Economics and Investing:

Reader Brad S. spotted this: PIMCO’s Gross: Markets exhibiting “flight to liquidity”. Mass inflation is coming soon, folks. Transition out of dollars and into tangibles now, while it is still affordable!

FDIC: Problem banks at 775. “A total of 775 banks, or one-tenth of all U.S. banks, were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s list of ‘problem’ institutions in the first quarter, as bad loans in the commercial real-estate market weighed on bank balance sheets.”

K. in Montana sent me this one: Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead

Items from The Economatrix:

Regulators Shut Small Minnesota Bank

Jobless Claims Rise By Largest Amount in Three Months

Oil Settles 2% Lower After Wild Swings

Leading US Indicator Drops Unexpectedly

Worldwide Stocks Fall for Sixth Straight Day

Behind the European Drama Lies a Global Crisis

Mish: Meredith Whitney Sees Bleak Second Half in Stock Market, Small Business Credit Crunch, Double Dip in Housing, Says European Banks in Worse Shape