Story of the Day: It's STILL the economy...

Or is it Iran. Or the price of oil?

Yow-suh.  It's all rolled into one, I think.

The two largest mortgage finance companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, faced 2 ugly choices: foreclosure or government buy out. (What's the difference, really? Either way, their bank is taking over...very likely. And what's that say about our economic advisor industry that the 2 largest mortgage finance companies are in essence in foreclosure themselves...?)

NY Times: Woes at Loan Agencies and Oil Price Spike Roil Markets.

And then one bank's assets were seized be the feds.

USAToday: Regulators Seize IndyMac Bank:

LOS ANGELES — The Office of Thrift Supervision says it has closed mortgage lender IndyMac Bank.

The banking regulator said Friday it has transferred IndyMac's operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation after determining the thrift is unlikely to meet its depositors demands.

And then, just a few days after our national stockpiles of oil were reportedly rising and the price of oil was dropping...whooops, now the stockpiles are falling and now the price of oil rising.

Those few missiles launched by Iran this week had a very positive ROI as prices for oil spike on their news. Iran's the 4th largest exporter of oil. And any uncertainty, fear, threats real or imagined, only serve to drive the price of oil up. And helping in this conversation is our threats of retaliation and then their threats....It's great for business.

Maybe Iran and the US (Debka.com) are...talking about oil prices. Oh, how cynical? I'm just saying.

We're certainly trading with each other. Trade with Iran has risen from around $8 million a year in 2001 to $146 million per year in 2007. CNN

Frankly, I've always wondered if the two leaders, ours and theirs, Bush and Ahmadinejad don't need each other and each other's bluster. Both economies are in shambles. Both are politically dependent on oil companies and religious...fundamentalists. Both need a foreign enemy to distract their citizens. And both serve their benefactors when the price of oil rises. Hey, I'm just saying.

And in lighter, but still odder, news....China Orders Dog Meat Off The Menu

The Chinese government has ordered 112 official Olympic restaurants in Beijing to remove "fragrant meat" -- aka dog -- from their menus during the Summer Games.

Um....Have a good weekend.

Monday, July 11:

* NY Times, More Banks Will Fail.

As home prices continue to decline and loan defaults mount, federal regulators are bracing for dozens of American banks to fail over the next year.

... as many as 150 out of the 7,500 banks nationwide could fail over the next 12 to 18 months, analysts say.