In Decline Following sharp drops in Asian and European markets, U.S. stocks are set to continue their slide, the Wall Street Journal Reports. Among the biggest losers was Countrywide Financial, which fell 18 percent after announcing more trouble from subprime lending fallout. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made his first public comments since the market’s recent turmoil began, declaring that economic growth will continue in spite of stumbles.
Democrats rake in high-end campaign cash USA Today leads with a donor analysis of America’s wealthiest zip codes, and finds that Democrats have been cleaning up. The $32 million Demcorats have pulled together from such areas is more than double the Republican tally – and four times the sum Democratic presidential contenders raised in 2003 from some of the same areas.
Earthquake in Peru A 7.9 earthquake struck Peru, killing more than 300. Tolls are still being updated, but the Associated Press quotes a mayor’s radio broadcast announcing “the dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets.'
Fighting over Iraq in Washington The Bush administration is feuding with Congress over how Gen. David Petraeus’s much anticipated report on Iraq will be presented next month, the Washington Post reports. Instead of having the General deliver the report himself on Capitol Hill, the administration has proposed a private congressional briefing and a public presentation by the secretaries of state and defense. A key question is whether Congress will have a chance to grill Petraeus on the “make or break” report.
Losing investors' money, and other acts of God As hedge funds find themselves bleeding investors’ cash, their managers are having a tough time with the concept of eating crow, The Wall Street Journal reports. Irrational investors, other hedge funds, and “unprecedented market events” explain the sharp losses – not, say, risky investment decisions by the funds managers themselves, their letters to clients state. While an excess of pride might explain some of the reluctance apologize, legal concerns may also play a role: ‘"It's sort of like how doctors never say they're sorry," says David Moody, a partner at law firm Purrington Moody Weil. "It's an invitation for a lawsuit."’
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