Not Quite Granola

Check your organic foods section for this:



Wheat-free! Made from hedges, I assume. R said "Naturally, it gives you gas."

Published In Hindsight

Ah, NOW the lenders get together and publish a consumer guide on determining if interest-only mortgages and other nontraditional products are for you.

Link to the Fed's press release


Townhouse, anyone?

"The publication stresses the importance of understanding key mortgage loan terms, warns of the risks consumers may face, and urges borrowers to be realistic about whether they can handle future payment increases. If consumers are not comfortable with these risks, the publication suggests that they ask about other mortgage products."

Yeah.

Numerous links to the document available on the Fed PR page.

Good News for Mrs. Lay

...even if Kenny's not available for comment:

Ken Lay's conviction vacated

So the government spent a fortune on a trial and conviction, and now they have no chance to recover any of that cash. Does that now make this the most expensive demonization on record? For Halloween, should I wear a Ken Lay mask and my "How's Your Aspen?" t-shirt?

$1.65bn.

No commentary other than to say finally Google has a service that's not in beta.

свиньи?

Why do Gazprom's 2005 balance sheets show they hold livestock? Don't tell me they're literally sending pigs down their pipes.

Government, Save Me From The Nosy Execs

Hewlett-Packard investigation now yielding criminal charges.

It irks me that NOT A DAMNED ONE of the phone companies has stepped up to the plate and said they will do more to ensure the person they're giving info out to is the person in question. Yay for prosecutions. Yay. Wheeee.

Life insurance pays triple if you die from a goat bomb. Or not.

Bloomberg reports AIG has created an "Islamic unit" to target 300 million Muslim insurance buyers.

Do these policies include the standard language that there will be no payment if the damages are incurred as part of civil unrest, war, or terrorist action? Granted, if I lived there I'd be wanting to cover my ass right now (whether you're thinking Israel-Lebanon or the possibility of Dubya attempting a smackdown on Iran, either is valid) but if those restrictions so typical in US policies are also in the policies written in the Middle East, I'm not sure that demand will expand so much.