From the Wall Street Journal: BlackRock Inc. reached an agreement to buy Barclays Global Investors from Barclays PLC for $13.5 billion, creating a money-management titan roughly twice the size of its closest competitor.

What’s the difference between an A.I.G. executive and a drunken sailor? A drunken sailor spends his own money.

GM wants $17 billion more. One trader from Cantor Fitz mentioned that, “GM seems like a pension plan that occasionally makes a car somebody occasionally buys.”

With lots of time on my hands, I decided to start a mink farm. Of course, I could never kill one of them, but letting them lose in the neighborhood – one per week – appeals to me. The first steps include acquiring knowledge of the mink, including life cycle, breeding cycles, vaccinations, and nutritional [...]

Here is a job listing just in time for all those great folks at Chase wholesale.

The mother asks the son what he wants to be for Halloween. “I want to be real scary. I want to be Freddie”. The mom replies, “Freddie Krueger? From ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’?” “No”, the boy replies, “Freddie Mac, from ‘Nightmare on Main Street’.’”

I was lying awake the other night, worrying about all of the debt on my credit card. The jet ski, mink socks, the ATV, my new plasma TV, ruby encrusted dog food bowl, surround-sound stereo – they are great, but darn they cost a lot. And then it dawned on me: it wasn’t my fault! [...]

It was one year ago today that First Magnus threw in the towel. Hopefully all those folks have landed on their feet, either through StoneWater Mortgage or other lenders…