Economics and Investing:

Chinese Exports Plunge 25.4 Percent Compared To Last Year

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Deflation Is Coming To The Auto Industry As Used Car Prices Drop, Off-Lease Deluge Looms – Sent in by RBS

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Former BP CEO Expects More US Bankruptcies (Fox Business)

International News

Italy Isn’t Greece — It’s Worse (Business Insider) Excerpt: “…banks will be allowed to cleanse their balance sheets by packaging the NPLs and selling them to investors, along with enticing government guarantees for the least risky portions of the debt. The catch? The securities must be priced at market rates.”

ECB Monitoring Liquidity Levels at Some Italian Banks – Sources (Reuters)

EU Notes Economic Imbalances in France, Italy and Elsewhere (Wall Street Journal) Excerpt: “…France, Italy, Portugal and others have excessive imbalances and require tighter monitoring, urging them to move quickly with economic changes.” Note: The Wall Street Journal requires sign-in and/or subscription service for access to some content.

Saudi Arabia is Trying to Borrow Billions from Banks (Business Insider) Excerpt: “…the assets will last only a few more years at their current rate of decline, while the bond issues have started to strain liquidity in the banking system.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Home Depot Will Reimburse Customers $13M for Data Breach (Time Money) Excerpt: “The home improvement retailer will set up a $13 million fund to reimburse shoppers for out-of-pocket losses, and spend at least $6.5 million to fund 1-1/2 years of cardholder identity protection services.”

Why the 401(k) isn’t Working for Millions of Americans (Business Insider) Excerpt: “Nearly half of all working-age families have no money in retirement accounts at all. The median family has $5,000 saved. Even for people between the ages of 56 and 61, the median retirement account savings is a paltry $17,000.”

Will Your Job Disappear? (USA Today)

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