asset-backed commercial paper, or short-term debt maturing in 270 days or less, as investors balked at buying mortgage-backed debt.”

5. Bernanke’s Strategy of Increasing Liquidity Survives

“‘The markets that are under more stress are the high-yield market, non-agency mortgage markets, collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations markets and extendible asset-backed paper. Those are markets that we’re watching closely.’” — Hank Paulson

You’re not the only one watching closely, Hank.