Rolfe Winkler

IRS examining 100,000+ suspicious claims for homebuyer credit (WSJ) It’s a credit, which means folks without tax liability can get cash back from the IRS. Also, “taxpayers don’t have to file their claims as part of a real-estate transaction, and can instead” file/amend their 1040 to claim the credit, making it easier to commit fraued.

Congress waters down ratings agency legislation (Reuters) Ratings will continue to be referenced in federal laws, and a provision was scrapped that would have–for one year—prevented new employees from rating the debt of companies for which they’ve previously worked. But what did you expect?

The secret Paulson-Goldman meeting (Felix) Another excerpt from ARS’s book.

Massive furloughs in Chicago (CBS2)

Wall Street 40% bonus rise feeds spending on $43 steaks, co-ops (Bloomberg) Fed/Treasury policies mean we’re doing just fine in NYC, thank you very much……or are we?…..

NYC wages fall hardest of anywhere in the country (BLS, ht Business Insider) But these are average wages, not median wages. The fall off is due to a steep drop in bonuses in financial services.

Why the dollar is falling (Economist) A helpful summary.

How big is Antarctica? (twitpic)

Close call (Youtube)

Funny resignation e-mail (dump.com)

Anti-theft lunch bag (skforlee, ht JP)

“Are you a Predator that’s been fatally wounded? There’s an app for that” (imgur, ht Reddit)

Hi!