In the weekly Democratic radio address (which is also videotaped for Youtube), President-elect Barack Obama outlined his economic stimulus plan. Noting the "crisis of historic proportions," Obama wants to create 2.5 million jobs in a two-year period to stimulate growth:"It will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges,......

The Dow ended above 8,000, rising 494 points (+6.54%), most in the closing hour. The Nasdaq rose 5.19% and S&P 500 was up 6.32%. The enthusiasm was due to news (or yet another leak) that President-elect Obama will nominate Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Geithner, who was born in Brooklyn, has been the New York Federal Reserve Bank President since 2003 and has also worked at the IMF and Council on Foreign Relations. While one......

Right before leaving for his trip to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, President Bush signed an extension of jobless benefits that will allow "millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach," according to the AP. Bush warmed up to the idea of extending benefits as the economy continued to sour and jobless claims kept growing. The House had passed the bill in October and the Senate......

Photograph of some furry dice hanging on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange by Richard Drew/AP After yesterday's 5+% loss on Wall Street, Dow futures gained about 200 points, according to CNBC, but one trader said, "At best we might see a day or two of further rebounds, but as we've seen in the past after a big rally it always comes off, it's always met with skepticism... People are being spooked......

The Labor Department revealed that the "number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by a larger than expected 27,000 last week to their high level in 16 years," according to CNBC. Also: "The four-week moving average of new jobless claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends because it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose to 506,500 from 490,750 the week before, the highest since the start of 1983." Stocks are slumping......

If losing your job in finance is driving you to drink, what more practical way to go about it than getting a job as a bartender? Enrollment is up at bartending schools in the area--as much as 53% for the month of October at New York Bartending School. The Daily News says that dozens of those enrolling are from now-defunct financial institutions. And one of the teachers from the NYBS sounds like he's encouraging even......

Photograph of the Citigroup building in Long Island City, seen beyond a cemetery in Queens by Seth Wenig/AP Crain's says that Citigroup's announced 52,000-employee reduction is the "second-largest job cut ever undertaken by any company." (The largest one is from 1993, when IBM let go of 60,000.) Citigroup's job cuts--which many don't think are enough given its current condition--are global and some will be through asset sales (about half are layoffs). But Citi is......

There will probably be more sad guys on trading floors today: Stock futures are showing sharp declines, in part due to news that Citigroup may eliminate 50,000 people (or 14%) of its global workforce, mostly by selling assets. And Britain's Sunday Telegraph reports that JPMorgan Chase will have cut thousands of jobs next year. In the auto industry, which hopes for some government help, cash-strapped GM is selling back a 3% stake in Suzuki to......

The new director of Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture's Historic Preservation Program has interesting thoughts on how new construction will be affected by the faltering economy in today's NY Times. Based on the past, Andrew S. Dolkart thinks commercial skyscraper construction will stop and there will be more preservation, "I think new construction is going to take a nose dive — especially residential, because we’ve been so overbuilt in fringe areas of the city, and......

Yesterday morning, the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell was rung by Grandma the Clown from the Big Apple Circus. The Post has details on what happened next: Master of Ceremonies Carrie "Harvey and Grandma wandered the floor trying to spread joy and merriment, placing funny red noses on exchange officials to touch the funny bones of even the most shaken traders." Alas, though stocks attempted a rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 337......

Speaking at the European Central Bank Central Banking Conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said central banks are prepared to continue to work together and do more to help the global economy during the current credit crisis. In his speech, he noted, "The continuing volatility of markets and recent indicators of economic performance confirm that challenges remain. For this reason, policymakers will remain in close contact, monitor developments closely, and stand ready to take additional......

The Dow fell below 8,000 points but then staged a late day rally to close at 8,835.25, up 552.59 points (+6.67%). The Nasdaq and S& 500 were also up 6.5% and 6.92%, respectively. Bloomberg News reports "investors snapped up the cheapest energy shares on record and real-estate companies gained after CB Richard Ellis Inc. raised cash in a share sale." Now some believe 8,000 points could be the Dow's floor--Eckhardt & Co's Peter Costa told......

Wow, President Bush is making sure he's getting in his NYC time leaving the White House--after visiting the city Tuesday for Veterans Day, he's back! This morning he spoke at the United Nations--a "high-level debate on interfaith dialogue"--and will head to Federal Hall to discuss the economy. According to the White House (hold on, it's a lot), "the President will review the origins of the financial crisis and observe the increased interconnectedness of the global......

From Bloomberg News: "First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance rose last week to the highest level since September 2001, when the economy was last in a recession, as weakening demand led companies to fire more workers." Last week, jobless claims were higher than expected at 516,000 (it was 484,000 the week before). Linda Barrington, Conference Board labor economist, said, "The labor market is only reinforcing a very pessimistic picture. When you start to see the......

Photograph of job seekers outside a Monster.com job fair in midtown by Kathy Willens/AP The Dow tumbled 411 points (down 4.73%) while the Nasdaq fell 5.17% and S&P 500 fell 5.19%. According to the NY Times, "Wall Street spent the day looking at Washington for guidance, and investors did not like what they saw, analysts said." The chief economist at Moody's, Marc Zandi, further explained, “Wall Street is increasingly taking its cues from D.C.......

Bloomberg News reports that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wants to use part of the $700 billion bailout "to help relieve pressures on consumer credit, scrapping an effort to buy devalued mortgage assets." Paulson said earlier today, "Illiquidity in this sector is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans and credit cards. This is creating a heavy burden on the American people and reducing the number of jobs in our economy"......

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are off about 3% right now, as worries about the global economy continue to linger--in spite of what CNBC calls "the positive effect of China's stimulus package." Hey, the chances of a depression in 2009 are 15%, so the glass is 85% full, right? The bond market is closed today, for Veterans Day, but there's still lots of news: Developer Toll Brothers reported a 41% drop in third quarter......

Stocks look like they are going to rally today, helped in part by news that AIG restructured its bailout package and that China put together a $586 billion bailout plan of its own. The NY Times calls China's plan, which involves infrastructure projects like building "railways, subways, and airports and [rebuilding] communities devastated" by the Sichuan earthquake, a "sweeping move." Shroder Investment Management's head of global equities Virginie Maisonneuve told Bloomberg TV, "This is very......

Photograph of President-elect Obama during his first press conference by Charles Dharapak/AP. Standing behind Obama are (L-R) Vice President-elect Biden, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Former FED Chairman Paul Volcker and newly appointed Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. President-elect Obama speaks to the press and American public for the first time. He's discussing the economic situation and said, "We are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime." Obama emphasizes that there's still another president......

General Motors released its third quarter results and announced it lost $4.2 billion. The NY Times says the automaker is "closer to running out of cash," as GM said, "G.M.’s estimated liquidity during the remainder of 2008 will approach the minimal level necessary to operate its business.” GM has suspended merger talks with Chrysler and will concentrate on ways to stop the bleeding, like cutting white-collar jobs and other restructuring. The Big Three automakers--GM, Ford,......

Photograph of job seekers at job fair in Newark, NJ last week by Mike Derer/AP The Labor Department announced that jobless claims for October rose to 6.5%, with nonfarm payroll employment falling by 240,000. From the release:October's drop in payroll employment followed declines of 127,000 in August and 284,000 in September, as revised. Employment has fallen by 1.2 million in the first 10 months of 2008; over half of the decrease has occurred in......

The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed down about 5% today in a day of heavy losses. The Dow was down 443 points and closed below 9,000 amidst fears of a prolonged recession that even superhero President-elect Obama may be not be able to turn around. "Everything is so dismal right now, it's just an endless flow of bad news and no one wants to buy," despaired equity trader Dave Rovelli, who could really......

Though stock markets soared yesterday (the Dow went up 3%), stock futures have fallen, dampening any thought of a post-election rally. Sure, investors are wondering about President-elect Obama's economic policies when he takes office, but there's also today: ADP, which handles payroll services, announced that there were 157,000 job cuts last month, "the most in almost six years," according to Bloomberg News. A strategist at Newedge Group told CNBC, "This is another, if I may......

According to CNBC, "stock index futures moved cautiously higher Monday, after ending the crazy month of October on a high note." It's expected to be relatively quiet today; Brewer Investment Group principal Jack Bouroudjian said, "Right now that money is sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens tomorrow"--tomorrow being the election--and "relief rally" is expected then, even though we won't know who the president is. Overseas, the European Commission said the region is......

To no one's surprise, consumer spending was down last month, but this was the first time spending has gone down in two years. The Commerce Department says purchases decreased by 0.3%; Bloomberg News says it caps "the weakest quarter in three decades and indicating the economic slump is deepening." Yeterday, GDP data revealed the economy contracted by 0.3%, which many private-sector economists believe means the U.S. "has already entered a recession." Stocks, which were up......

Today, the NY Times looks at how layoffs are beginning at a "broad array of businesses across the New York region." Basically, it distills everything you've been hearing, thinking and fearing. One data point: For the week ending October 11, "New York led all states with an increase of 5,224 first-time unemployment claims." The job reductions are not only at Wall Street firms, but at law firms, publishing companies, digital media, construction, and more. Conde......

After the Federal Reserve cut the key interest rate to 1% yesterday, stock futures are pointing "sharply" higher; CNBC says, "investors around the world seemed cautiously reassured by the latest steps taken by authorities to calm the credit crisis." Tokyo's Nikkei went up almost 10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased almost 13%, and European markets are also up. The big news: GDP data, which shows, as Bloomberg News puts it, "The U.S. economy shrank in......

Today, on the 79th anniversary of the 1929 Black Tuesday stock market crash, artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese-- Ligorano/Reese-- installed an ice sculpture of the word "Economy" in Foley Square. And the piece, called "Main Street Meltdown," is a "temporary monument" and Ligorano explained, "To see the word 'economy' melting down is representational of our extreme time.”...

After spelling out the dire news that NY State's budget deficit will balloon to $47 billion by 2012 yesterday, Governor Paterson is now in Washington D.C., testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, to request for a federal Empire State bailout. Paterson had said yesterday, "Because New York is really the epicenter of the national crisis of finance, we're going to need federal assistance." Not to mention, "We will have no choice but to......

The two-blocks long line around Federal Plaza, with about 800 job seekers on it, was for that venerable institution, the Internal Revenue Service. The NY Times noticed quite a few "laid-off Wall Street types in charcoal-gray pinstripe suits and trenchcoats" as well as a "woman with a new accounting degree on her resume and a 14-month old baby in a stroller." One applicant, laid off from Lehman Brothers without a severance, said, "You could get......