Mar 10, 2010, 4:59PM Dow Jones’ David Benoit reports:Regional bank stocks climbed higher Wednesday and were among broader market’s top gainers as speculation spread about a potential move by U.K. banking giant Barclays PLC which has been reported to be in the search of more... [#]

Mar 10, 2010, 5:23AM On Friday I joined fellow blogger Mark Thoma (and a good many other economists) at a very interesting conference on financial markets held at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Here I share some ideas I expressed at the conference about the... [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:00AM In law school when I started trading actively on a full-time basis, I had little money and lots of interest in the market. In order to continue to improve myself and learn to be better, I had to find creative... [#]

Mar 10, 2010, 2:05PM Yesterday, both of the option indexes that I monitor hit a spike high in complacency and greed. The CBOE put call ratio (equity only) fell to 0.43 while the lesser known, ISE Sentiment index (equity only) call put ratio hit 253. [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:02AM New research supports the notion that we fixate on enemies, and inflate their power, as a defense mechanism against generalized anxiety. The longer article is here. This is another way of putting the point: According to one school of thought,... [#]

Mar 10, 2010, 4:03PM See the full interactive graphic.Thirty states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases in January from a month earlier, while states registered rate decreases, the Labor Department said. [#]

Mar 10, 2010, 4:58PM Matt Trivisonno no stranger to thesepages. He has set up a new site to do “Real-Time Tracking of the US Economy Using Withholding Tax Revenue:” : The Daily Jobs Update.Here’s Matt:“I’m thinking that if payrolls stay flat, the annual growth rate can move... [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 9:38PM Barclays is on the hunt for a retail bank to help it bolster its presence in the U.S., the WSJ reports.No deal is imminent and the U.K. bank has only just started shopping around. Here are some possible candidates, and thoughts on which might make a... [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:02AM Martin Wolf says no. For instance: But Germany can be Germany – an economy with fiscal discipline, feeble domestic demand and a huge export surplus – only because others are not. To be sure, Greece is unlikely to end up... [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:02AM Ian Leslie, a loyal MR reader, asks a perceptive question: Does anybody have a theory about the length of questions during the Q&A sessions that follow lectures/talks? Is there a relationship between length of question and age, gender, status, place... [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:00AM Almost a year ago I asked members to submit the ticker of a stock they think would bring investors the most luck over the coming year. I remember at the time receiving more than a few emails suggesting I was... [#]

Mar 11, 2010, 10:03AM Today’s weekly update on new jobless claims offers a reprieve on the darker visions conjured on these pages in recent weeks, including here. New filings for unemployment benefits dropped last week to by 29,000 to 469,000. Whew, that was a close one! [#]

Mar 10, 2010, 8:00PM Paul Krugman, last Friday:But that’s not how Republicans see it [unemployment benefits]. Here’s what Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, had to say when defending Mr. Bunning’s position (although not joining his... [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 3:48PM Free exchange Small business R.A. | WASHINGTON Small businesses may be turning more pessimistic Images: SMALL businesses punch above their weight in creating new... [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 7:17AM I get so many questions from people that say they are beginners and they always seem so confused. I generally tell them that I wish I knew than what I knew now, which is to keep it simple and find a mentor. [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 3:53PM The latest readings from consumers and small business owners indicate economic sentiment isn’t improving, despite signs of a factory rebound and less gloom on the labor front.On Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Businesssaid its optimism... [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 3:29PM On the first anniversary of the bull market, E.S. Browning looks at the valuation debate between economists Robert Shiller and Jeremy Siegel. Not surprisingly, Dr. Shiller thinks the stock market is expensive and Dr. Siegel thinks it’s cheap. [#]

Mar 9, 2010, 1:41AM Free exchange Growth A.S. | NEW YORK Reports of America's demise are grossly exaggerated WILL America always be the world’s foremost economic superpower? Probably not. [#]

Mar 8, 2010, 3:58AM So Steve was at The Oscar’s and by far the most important person in the place. Apple $aapl also launched their first iPad commercial which of course was tight and fun:It makes sense that the market (especially the Nasdaq) is rallying into the iPad... [#]

Mar 7, 2010, 3:10PM What do current financial indicators tell us about where the economy is headed?Macroeconomists have long observed that changes in financial indicators often presage future changes in the economy. For example, a big gap between yields on long-term... [#]