Economics and Investing:

traded for crack, Syracuse police say

The Hardest Jobs to Fill in America: If you’re looking for work in any of these fields, you’re in luck.

Items from The Economatrix:

Weiss: Feds Giving “Lip Service” to Fiscal Responsibility “Weiss recommends everyone ‘make severe sacrifices in order to save money and to build up cash reserves for future bad times.'”

Appeals Court Upholds Sale of Chrysler to Fiat

Federal Jobs Lost in May: 345,000 Is “a little better” now the measure of success?

Securitization: The Biggest Rip-Off Ever; Financial Dereg Has Opened Pandora’s Box “The former head of the FDIC, William Seidman, figured it all out back in 1993 when he was cleaning up after the S&L fiasco. Here’s what he said in his memoirs: ‘Instruct regulators to look for the newest fad in the industry and examine it with great care. The next mistake will be a new way to make a loan that will not be repaid.’ (Bloomberg) ‘That’s it in a nutshell. The banks never expected the loans would be paid back, which is why they issued them to ninjas; applicants with no income, no collateral, no job, and a bad credit history.'”

The Most Important Economic Indicator You’ve Never Heard Of (The Baltic Dry Index, and yes, you’ve heard of it at SurvivalBlog.)

GM’s Dismantling Opens Doors for Foreign Carmarkers

New Bull Run Called By Tracker of Dow’s Historical Trends. [JWR Adds: My Barbra Steisand meter is pegging.]

Science Reinvents the Economy: Bubble Math

Biden: Obama to Ramp Up Stimulus Efforts
“Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 6 million jobs. “

Most US Stocks Fall, Led By Banks, On Interest Rate Concern