Marketplace

Podcast, get your podcast here

On Marketplace After the Bell, I look back on the week in business and economy and try to make sense of it. Sometimes, trying to make sense of it is like trying to do a Rubik’s Cube with one hand. But by golly, I did it. My theme this week is poker, baby, poker. In the high-stakes game of the economy, this week was definitely the flop. You can get the podcast here. Thanks to producer Phyllis Owens, associate producer Fiona Ng and engineer Stephen Colon. Have a great weekend.

• May 8, 2009 1:47 PM PT — Scott Jagow
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Ships going nowhere

This falls into the picture-says-a-thousand-words category. The International Economy magazine features a Google Earth photo that makes the coastline of one of the world’s busiest ports look like a parking lot. It’s not a good sign for world trade.

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• May 8, 2009 12:09 PM PT — Scott Jagow
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Chrysler creditors call it quits

The Chrysler lenders who were putting up such a fight over the bankruptcy and Fiat deal have decided to throw in the towel. The creditors withdrew their protest today after a couple of the big players in the group abandoned the fight because the “financial and political costs were too high.”

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• May 8, 2009 12:08 PM PT — Scott Jagow
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The banks move fast

A couple of the stress test banks that need to raise capital have already done so. Wells Fargo sold $7.5 billion in stock. Morgan Stanley raised the same amount selling stocks and bonds. What’s really interesting here is that all the banks think the government is way underestimating the banks’ future profits.

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• May 8, 2009 11:31 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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Companies looking like boobs

Two PR blunders worth mentioning, and they both involve breasts. KFC has reneged on a coupon for a free grilled chicken meal because hordes of people were beating down KFC’s doors to cash it. Marks and Spencer is reversing its new bra pricing policy because hordes of big-breasted women were threatening to storm the British retailer.

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• May 8, 2009 8:18 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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Morning Reading

Good news, bad news on the job front this morning. The economy lost 539,000 jobs last month . That’s the lowest monthly total since October. But the unemployment rate shot up to 8.9%, which is the highest rate since September 1983. The reason? Job numbers for February and March were revised upward. Other things to read:

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• May 8, 2009 7:32 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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